Clarity & Style
Explore 13 expert techniques in clarity & style.
Plain, concrete, and concise language choices.
Featured Concepts
Conciseness
Say the most with the fewest necessary words.
Avoid Jargon
Prefer common words to insider terms unless your audience shares them.
Concrete Language
Use specific, sensory words that people can picture.
Active Voice
Make the doer the subject to increase clarity and energy.
Front-Loading
Place the key idea at the start of the sentence.
Reduce Hedging
Limit softeners like maybe, sort of, I think when you need authority.
Avoid Minimizing Language
Remove words like 'just,' 'only,' or 'a little' that diminish the value of your ideas.
Avoid Permission-Seeking Language
Stop asking for validation when you have something valuable to contribute.
Reduce Unnecessary Apologies
Save 'sorry' for genuine mistakes, not for having ideas, asking questions, or existing.
Limit Excessive Qualifiers
Reduce overused intensifiers like 'very,' 'really,' and 'extremely' that add noise without meaning.
Redundancy (Pleonasm)
Remove needless repetition that adds no meaning.
Avoid Nominalization
Prefer strong verbs over abstract noun forms.
Informative Speaking
The discipline of teaching complex information clearly, memorably, and engagingly.