Those of us working in marketing and copywriting are expected to be able to professionally convey ideas in a presentation style commonly dubbed business writing. Even if you don’t deal with marketing or copywriting regularly, efficient presentation is a skill that benefits anyone. As the old saying goes, “time is money” – every moment spent beating around the bush is a moment your readers could’ve better spent doing (almost) anything else. Although we previously highlighted the basics of business writing, there are plenty more intricacies to cover!
Where adjectives fall short
Are you feeling that the project’s progress is going great? Do you have a fantastic idea to share? Adjectives like so get thrown around a lot in the workplace (especially in instant messaging and emails), but ask yourself this – do they really contribute anything to the conversation?
Joel Schwartzberg, author of Get to the Point! And Inc.com contributor, describes such adjectives as “badjectives”. “You can tell ‘badjectives’ mean very little because most of them can adequately describe both a breakthrough business idea and the tuna sandwich I just ate,” Schwartzberg explains. It’s precisely this lack of clarity that gives adjectives a bad rap in business writing.
Don’t just say that something was great, ask yourself what about it was great or why you thought it was great – better yet, ditch the badjective and explain your rationale instead!
Meh: The project’s progress is going great.
Better: The project is going great – we’re ahead in our production schedule.
Yes: We’re ahead in production schedule, so we can enter the next phase of the project a month earlier.
If you must use an adjective, remember that they are most valuable when they are used to support a point – not to make one – a mistake that Schwartzberg defines as “an isolated adjective”.
Isolated: The presentation was lacklustre.
Supported: It was a lacklustre presentation.
“The revised versions are more powerful communications because they emphasise a united concept,” he writes – a “lacklustre presentation” is stronger than simply “lacklustre”. If you want to hammer home the point, then you must also include the why to further illustrate your thoughts.
Supported + why: It was a lacklustre presentation because it was based purely on personal assumptions and anecdotal evidence. Without hard data or similar case studies, we can’t determine if the idea is a proper fit for our brand.
Do you really need that?
Badjectives are prime culprits when trying to fix concise writing, but even with minimal use of adjectives, you could still be overfilling your sentences with unnecessary details!
“While the right adjectives can elevate communication, too many adjectives can bury or dilute it. Remember that the simpler your communication, the easier it is to process, so use as few words – including adjectives – as possible,” Schwartzberg points out.
To cut the bloat, “and audits” help you to determine whether you really need to include those extra bits of detail. To begin, look through all the “ands” across your document (use ctrl + f on your word processer), then use this checklist with each “and” you come across:
· Is this relevant to what I said at the beginning of the sentence? Would it be better off as an independent point later on?
· Has this point been mentioned before in the document? Is repeating it necessary or will it be redundant?
· Does this point make the sentence unwieldy and/or cumbersome to read?
If you answered “yes” to any of these, then you should consider splitting the sentence apart or axing the point entirely. The less redundancies and incoherencies, the smoother your content will read… it’ll be more persuasive to boot too!
The purpose of such editing in business writing isn’t to bash adjectives – only to remove or repurpose low-value words that don’t contribute to a concise conversation. As Schwartzberg writes in the beginning of his article, “adjectives can be an effective way to specify and emphasise concepts in everything from emails and posts to speeches and chats, but you have to select and employ them strategically to ensure they are powerful, not pointless.” Give the tips in this article a try, and see how quickly your writing transforms from gab to golden!