Micro post!
Every time I finish a document or email I look back and think:
- Strip out the crap
- Change passive to active
- Change open ended to closed
Examples:
- Strip out crap
- With crap: “If you are trying hard, to really say something and want to make it stronger and harder then you can often work to have a bigger impact by using a smaller amount of words.”
- “Without crap: Say something stronger with less words.”
- Active not passive:
- “We’re going to try and get it working.”
- “We’re going to get it working.”
- Closed not open:
- “Let me know what you think”
- “Please give me specific feedback
I won’t pretend I’m language expert but I find this helps me get fast, quality responses.