Replace Fluff with Substance
If you suspect you’re writing in an indirect, overly wordy way, you’ve clicked on the right blog. This week, we’re offering five quick and easy tips to replace filler words and other fluff with substance. Why? Because when we perform this small self edit, we sound more confident, respectful of our readers’ time, and more clear and direct, too.
Tip One: Understand What Constitutes Filler Words
Filler words in writing resemble filler we insert when we’re thinking aloud as an oral communicator: Small, meaningless and redundant words to fill the space. A few examples follow:
Feel confident in yourself vs. Feel confident.
I really want to avoid filler words in my writing vs. I want to avoid…
Needless to say, I lost the gig vs. I lost the gig.
In my humble opinion, we ought to try Bangkok over Tokyo vs. We ought to try…
I find it interesting to note… (Remove. State the idea.)
What I notice in these situations is… (Repeat above strategy.)
You might notice also adverbs like very, probably, extremely, basically, etc. lead to filler along with hedging phrases such as “If I were you,” “If it were up to me,” etc.
Tip Two: Detect the Filler
Most Grammar checks now detect wordiness within your writing. You can also:
Hire a coach to spot that writing pattern within recent emails.
Employ online services like Grammarly for feedback on writing samples.
Consider the old-school method of printing out the copy then red-penning by hand suspected filler. (I advocate this approach.)
Ask someone you trust to read your writing for that specific pattern.
Tip Three: Understand your Like For Filler in the First Place
To make bigger progress, get curious on what causes you to employ filler. Do you feel uncertain? Unclear? Lacking specifics to become more direct? Disinterested in the topic—or mission?
If your goal becomes brevity and directness in your writing, get curious on what’s drawing out the opposite habits in your messages. And with blameless discernment, look for causes for those patterns. Don’t forget: Powerful writing’s like a finely-tuned machine. It takes practice.
Tip Four: Replace Filler With More Substance
Often business writers feel alarmed once they’ve removed filler. Fewer words remain and with that you might feel naked—the message looks too sparse.
Here’s the trick: Replace the filler with substance. Get direct with what your goal of the message is, what you want your reader to know, why, and offer details and examples around the topic.
Tip Five: Create a Cheat Sheet Of Your Filler Words (and Consult It)
Keeping a sheet of writing patterns I’d prefer to ditch vs. continue helps me keep on track. As you refine the craft of clear, direct writing devoid of filler words, record your favored ones. As you perform your next self edit, look for those tendencies and remove. You can also set your spell check to detect popular filler words to speed up the process.
Now you’ve five easy, quick tips to reduce filler words in your next message. Enjoy polishing and refining your words! Click here for more blogs on business writing. Workshops are coming soon.
