I’m often asked for writing tips so here’s one that will instantly make your business communications punchier. Ditch the waffle. Cutting ‘filler words’ is the single biggest thing you can do to give your writing more oomph.
What do I mean by filler words? Those unnecessary words and phrases that don’t add anything but we’ve got in the habit of using.
Here are some examples:
Instead of saying “each and every day”, how about . . . “daily”?
Rather than “I don’t know AS yet whether I’ll be free” try the simpler “I don’t know yet”
And instead of “Watch out for flabby phrases AT ALL TIMES”, say “Watch out for flabby phrases”
As for timewasting words, “basically” and “essentially” typically don’t add any value
Nor do “totally”, “completely”, “absolutely”, “literally” and “actually”
It’s a good idea to use qualifiers like “very”, “really” and “quite” sparingly too
If your sentence works without it, you just don’t need the word “just”
You can safely ditch waffle such as “in the process of”, “as a matter of fact” and “during the course of” – they serve no purpose
What is waffle?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, waffle means “to talk or write a lot without giving any useful information or clear answers”. It’s using vague words that don’t say very much and, unfortunately, it’s all too common.
In an essay or presentation, waffle is a clue that the writer doesn’t have enough material. When you hear someone waffling in a speech, it can suggest the speaker is trying to fill time and in a politician or official, it’s taken as a sign of indecision or reluctance to answer a question.
But, whatever the reason for it, waffle will prevent you from getting your message across, either because you’ve bored your readers or its buried under meaningless verbiage. As all good writers know, the best writing is clear, concise and direct.
If you’d like waffle-free marketing communications, please get in touch!
