Keep It Short and Sweet !
Keep It Short and Sweet !Conciseness is a virtue in communication. It pays, literally, to be concise. Just ask anyone who pays his phone bill by the number of minutes used, or the businessman whose advertisement is charged by column length. Yet how often we waste people's valuable time by being long-winded in our speech or writing !
Being concise means being able to convey the same idea in as few words as possible. Here are some ways this can be done :
1) Reduce phrases to words
e.g. in the event that -> if
at a distance that doers not endanger lives -> at a safe distance
2) Avoid redundant pairs and categories
e.g. true facts -> facts
green in colour -> green
3) Avoid repetitions, implied or otherwise
e.g. The minutes were prepared by the Secretary who took down notes at the meeting. She prepared the draft minutes and had them vetted. After the minutes were confirmed, she filed them.
-> The minutes of meeting were prepared, vetted, confirmed and filed.
4) Use action words instead of noun phrases
e.g. We conducted an investigation on the problem.
-> We investigated the problem.
The Board has come to the conclusion that the proposal was not feasible.
->The Board concluded that the proposal was not feasible.
5) Drop words that do not add to the message content
e.g. I kind of expect the exhibition to be at Suntec City.
->I expect the exhibition to be at Suntec City.
What we need is basically a complete overhaul.
->What we need is a complete overhaul.
6) Avoid starting with "There is/are"
e.g. There is a stall at the corner that sells very good herbal soups.
-> The stall at the corner sells very good herbal soups.
Observe verbal efficiency. Keep It Short and Sweet!
By Singapore Polytechnic
Labels: Facts
posted by Fleur De La Lune @ 10:25 pm
1 Comments:
wooo... so next time I talk to you I must be careful not to commit these chiong hey mistakes hahahaha!!! Am I doing them now??
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