Long Lead-Ins

Long lead-ins are introductory words that say what is obvious and can be ignored. They often end with that or because. The interesting thing about this habit is the difference in word length between having a long lead-in and not is enormous. You can really trim your sentence down by getting rid of the long lead-in.

Some examples:

I am writing you this letter to let you know that I am resigning.
Revised: I am resigning

This is to inform you that your flight has been delayed by two hours.
Revised: Your flight has been delayed two hours.