Which of these two sentences speaks to you?

“It is absolutely critical that we work together and employ first-rate teamwork in order to complete the task to the best of our ability, impress this client, and engender follow up business.”

“We need to work together to please this customer and ask them for a referral.”

In the example above, the second sentence not only gets a clearer message across, but it is also less than half the length of the first. You don’t want to confuse your reader OR waste their time with excess words. Less is more when it comes to effective communication. Here are three simple tips to simplify your writing:

  1. Start Strong. Introduce your reason for writing in the first sentence. You will find that when you do this, you won’t need as many words. By starting the sentence with, “We need to work together…” helps you get right to the point.
  2. Don’t repeat yourself. If you say something once, you don’t need to say it again in a slightly different way. Repetition in writing can lead to confusion for the reader.
  3. Avoid vague modifiers. In most sentences, you can eliminate excess verbiage by deleting modifiers like “very,” “basically,” and “actually.” These types of words add little to your message.
Simplifying your communication is powerful, professional and a timesaver. Once you have mastered these tips, you should immediately see results in the office and with your customers.