This is an all ears English podcast episode 24 13 how to be concise part to choose your words Welcome to the all ears English podcast Downloaded more than 200 million times.
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In this part two of our three -part series on being concise, find out what words you can deploy to tighten up your message and where to find those words.
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we use the less impactful each word becomes so yes I am guilty of this I will find myself sort of saying something in a very wordy way and in the middle I'm I wish I could just start over, and think about this, and choose my words, and make it more impactful.
Interesting, it's an interesting insight.
Yeah, it's true, it happens to me sometimes too.
Sometimes I just wish I could stop talking.
How do I stop talking without making it super awkward?
So we're back for a series, part two of our three part series on how to be concise.
Aubrey, what did we do on part one?
Yeah, part one focused on how we can make our message concise through preparation and sharing only the most important details.
So we will share the episode number for that at the end of the episode, stay to the end, but you can listen to these out of order.
So if you miss that one, stay to the end and then be sure to catch all three for this episode, be sure to hit follow so you hear part three as well.
Yes, hit that follow button, just go into whatever app you're listening in today and just hit follow and then we'll drop right into your queue.
We're talking about vocabulary today, right?
Because vocabulary we use is also key to how concise our message is.
We often need to eliminate unnecessary words and phrases, and like Lindsay and I were saying, we've all been there, whereas we're speaking we're like, I should have said this differently, I maybe should have chosen different words, so sometimes it takes thinking about it ahead of time.
What types of words could we eliminate, or what types of phrases should we change?
Yeah, exactly and the first thing I want to say before we go into any of these vocab strategies The only way any of this is gonna work is by actually trying this multiple times going out there and getting the raw speaking practice Right, absolutely.
So you have to have had multiple situations in the first episode I described a moment when I was moderating a panel that I just kept talking and I knew I was Going in the wrong direction, but I couldn't stop Because I was nervous you have to have those moments to be able to correct and become more concise We can't go from not speaking ever to being perfect.
Perfectly concise, right and we're never going to be perfect, right?
We're giving you these great strategies today But there will continue to be times where maybe for because of nerves maybe because of language as we're learning as we're getting better It's not going to be perfect, right?
But the more you think about language and the things that we can do to be more concise the more you will be able to hone these skills.
Yes, exactly, exactly.
So let's get into our strategies Aubrey.
What are they? All right, the first one is to cut filler words, right?
These um's us likes and other unnecessary fillers.
Yes we all do it but they can dilute or distract from our message.
So we do want to practice, especially when we're saying something we want to be impactful or powerful, we want to practice eliminating those fillers.
So we're practicing speaking without having those, right?
We can record ourselves, we can take notes about how many fillers we're using in any given conversation.
What else can we do Aubrey?
Yeah, we can also slow down our speech a little to have a bit of time to know what you are going to say next.
This is often advice I give to our students in our courses.
Sometimes we have this idea that we need to speak really fast in order to sound more fluent, but if we're not enunciating phonemes, these individual sounds, and if we don't have time to think of what we're going to say next, so then we have a filler sound or repossing and hesitating, we actually sound less fluent.
So sometimes slowing down is the key.
Oh it's so true, because when we slow down we also feel more in control.
I think a big part of where filler words come out is when we feel a little out of control, and when we feel we slow down we take control of the the cadence of the rhythm of what we're saying, right?
Yeah, and sometimes we're speeding up because we're nervous.
Like you were saying, Lindsey, when that happened.
This happens to me as well.
If I'm nervous, my speech will sometimes speed up and then I find myself tripping over my words or not knowing what to say next because I'm speaking too quickly for my brain to catch up.
Yeah. So do you have to find a way to cut off that pattern, right?
So like I said, it's like a train going off the tracks and you can't stop it, but you can stop it by taking a breath and just slowing down.
Even if you feel like the other person, maybe you're being interviewed, maybe you're in a conversation, they're speaking fast, you can take control of the pace of the conversation, right?
Exactly. And this will take practicing ahead of time.
You will need to practice speaking at a slower pace, knowing that if you're nervous, you're probably going to speed up from there.
So you have to be intentional about this.
Mm -hmm. I love it. Number two, second strategy is avoid being redundant, and shorten your phrases.
Okay, what does this mean practically speaking?
Yeah, so there are a couple things here, right?
When we think about being redundant, is it about being repetitive?
Of course, we don't want to repeat words or phrases.
If we have sort of gotten our message across, and we're just still talking and find ourselves just repeating ourselves.
Yes, we want to avoid that.
But also the vocabulary we're using can be redundant.
So we have a few examples of phrases that you will hear you might use sometimes.
But if you're thinking about saving time or being more concise, there are often shorter options.
Yeah. Like this one, due to the fact that – imagine how many brain calories that takes to actually say that.
It's a lot. A brain is a lot to say that.
Exactly. Right. If you're at work and someone says, due to the fact that, but like, I'm a, ugh, man, we just could have saved ourselves five seconds.
It's a bad way to start too, because it gets you off on the wrong track, right?
Yeah. And you can replace that with the word because, right?
So, sometimes we will elevate our language.
We're trying to sound more polished, flowery, and sometimes we will end up using these phrases that have quite a bit more words.
