What are you striving to become?

If you are striving, is that actually a good thing? Wouldn?t it sound better to simply say you are doing?

For example, ?We are striving to be the best in customer care? makes it seem like you?re trying really hard, but you?re just not quite there yet. Doesn?t it sound better to say ?We provide the highest quality customer care??

Striving is one of those meaningless, filler words. We like to use extra words like that even though they?re really not necessary and can sometimes backfire on us. Striving, if it has any meaning for the reader at all, gives off a negative image.

Sometimes we feel as though we have to ease into our words. How often do you read (or write), ?I would like to tell you ??? Those are all words that can be deleted completely, leaving the meaning much stronger. Just come out and say what you have to say!

Deleting words is painful. We work so hard to put as many words as possible on a web page, in marketing materials, or in an email, that we don?t want to give up any of them. However, deleting meaningless words will give your message more meaning.

It is a sad fact that, in the 21^st century business world, we are all too busy to read every word. We want to see only the words that carry significant impact all by themselves, without the crutches of modifiers.

Mark Twain said, ?Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.?

To make your business writing stronger, all you have to do is delete the meaningless words – and the potentially harmful words.

Stop striving. Just do.