Editing Business Writing to Get Rid of Clutter
Editing business writing can make a big difference in communication effectively, with you clients, prospects, staff and others.
You might have seen the television programs showing extremely cluttered homes that are a result of hoarding. In a similar way, business writing can be full of clutter. Clichés, jargon, complicated words and phrases, and unnecessary words will muddle your business writing and make it difficult to read.
Follow these steps when editing your business writing to get rid of clutter, make it more readable and get the results you want.
1. Remove clichés and overused terms when editing business writing.
Examples include:
· At the end of the day
· Back to the drawing board
· Core values
· The fact of the matter is
· For all intents and purposes
· On the back burner
· Seriously consider
· Up in the air
· World’s best practice
2. Replace complicated words with simple ones when possible when editing business writing.
Instead of: | Write: |
accomplish | do |
ascertain | find out |
dissmeminate | send out |
employ | use |
endeavour | try |
expedite | hasten, speed up |
facilitate | make easier, help |
facility | building, warehouse |
locality | place |
optimum | best, greatest |
utilise | use |
numerous | many |
substantiate | prove |
3. Remove unnecessary words when editing business writing.
Instead of: | Write: |
train up | train |
Monday through to Friday | Monday through Friday |
in three weeks’ time | in three weeks |
in close proximity to | close to |
up until | until |
4. Replace phrases with single words when editing business writing.
Instead of: | Write: |
in regard to | about |
by means of | by |
in the event that | if |
until such time as | until |
at the same time as | while |
subsequent to | after |
it would appear that | apparently |
adequate number of | enough |
due to the fact that | because |
5. Turn nouns into verbs when editing business writing.
‘The requirement of the department is that employees work seven and a half hours a day’
can be reduced to:
‘The department requires employees to work seven and a half hours a day.’
(From 16 words to 13 words.)
––––––
‘You will work on the establishment of goals for the hiring, training and promotion of designated group employees’
can be reduced to:
‘You will establish goals for hiring, training and promoting designated group employees.’
(From 18 words to 12 words.)
This also applies to what are called nominalised phrases.
Nominalised phrase | Succinct revision |
gave a report | reported |
made a decision | decided |
offered a suggestion | suggested |
resulted in an increase | increased |
issued an announcement | announced |
led to the destruction of | destroyed |
For more information on nominalisation go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominalization
6. Replace passive sentences with active ones when editing business writing.
Computer hardware is manufactured and distributed by us. (Passive voice)
We manufacture and distribute computer hardware. (Active voice)
________________
The proposal was completed and submitted by the project manager. (Passive voice)
The project manager completed and submitted the proposal. (Active voice)
Applying these editing tips to remove a few words here and there might not seem like much. But if you consistently do this when editing your business documents, you can de-clutter your business writing, make it easier to read and increase its effectiveness.