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Collection of tracks for demonstrations
Concise Writing
Brought to you by Assemble You.
It's time to work on YOU. So sit back and listen to practical, actionable advice to accelerate your progress.
James remembers vividly the first time he sent a work email to his department. His Supervisor’s response was short and straight to the point. James, reading this was a challenge. There was so much unnecessary information. Your writing needs to be more concise.
James knew he had to do something urgently about his writing. He needed his writing to be concise. So what did he do and how did his writing turn out?
In this track, we will be looking at concise writing, why it is important to communicate effectively, and actionable steps to improve your writing.
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According to the Stanford Engineering STEM style guide, “writing clearly and concisely means choosing your words deliberately and precisely, constructing your sentences carefully to eliminate deadwood, and using grammar properly.”
By writing clearly and concisely, you will get straight to your point in a way your audience can easily comprehend. Simply put, “Concise writing means using the fewest words possible to convey an idea.”
So why do we need to write in this way?
“Readers and audiences treasure concise writing”, notes a Masterclass article, “Concise sentences and paragraphs grip your reader’s attention and help them focus on your main point.”
“Reading sprawling sentences can feel overwhelming, confusing, or boring.” says Mira Khanna, Strategic Product Marketer at Grammarly, “It can confuse readers by making it harder for them to quickly identify the main point of what you’re trying to communicate. After all, they have to sift through the extra verbiage and hunt for the key points of your message. Making readers do unnecessary work can make them grumpy, and grumpy readers are less receptive to what you have to say”
So whether you’re sending a text message, writing an email, or perfecting your CV, wordy writing weakens the impact of your message. Concise writing, instead, helps grab and hold your reader’s attention. It’s also likely to be more memorable and make a lasting impact on your reader.
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The truth is that this does not come naturally to everyone, as James found. It takes some effort. Writing a short article is not necessarily easier than writing a long one. John Locke captured this challenge in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. He said, "To confess the truth, I am now too lazy or too busy to make it shorter."
If you can put in the effort, you can refine your writing skills to not tire out your readers. You’ll ensure that the points you are trying to make are clear and crisp.
To write concisely, you must wield the big knife. Eliminate words that do not belong in your writing. Brevity is king. Less is more. Aim to communicate your point with the fewest words possible.“A writer is more effective when they make their point efficiently without resorting to unnecessary words, redundant words, and redundant phrases.” Extra words, unnecessary phrases, and contrived sentences may improve your word count but won’t improve your writing.
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How do you go about eliminating words that do not belong in your writing?
Let us look at an example.
I just received and read the email you sent last week about the fascinating report you’re writing for the upcoming project at work. I definitely agree with you that it needs a thorough, close edit from someone familiar with your target audience.
To make this concise, this is an option:
I received your email about the project report and agree it needs an expert edit.
Next, eliminating filler words is a key part of concise writing.
“Filler words are words,” according to Mira Khanna, “that add no meaning or value to a sentence and simply ‘fill’ the space. They can be easily removed or replaced, but often inadvertently creep up in writing since we’re so used to using them in our speech.”
A sentence that’s not concise: For all intents and purposes, we’ve planned for the building work to commence as hoped in the final month of this year.
A concise sentence: The building work will start in December.
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Eliminate vague words, too.
Vague words are unnecessary words. They conceal, rather than reveal, your meaning.
Replacing vague words with specific ones is an important step to writing concisely.
Vague: We are developing a new consumer device that allows users to talk to each other in real time.
Specific: We are developing a new mobile phone.
Eliminate redundant words.
They take up unnecessary space and can distract your reader. Getting rid of them simplifies your sentences and conveys your points clearly. This also ensures you’re not repeating yourself.
Not Concise: If you were to ask me, I think I’d say that’s a good idea, all thing’s considered.
Concise: In my opinion, that’s a good idea. Or even, that’s a good idea.
***
Jane Rosenzweig, the Director of the Harvard Writing Center and the author of the newsletter Writing Hacks, notes that “many workplace documents are weighed down by the following words: generally, basically, actually, kind of, really, virtually, totally, essentially, completely, practically, literally, and just.”
If one of these words is essential to the meaning of your sentence, keep it. But if not, cut it out.
To know when to wield the big knife, it helps to ask the following questions:
What is the word adding to your sentence?
If you cut it, does your sentence lose anything?
If you keep it, will it weaken your message?
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Next, don’t use words just because they feel good. Use words you fully understand.
Sometimes we’re tempted to use important-sounding words that are unfamiliar to us. As a Masterclass guide says, “First-time writers sometimes rely too heavily on a thesaurus, using it to find big words that may sound sophisticated but that may not be precise synonyms for the simple words they’re replacing. Smart readers will spot these false synonyms. A single word can upend an entire sentence if used incorrectly. So while there’s nothing wrong with using advanced vocabulary, always prioritize clarity and precision.”
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Instead of multiple negatives, use affirmatives.
According to the Stanford Engineering guide, “multiple negatives require your readers to interpret your meaning. Affirmatives, instead, convey a concise meaning that needs no interpretation.
The following sentence isn’t concise: Your audience will not appreciate the details that lack relevance.
This sentence is concise: Your audience will appreciate relevant details.
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Write in the active voice instead of the passive voice.
In a sentence written in the active voice, the subject performs an action. “Alana drove the car” is active. “The car was driven by Alana” conveys the same information using the passive voice. Sometimes you need to write a passive sentence to accurately describe a situation, but generally, the active voice is more direct.
The passive voice might come easier, but it’s often weaker when compared to the active voice. Mira Khanna notes, “‘If you find yourself trending towards using the passive voice because you think it sounds a bit fancier or softens something unpleasant, remember that active voice sets a stronger and more direct tone. Keep most of your sentences in the active voice—you'll find that they also tend to be more concise.”
When you can use one word instead of more, use it.
Have you used two words or more to describe something when one would suffice? If yes, employ strong adjectives. ‘‘Strengthening your vocabulary can help you ensure that you’re using the best word for the situation and that all of your words deserve to be in your sentence.”
Compare the sentence I struggled to feel motivated in the long, dull, slow and boring meeting, with the concise version: I struggled to feel motivated in the tedious meeting.
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Remember to vary the length of your sentences, too.
Short sentences are as important as long ones and might say what you need them to. You don’t need to make them longer to seem knowledgeable or competent.
Finally, avoid nominalisations.
“A nominalization is a verb or adjective that has been turned into a noun.” According to the Stanford Engineering STEM style guide, “nominalizations should be avoided when they hide the action of a sentence; ground your sentences in someone/something (the agent) doing something (the action).” Instead of saying that the outcome is dependent on the data, we can say: The outcome depends on the data. And instead of using a phrase like “gave an assessment of,” just write the single word “assessed.” In this way, you save your reader the headache of reading long phrases or multiple words.
Today we’ve explained what concise writing is and why it is important. We examined why it is important to wield the big knife to cut out vague and unnecessary words. Use words that you understand and affirmatives instead of multiple negatives. Write in the active voice and use one word where you can. Vary the length of your sentences and avoid nominalisations.
James employed these tips, and they helped his writing immensely. You can improve your communication, too; now is the perfect time to start. Make your next email response as concise as possible.