Purging Empty Words

The fifth and final step to being more concise is purging empty words. Basically all this is, is removing all the empty words that have no meaning in the sentence. Doing this will make your sentences more concise and to the point. Here is an example of a sentence that can be changed to be concise by getting rid of the empty words.

• Because of the degree of active participation by our sales reps, profits soared.
• Because of active participation by our sales reps, profits soared.

By removing the words; the degree of, we can make this sentence better. Also avoid stating the obvious and pay close attention to clauses because they can usually be shortened without losing clarity. 


Reference: 

M.Guffey, K.Rhodes, P.Rogin. Business communication process and product. pg.180

Reducing Compound Prepositions

The fourth step to being more concise is to reduce compound prepositions. Compound prepositions are phrases that can be shortened into a single word. You can shorten the phrase into a single word and still say the same thing just in a more efficient way. Here are some examples of how to shorten a compound preposition into one word:

• At a later date  =  later
• At this point in time  =  now 
• Until such time as  =   until
• As to whether or not  =  whether 

Doing this can reduce the amount of words significantly and make your writing more time efficient for you and the reader. 

Reference:

M.Guffey, K.Rhodes, P.Rogin. Business communication process and product. pg. 179

Eliminating Redundancies

The third step in making your writing concise is to eliminate redundancies. Redundancies are expressions that repeat the meaning or unnecessary words. To avoid using redundancies don't use to many adjectives or adverbs and try to avoid phrases as they will cause wordiness. By using redundancies it can make you seem inexperienced. Here are some examples of redundancies to avoid: 

• advance warning
• collect together
• last and final
• true facts
• perfectly clear
• visible to the eye

In avoiding these your writing will show the recipient you are an experienced individual who knows what they are doing.

Reference:

M.Guffey, K.Rhodes, P.Rogin. Business communication process and product. pg.179

Deleting Long Lead-Ins

The second thing that should be deleted from your writing is long lead-ins. This means deleting introductory words that are not necessary. The most common words that are used but not needed in the lead in is that and because. Here is an example of how to avoid using long lead-ins:

Long Lead-in:

I am sending this announcement to let you all know that the office will be closed Monday.

Concise Lead-in:

The office will be closed Monday.

As you can see the word that has been removed from the sentence allowing the point to be made quicker. It's as simple as just re-reading you work before you send it and looking for these little details that will improve the quality or your writing.

Reference:

M.Guffey, K.Rhodes, P.Rogin. Business communication process and product. pg. 178 & 179

Removing Fillers

The first thing that must be eliminated in your writing to make it more concise is fillers. Fillers fatten your sentences with unnecessary words that can make your writing seem less professional and make your points less clear. Two of the most common fillers are there and it, in most cases these words are not necessary. Below is an example of a sentence that can be improved by removing the filters:

Sentence with fillers:

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

Concise sentence without fillers:

The client should apply for a licence.

Following this step will make your writing clear and to the point.

Reference:

M.Guffey, K.Rhodes, P.Rogin. Business communication process and product. pg. 178

Revising for Conciseness

When making your writing concise there are five things you must eliminate. These Five things are fillers, long lead-ins, redundancies, compound prepositions, and empty words. Eliminating these things are a great way to make your writing more professional and to the point. Here is a video from the University Writing Center that covers these five things. 

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJFhc1qpZ_k

M.Guffey, K.Rhodes, P.Rogin. Business communication process and product. pg. 178-180

What it Means to be Concise

Being concise is making your message to the point in the fewest possible words, this makes it more clear and less time consuming. Making a message concise is much harder than just writing a wordy message because you have to trim the sentences down to the point. Below is a video showing how to become more concise.

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIr7_E6XNqA

M.Guffey, K.Rhodes, P.Rogin. Business communication process and product. pg 178