Mortifying Modifiers

Modifiers are a concise writings worst enemy. They only put emphasis on words that are able to be expressed alone and ultimately lengthen the entire sentence.

Very.... Totally.... Really...

After the long walk, she became very tired. - WORDY

After the long walk, she became tired.         - CONCISE

The Unfortunate Burden

"DONT BURDEN READERS WITH UNNCESSARY INFORMATION".

Reading long sentences filled with empty words, fillers, and redundancies only confuses the reader and takes away the original point you are trying to get across. Organize your ideas and say only what is important. Business people do not have time to read there's, it's, I am's, and This is to's.

Comparisons

                            Wordy                                                                     Concise
There are many different types of restaurants         There are many restaurants in this area.
available in this area.

It is the client who should make application            The client should apply for a licence.
for a licence

Anyone would rather read a concise sentence over a wordy and lengthy sentence filled with unnecessary words. WE ALL LOVE CONCISENESS!

The Difficulty of Conciseness

Conciseness in writing is not an easy task. We must "trim the fat" of the sentence, removing unnecessary excess words and unimportant information. Eliminating specific parts of a sentance such as fillers, long lead-ins, redundancies, compound prepostions and empty words will assure success in revising for conciseness.

Fillers - words that fatten sentences using excess words such as there or it.

Long Lead-ins - uncessary introductory words such as I am or This is.

Redundancies - repeating the meaning in an expression such as perfectly clear or personal opinion.

Compound Prepositions - the use of multiple words in a phrase or expression that can be replaced by a single word such as at this point in time replaced by now or despite the fact replaced by although.

Empty Words - Expendable parts of a sentance that only lengthen and weaken clarity. Words such as  degree, factor, quality, the fact that, and instance are empty words.

Conciseness

Conciseness, defined by websters dictionary as 'the condition of being short', in other words, "getting to the point". Concisness is the business world however is very important, it creates an easier comprehension and an emphasis on the main message. Although concise writing gets to the point when trying to convey a specific message, it is far more difficult than "flabby" ones.

Concise While Closing a Presentation

Sometimes it can be hard to be concise when presenting something, but what people find most hard to get straight to the point to is the closing part of the presentation. We often struggle to be concise as we end our presentation and it tends to get off topic. This video gives you tips on how to be concise when closing a presentation:

"Paramedic Method"

A professor of English at UCLA named Richard Lanham created a method for making your writing more concise. This method is called Lanham's "Paramedic Method" and can be applied to your writing using these tips:



1. Don't use too many prepositions. 
Too many prepositions can drain all the action out of a sentence. Get rid of the prepositions, and find a strong active verb to make the sentence direct:

Original: In this passage is an example of the use of the rule of justice in argumentation.
Revised: This passage exemplifies argumentation using the rule of justice.

2. Don't start off the sentence using "is".  
Using "is" in a sentence gets it off to a slow start, and makes the sentence weak. Replace as many "to be" verbs with action verbs as you can, and change all passive voice ("is defended by") to an active voice ("defends").

Original: The point I wish to make is that fish sleep with their eyes open.
Revised: Fish sleep with their eyes open.

4. Start the sentence fast. 
Stick to the action and avoid opening sentences with phrases like these:

• My opinion is that....
• The point I wish to make is that ...
• The fact of the matter is that...

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