Transcript Writing Clearly and Concisely PPT

Writing Clearly and
Concisely
How to reduce wordiness
Eliminate Redundancies and Repetition
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Although Bennett’s arguments about children
being raised by homosexual couples seem
strong, there are many inconsistencies such as
Bennett not bringing evidence into his
argument. In his argument he does not
provide his readers with evidence showing us
what makes being raised by homosexuals so
bad.
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Advertisements today can mislead consumers by
becoming appealing to the senses. Bacardi Silver has a
very beautiful and attractive advertisement that could
possibly catch the eye of most drinkers. Ebony
magazine advertised this particular advertisement from
Bacardi Silver, that promotes a new flavor of its liquor
called “Bacardi Silver Mojito.” The advertisement
uses multiple images to draw in an audience of young
drinkers and persuade them to try Bacardi’s newest
flavor. This may be an advertisement but it
manipulates people to buy what they do not need and
covers up something that is not healthy.
More Repetition
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Advertisers exercise several different techniques to
persuade their audiences to get involved in alluring
situations. In most cases, advertisers attract an
individual's attention by stimulating internal craving
using engaging images. In U.S. Weekly, Dove presents
an advertisement for chocolate encouraging viewers to
make the purchase. In Dove's chocolate ad, advertisers
create a yearning for the consumer to purchase the
chocolate by manipulating the situation and by
appealing to the need for escape and the need to satisfy
curiosity.
1. Eliminate weak expletives
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There are, there is, it is
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Make the subject of your message the subject of your
sentence:
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It is expensive to rent old movies.
Renting old movies is expensive.
This is
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Avoid use to begin a sentence:
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The director fired the cast. This resulted in his hiring a new
cast.
The director fired the cast, resulting in his hiring a new
cast.
2. The verb to be:
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Minimize use of was and is:
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A new fire curtain is necessary for the stage.
The stage needs a new fire curtain.
Use simple past tense as much as possible:
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The boy was having problems.
The boy had problems.
3. Active vs. passive verbs
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Active voice shorter, more lively, and easier
to understand:
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The old movies were ruined in the fire.
The fire ruined the old movies.
Use simple past tense as much as possible:
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They could see the problem.
They saw the problem
Do we need all of those prepositions?
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Minimize “of” by using possessive nouns
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The president of the local Rotary Club called an
emergency meeting.
The local Rotary Club president called an emergency
meeting.
Joe Smith of Newport donated a large sum of money to
help the building of a new hospital.
Newport’s Joe Smith donated a large sum to build the
new hospital.
You waste the time of your readers
You waste your readers’ time.
Use a colon to connect lists
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The auditorium has three main problems. These
areas are costumes, scenery, and lighting.
The auditorium has three main problems:
costumes, scenery, and lighting.
Jane had the perfect ingredients for success.
These included motivation, determination, and
stamina.
Jane had the perfect ingredients for success:
motivation, determination, and stamina.