When background becomes baggage

Do you ever use any of these telltale words or phrases?

• Simply put

• In short

• To summarise

• In other words

• Essentially

You do?

You probably use them to summarise all the waffle – ahem I mean ‘crucial background’ – that comes before them.

The stuff you bravely typed out, line by line, because at the time it felt important.

But – here’s the big question – does your reader really need all that detail?

Is your summary sentence enough?

Listen. Every word has a cost: your reader’s time, attention and goodwill. And unlike your document, those things are in very limited supply.

Sometimes investing in more words pays off – to clarify, to reassure, to energise.

But you have to know when to save and when to splurge, or you’ll run out of goodwill pretty darn fast (usually right before the bit you actually want them to read).

So use these phrases with extreme caution. You have been warned. (I’m feeling feisty today. Do I need a sandwich?)