Be concise!

Your goal?

• Be concise and precise with your use of words

• Use as many words as you need but no more than you really need!

Vague Words

• Replace vague words with more powerful and specific ones

e.g. The website of the faculty has made available many of the things that students can use for making decision on the best graduate program.

How about this....?

• The faculty’s website offers criteria for choosing the best graduate program.

OR

The faculty’s website offers decision-making tools for determining the best graduate program.

Combine sentences....

• Combine sentences – not all thoughts/information require full sentences and can be inserted in another sentences

• E.g. Ludwig’s castles are an astounding marriage of beauty and madness. By his death, he had commissioned three castles.

Is this more concise?

• Ludwig’s three castles are an astounding marriage of beauty and madness.

OR

The three castles commissioned by Ludwig are an astounding marriage of beauty and madness.

Eliminate words...

• Some words do not add meaning to the sentence – avoid filler words.

E.g. This particular method is not really applicable to the field of soil biology.

How about this?

• This method is not applicable to soil biology.

• Is it more concise? Is it precise? Is it saying the same thing?

Redundant words

• Many words imply each other so you only need to use one.

E.g. Various differences, final outcome, completely finish, very unique

Condensing phrases

1) Change phrases into single-words and adjectives

e.g. The artist with the most ambition...../The most ambitious artist.....

1) Change ‘that’, ‘who’, and ‘which’ clauses into phrases

e.g. The region that is most isolated..../The most isolated region.....

Avoid overuse of ‘it is’ and ‘there are’

It is imperative that the courts impose sanctions.

Better.....

The courts must impose sanctions.

Use infinitive phrases sparingly

• Replace, when possible, an infinitive phrase (...to be, to have, and others like this) with action words

E.g. One role of a keystone species is to act as an indicator of environmental stress.

Better?Keystone species can act as indicators of

environmental stress

Be direct!

• Avoid roundabout expressions of several words when a few would do.

• E.g. In light of the fact that....• For the reason that....

Both can be replaced by because, since or why!