Enough with the fluff
We know it when we see it: A writer’s attempt to sound smarter or make an article longer by adding fluff phrases. I estimate that these phrases make up at least 30 percent of the content I edit.
The problem with all this fluff? It drives our readers away because many of them strive to read as little as possible of the messages we publish. Unnecessary phrases add to the noise readers are trying to filter out.
Below are a few fluff phrases that — in most cases — can be eliminated from your content:
- As a matter of fact
- As you may already know
- At the present time/At this point in time
- Basically
- Because of the fact that
- During the course of
- For all intents and purposes
- For the purpose of
- Generally
- Given the fact that
- In case you haven’t heard
- In light of the fact that
- In my opinion
- In regard to
- In the event that
- In the process of
- It has come to my attention
- It is believed by many that
- It is designed to
- It is interesting to note that
- It is well known that
- It may be said that
- Needless to say
- Please be advised that
- That said
- The fact of the matter
- We have every intention
How about you, PR Daily readers? Do you have any other extraneous phrases to add to the list?
This article was first published on Ragan Communication’s PR Daily.
