Remember learning all those long, complicated words for the SAT? While it’s good to know what these words mean and how they can be used, using them in our own writing isn’t always a good plan. Sometimes brevity is the best way to express an idea.

But why should we bother when we took all that time to learn those long words?

Unnecessary words can make us sound like we lack confidence in our writing. Redundant words, for example, give the same idea twice. Here are some examples: Twelve noon (noon is always at twelve); Summarize briefly (summaries are brief by nature); Exactly the same (the same is the same, right?).

Use your words carefully and purposefully. There’s a reason the cliché “short and sweet” has stuck around for so long!

Here’s a great video on using simple words to express big ideas:  “The Power of Simple Words”