You'll discover 4 principles of conciseness that help your reader cut through the word clutter and get to the core message of each sentence:

 

Active versus passive voice. To shorten your sentences and make them more powerful, direct, and clear, prefer active voice.

ACTIVE VOICE	PASSIVE VOICE
I examined the report closely for errors.   Angry protesters took over our meeting.	The report was examined closely for errors.   Our meeting was taking over by angry protesters.

 

Buried verbs. Shorten your sentences and add impact by "digging out" buried verbs.

Example:
Buried Verb:	Our new product, the SliceMaster II, will aid in the reduction of cooking time.
Corrected:	Our new product, the SliceMaster II, reduces cooking time.

 

Adjective and adverb clutter. Adjectives and adverbs clutter your document without adding information. By removing such clutter, you make it easier for your readers to understand your ideas.

Example:
Cluttered:	Ted Noitall is a top-notch expert who really understands the problems we're facing.
Uncluttered:	Ted Noitall is an expert who understands the problems we're facing.

 

Circumlocutions. Eliminating cliches, redundancies, and little-word padding will shorten your sentences and make them clearer.

CIRCUMLOCUTION	CORRECTION
to be in a position to	to
it would seem that	apparently
large in size	large
open up	open