This is a video I found on YouTube about different techniques you can use to be more concise.
- This is the biggest problem I have when I'm writing and it begins to sound to wordy.
- I find that it is hard to spot repetition when it is not necessarily repeating in the same words.
- Also, especially for the last example, I find that through this your leaving out details that may be important to the message. Couldn't Helen be a man?
- There is a fine line between being redundant and giving necessary details. Helen is probably not a man, but what if the name was Tracy or Logan?
- It depends on who you are sending the message to (i.e. How much the receiver knows about you and the subject of the message).
- The "medium" of the message is also important.
- In certain mediums like newspapers details are very important. However if this was a business e-mail sent internally to someone who knows Helen, then it would not be necessary to state that she is a woman.
- P.S. Do you see whats wrong with the first example?
- It says John was employed and now works for Levis Strauss.
- When he revises the sentence it never says anything of past employment.
- Is that important to the message? Or is it just an error from the video?
- This technique is more obvious to spot, some proofreading should get this issue sorted almost every time.
- Revision, especially in business e-mails and letters, is very important. Every time you send a business e-mail or letter there is a reflection and opinion made of you once it is read. Being concise can help you maintain a professional reputation throughout your career.
- This is the most common error when trying to stay concise. Strictly because it is so easy for the writer to want to inflate the phrase.
- The common error is that when a sentence is longer; it sounds "smarter" or more professional.
- The fact of the matter is, being concise and to the point is more professional because it cuts out the "fluff".
- Revised: Being concise is more professional because it cuts out the "fluff".
- This is cutting your sentences down by using the tools in the English language.
- In the first example he cuts out two words with a comma. It shows the versatility of the English language.
- I don't know any other languages yet, but I am curious to see if other languages have rules like English. Can they shorten their sentences to say the same thing but in fewer words?
- Please comment below if you do know another language that can shorten their sentences like English.
- Notice the joke he made in the last example?
- This technique has to do with past tense.
- It is replacing words with two letters on the end of another word in the sentence.
- Proofreading should catch this mistake without too much trouble, it is an obvious switch that makes the sentence sound "cleaner".
