Boosting Clarity, Ditching the Muck: A veteran editor’s guide to streamlining your message and bolstering your credibility

The contemporary desire to adopt a conversational tone has resulted in an oozing marsh of ambiguities, redundancies and just plain sloppy writing.

Help your writers and readers out of the swamp:

• Rediscover the importance of grammatical structure and syntax.
• Emphasize word choice to deliver potent messages—and to preserve your authoritative voice.
• Excise filler words and phrases that slow down and turn off your readers.
• Use proper punctuation for consistent communication.
• Avoid the trap that makes audiences zone out before they even reach your second paragraph.