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To get through to your readers in this nano-second culture, you must write clear, concise sentences.
So, whenever I write a press release or blog post I spend enormous amounts of time trying to tighten up my writing. This includes looking for and eliminating redundancy.
Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases Press Release Distribution posted an interesting article 20 redundant phrases to eliminate from your writing.
Oops! As soon as I read the list I realized how many of these phrases I used all too often.
How about you? Are you guilty of cluttering your writing with any of these phrases?
1. Advance notice. When you give notice for something, you’re doing so in advance of the event taking place. Just use the word “notice.”
2. Advance preview. The dictionary defines preview as “anything that gives an advance idea or impression of something to come.” There’s no need to slap the word “advance” in front of it.
3. At the present time. Simply say either “at present” or “at this time.” There’s no need to be wordy.
4. Close proximity. The word proximity already means “close by,” so it doesn’t need to be qualified with the word “close.”
5. Collaborate together. You see this one a lot in press releases announcing partnerships or mergers. When you collaborate, you’re working with others. The word “together” is redundant.
6. Completely unanimous. Let’s go back to the dictionary, shall we? Unanimous: in complete agreement. That’s all you need.
7. End result. By definition, the result of something takes place at the end. Cut the word “end.”
8. Extra bonus. A bonus is something extra, so you don’t need to use that extra word (see what I did there?) to try to build excitement.
9. Final outcome. See #7.
10. Free gift. Nothing beats free. Thankfully, gifts are free.
11. Major breakthrough. This is another one you see in press releases and marketing materials. A breakthrough is something that provides a significant or sudden advance or development. Adding the word “major” is unnecessary.
12. New beginning. Leave it at “beginning.”
13. New innovation. Again, I can’t tell you how many press releases I’ve seen that use this phrase. An innovation is something new or different by definition. No need for the word “new.”
14. Past history. All history is in the past.
15. Positive improvement. As opposed to what, a negative improvement?
16. Repeat again. To repeat is to perform an action again, making the word “again” pointless.
17. Serious crisis. If you’ve ever faced a PR crisis (or any type of crisis), I don’t have to tell you that it’s serious. All crises are serious.
18. Totally unique. There aren’t degrees of unique. Something is either unique or it isn’t.
19. Unexpected surprise. If you’re expecting something to happen, it’s not a surprise.
20. Unintended mistake. If you intended for something to happen, it wasn’t a mistake; it was a poor decision.
Do you have any redundant phrases to add? Please let us hear from you!
* This graphic accompanied the post on PRdaily.com.