Presentation for Class
Transcript: Avoid There and It Sentences When to use an active voice? Avoid Weak Verbs ex. is, was, are, has and make. Conciseness Pronouns must clearly refer to the noun they replace. 1. Why is editing for clarity and conciseness so important when communicating via writing? When the agent is not know When you want to be indirect or inoffensive When the person behind the action needs to be protected Avoid Ambiguous Pronoun Reference Avoid Excessive Prepositions 2. How can you rephrase the following sentence to remove any ambiguous modifiers? Ex. Only use this phone in a red alert. Answ. Use this phone only in a red alert. Clean out Clutter Words ex. very, definitely, quite, extremely, rather and more. Concise writing conveys the most information in the fewest words. Other tips for Conciseness Eliminate Redundancy ex. the month of August Make Negative Positive A positive expression is easier to understand When reporting error or bad news When you want action When giving instructions Delete Needless Prefaces Get right to the point Passive Voice vs. Active Voice When to use a passive voice? Avoid Wordy Phrases. Eliminate Redundancy Avoid Needles Reptition Avoid there and it sentences Avoid Weak Verbs Avoid Excessive Prepositions Avoid Nominlizations Make Negative Positive Clean out clutter words Delete needles qualifiers Reduce wordy phrases ex. the majority of = most Questions Avoid Needless Repetition Unnecessary repetition cluster writing and dilutes meaning. Avoid Wordy Phrases, Redundancy, and Repetition Example 2 Dialing the phone, the cat ran out the open door. Example 2 In a business relationship, trust is a vital element. Example 1 Be sure to leave enough time for a training session participant evaluation. Be sure to leave enough time to evaluate participants in the training session. As Joe dialed the phone, the cat ran out the open door. A business relationship depends on trust. Avoid Ambiguous Modifiers Position modifiers to reflect your meaning. Unstack Modifying Nouns Too many nouns in a row can create confusion and reading difficulty. Editing For Clarity and Conciseness Because his assistant is competitive, Jack resents him. Example 1 We expect a refund because of your error in our shipment. Clear writing enables a person to read each sentence only once in order to fully understand its meaning. Avoid ambiguous pronoun references and modifiers Unstack modifying Nouns Arrange word order for coherence and emphasis Use active voice whenever possible Use passive voice selectively Clarity Arrange Word Order for Coherence and Emphasis Sentences generally work best when the beginning looks back at familiar information. Example 1 Jack resents his assistant because he is competitive. Because of your error in our shipment, we expect a refund.