It's Time to Trash These 10 Words
Marianne G. Gooch, MBA
Executive Strategic Advisor | Leadership Communication | Guiding Senior Management to Success
There are certain words and phrases that find their way into our everyday vocabulary without our fully understanding their meaning, let alone why they tumble out of our mouths.
When you’re writing a speech or preparing to give one, there are certain words and phrases you should delete to make the text stronger and cut the word count.? While this may not be the ultimate list of all words that we should refrain from using, here are 10 that I look for when I do revisions:
#10.? Right?? It’s bad enough on its own, as if we’re looking for confirmation.? To make matters worse, it’s usually said with an inflection.? It’s not at all necessary.
#9.? To be honest.? Whenever I hear that phrase, I immediately wonder if everything said before wasn’t honest.
#8.? Really, very.? These are useless modifiers.? They are fillers and nothing more.? Find a stronger adjective to describe the point you’re trying to enhance.
#7.? Literally.? This word doesn’t add information or value to a sentence.? It’s another way of filling in time.? Silence is okay, especially when we’re about to make a point.
#6.? I’m sorry.? Said no man ever.? So, why do we women say it?
#5.? Kill two birds with one stone.? Why would anyone want to kill even one bird?? Let’s get rid of this one entirely, as I know we can find better words to describe doing two things with one single action.
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#4.? At the end of the day.? I googled it, and it means “when everything is taken into consideration.”? Why not just say that?
#3. New normal.? This is a state when the economy or society settles following a crisis.? Would everyone agree that we’re here now?
#2.? Unprecedented.? It means never done or known before.? Safe to say we all know what COVID means.? Same with pivot.
#1.? You’re on mute!? No explanation necessary.
What trash-talking words do you think we should get rid of?
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1 年You can't have a video meeting without someone saying "you're on mute". I can see how that is #1 on your top 10. Awesome article.
Head of Marketing & Communications | LinkedIn Certified Marketing Expert | Brand Builder | Digital| I help position and market brands, build relationships and grow new business through marketing and loyalty | CRM | ESG
1 年Excellent recommendations!
Living Benefits Specialist | Finance Educator | Audience Engager | Content Manager | Networker | Mentor | Fulbright Grant Recipient | German Speaker | Rotarian
1 年So true! Also “Without further ado” and “At this point…”
Director of Advancement, Texas Children’s Duncan Neurological Research Institute
1 年Marianne, your #10 is my #1. “Right?”, it’s a verbal cruch that weakens the impact of the message. Thanks for helping us take out the trash!