This document provides guidance on developing an effective professional writing style with a focus on conciseness and readability. It outlines eight tips: 1. Be concise by eliminating unnecessary long words, redundancy, "deadwood" phrases, and unnecessary passive voice. 2. Be direct by eliminating "zombie nouns" and "vampire verbs" in favor of stronger, more specific language. 3. Make verbs the weight of sentences by replacing "to be" and "to have" with active, specific verbs. 4. Use the simplest, most active form of verbs. 5. Replace "zombie nouns" with strong, specific nouns. 6. Write in

1. Developing
an Effective
Professional
Writing Style
(Sentence Edition)

2. One guess: what best characterizes the intended
audience for professional communication?

3. Thus: concise, appropriate and readable you
must be.

4. Unnecessarily long words
Redundancy
“Deadwood”
Unnecessary passive voice
General Principle 1: BE CONCISE.

5. 1. Eliminate
unnecessarily
long words.
Instead of…
Approximately
Demonstrate
Utilize
Subsequently
Construct
Assistance
Competencies
Initiate
Use…
About
Show
Use
Next
Build
Help
Skills
Start, Begin
(pg 69-73)

6. 2. Eliminate redundancy.
Examples of redundancy:
already existing
alternative choices
each and every
at the present time presently
continue to remain

7. 3. Reduce “deadwood” (empty
phrases).
• it is my intent to show that
• in my opinion
• as a matter of fact
• in fact
• it may be said that
• very
• really
• it is evident that
• as is well known
• it is noteworthy
• the presence of
• currently

8. 4. Eliminate unnecessary passive
voice.
PRO TIP: if you can add the phrase […by zombies] after the
verb, and the sentence makes sense, then the sentence is
passive voice.
e.g. “It was requested [by zombies] that this memo be
submitted to the project leader by 1:00 p.m. today.”

9. 5. Write in “plain English” wherever
you can. (Avoid jargon, buzzwords,
cliché, and “The Official Style.”)
Learned “Official Style” (bureaucratese):
“A romantic relationship is ongoing between Sarah and Bill.”
OR “One can easily see that an interactive romantic
relationship is currently being fulfilled between Sarah and
Bill.”
Why not: “Sarah and Bill are dating.”?
(pp 89-93)

10. General Principle 2: BE DIRECT.
-Eliminate “zombie
nouns” (aka
nominalizations) where
possible.
-Replace “vampire
verbs” (to be, to have)
with more active,
specific ones.

11. 6. Make the verbs carry the weight of
the sentence.
Cut out “to be” and
“to have” as often as
possible. Use active,
specific verbs
instead.

12. When the interplanting of garlic chives
with tomatoes is performed, bacterial
wilt is suppressed.
The church had a door that dated back to
the 14th century. The door had weather-
bleached wood and pitted iron bindings.
FIX:

13. 7. Use the simplest, most active
form of the verb.
(pp 674-76)
We are taking forward leaps
We are leaping forward
Many people are resistant to reading on screen
Many people resist on-screen reading
The company’s sales figures usually rise substantially in the first
quarter
Company sales usually soar in the first quarter

14. MAKE THESE VERB PHRASES STRONGER AND
MORE CONCISE:
• is capable of
• is composed of
• is used to detect
• makes a decision
• makes a measurement of
• performs the development of

15. 8. Replace “zombie nouns” with
strong, specific nouns.
If it ends in…
-tion -ism
-ity -ment
-ness -age
-
ance/en
ce
-ship
-ability -acy
…it’s probably
a “zombie
noun.”
efficiency
reliability
attention
relationships
performance
knowledge
functionality

16. What verbs are at the root of these commonly
used “zombie nouns”?
Relation
Improvement
Observation
Reference
Application
Development
Connection
Analysis
Utilization
Variability
Conformity