Make Your Business Writing More Concise (and Precise) by Avoiding Adverbs

In business writing, as in any other area, hard-and-fast rules can cause problems as well as solve them. That said, one guideline is worth following in most instances: avoid unnecessary adverbs.

Just as adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives – “completely blank,” for example, or “strongly disliked.” In the former example, this is redundant, as anything that’s blank will be completely blank. In the latter example, a stronger one-word verb – “hated,” “detested” or “loathed” – would provide more punch.

Of course, you can’t kill every adverb. They do have their place in communication – but use them only when they serve a purpose. In most instances, you can get your point across with better, more descriptive verbs and adjectives.

Tools like a dictionary or thesaurus can come in handy, but artificial intelligence (AI) can be used too. After all, a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that ChatGPT can help people improve their writing.

AI is a valuable tool when used wisely, but it only goes so far. You have something ChatGPT doesn’t: the ability to revise a piece of writing that might be correct in terms of spelling, grammar and punctuation, but lacks the punch of a well-chosen word or phrase.

Make use of that ability, whether or not you choose to apply AI to your business writing.

Which adverbs need to go every time?

Here are some of the common offenders you can eliminate:

“Possibly.” Erase this from your business writing vocabulary unless you want to sound wishy-washy or passive aggressive.

Bad: “We could possibly see 20 percent growth over the next year using this strategy.”

Good: “We expect growth of up to 20 percent over the next year using this strategy.”

Bad: “Could you possibly have this back to me by Friday?”

Good: “I’d like to have this back by Friday. Will that work?”

“Quite possible” or “quite possibly” are also vague and undescriptive. Go with a degree of likelihood instead for more precise language.

“Certainly” or “absolutely.” You don’t need them. If something is certain, absolute – or, if you’re going for an extra layer of redundancy, “absolutely certain” – then you don’t need to say so.

What about “Certainly” or “Absolutely” as a response to a request? Instead, frame your positive response in the language of the request. This indicates that you’ve read the request, processed it and determined that you can meet it.

“I’d like to have this back by Friday. Will that work?”

“I’ll have it to you by Friday.”

This will take a little more time, but not much – and your response will carry more weight if it looks reflective rather than reflexive.

All over-the-top adverbs. There’s a long list of them: “incredibly,” “unbelievably,” “fantastically,” “amazingly,” “stunningly,” and “indescribably.” If you can write whatever you’re “indescribably _________” about, it’s not indescribable, is it?

“Indescribably happy” can become “thrilled,” or even “ecstatic.” You do want to be careful about going overboard with adjectives, too, as they might decrease the professionalism of your tone in cases where you’re conversing with a superior.

There’s another reason for ditching the superlatives. If you use over-the-top language in routine communication, your readers will become numb to it. When that happens, where do you go when you need to convey real feeling?

---

Looking to boost your business writing skills? Click here!

---

Your business writing – from instant messages to colleagues, to company-wide emails, to white papers and other publications – should be both precise and concise. While killing your unnecessary adverbs is only part of that approach, will it go a long way toward improving your writing?

Definitely.

---

Ready to learn more? Check out some of SkillPath's live virtual training programs, on-demand video training or get it all with our unlimited eLearning platform.