But if you want to be concise, you can replace that phrase with the word, because.
I think the key for our listeners here is having the flexibility to pick and choose, depending on if you are presenting new corporate guidelines or bylaws, then maybe, yes, you are using something boring, like due to the fact that.
But if you're trying to convince anyone.
Pull them in. Tell a story.
Persuade them because, right?
Exactly, yes. I think about the story that I told in the last episode that we recorded together about when these teenagers called me Karen.
Imagine if during that story I'm like, due to the fact that I was wearing flip flops, they called me Karen.
That would be so strange, right?
It's too formal. It's too long.
When you're wanting to engage someone in a story.
And even at work, sometimes we want to be less formal, right?
shorten the phrase, use because instead.
Yeah I wonder what some other examples would be of this Aubrey, what would be another one?
So one good example is end result.
These words mean the same thing.
So sometimes we'll hear people say the end result is, that's redundant, right?
You can't just say the result.
The result is... That's a good point, I never thought about that, but it is.
They essentially mean the same thing, these two words.
And that are unnecessary, that are redundant.
Another good example is each and every, right?
Each already, so we don't need to say each and every.
We just can say every or each. It's like a double whammy here, right?
It's double bad because not only is it redundant, but it's a cliche too.
So it's really bad.
Yeah. Another good example is when someone says, let's collaborate together.
Like you can just say collaborate because in the definition, is already the fact that we're working together, so we don't need that word. That's a really good point.
Yeah, that's a really good point, I love it.
So that's the second strategy.
Avoid being redundant or shorten your phrases.
What would be the third thing we could do, Aubrey?
Yeah, the third is to eliminate unnecessary qualifiers.
So as a language learner, you have likely seen this where people will say, don't say you know very very easy.
Say this instead, right, an adjective that's a more interesting word. So instead of saying it's raining quite hard, Maybe you say it's pouring right so these qualifiers like very quite really rather Yes more interesting word. That would replace the qualifier and the other adjective Yeah And this will help your score on IELTS to write a brief you're taking the IELTS exam if you are taking the IELTS exam You should be over listening to IELTS energy by the way, right?
I'll bring absolutely right and we have episodes every week be sure to listen especially if you're studying for IELTS, and I'm glad you're here as well because you'll learn a lot here on Aller's English that helps you with the IELTS exam, but this is one of those where if you say really or vary all the time, low score on IELTS and a low score in life, like that's not an interesting conversation.
There are more interesting words.
You're so right, low score in life.
It's true, people will just get bored, right?
And the point is we know that you guys have great stories to share.
You want to connect.
That's why we're here listening.
That's why we learn English in our opinion, right?
And so you have the material you have the expertise, but don't let it get Grade out by using these words these qualifiers that just bore people Okay a couple more examples instead of saying this is a very big problem You could say this is an enormous problem, or instead of she was really angry.
She was furious Yeah It usually makes your message more impactful to eliminate that qualifier and definitely makes your speech more concise It's also more fun.
It's kind of more fun to say furious than really angry.
All right, number four, what should we do?
What else can we do?
Wow. We got a lot of actionable.
I know a lot of tips here.
So, our fourth and final tip is to use stronger verbs.
Replace be verbs whenever possible.
This is a minor change, but it is more concise and it often does make your message a little bit stronger.
So, for example, instead of saying, there is an opportunity, you could say, we have and opportunity.
It's subtle, but it really does change the meaning and make it more concise.
It seems to make it more personal too, what we're doing here, right?
Yeah, more about you and me, not about what's out there, abstractly speaking.
Exactly. Yes. Or replace, there are time -saving benefits to this versus, and say this, we can now save time.
Yeah. I like it. It's funny because— D .L.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, this is a general way of speaking.
Yeah, it's like you would think that, you know, the first one would be better, because it feels more academic or more formal, but no, we don't learn language to be academic and formal unless we're writing a paper.
We use words to count.
If you're writing a research paper or maybe a brochure, that's different.
Yeah, a brochure, sure.
This is boring. Exactly, right?
D .L. Yeah, exactly.
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All right Aubrey let's see what this looks like in a role play.
We are at a school board meeting.
Oh goodness. I hope I never go to a school board meeting.
I, I know I actually have never been to one, but I have a lot of friends that are on school boards or attend the school board meeting so I know what they're like.
Okay, I'll start us off.
Oh, dramatic. Yeah.
I know everyone is swamped, so thank you for taking the time to be here.
Because we only have 30 minutes, let's dive right in.
Lindsey, we'll give you the floor for the first agenda item.
I have an announcement to start us out.
Our grant was approved.
Oh, that's great news.
I'm thrilled to hear that.
Nice concise over here, right?
Yes we're being very concise right?
Our first example I said, I know everyone is swamped.
I could say very busy or everyone has a lot on their to -do list. There are many ways to say this that are a lot more words.
Swamp is a great word, one word that means extremely busy.
Exactly, and then you said because we only have 30 minutes and we're eliminating due to the fact that or anything more wordy and more formal, right?
Exactly. I could say due to the fact that we only have 30 minutes.
No, even though this is a pretty formal meeting, a school board meeting, still save us some time because we have 30 minutes.
I know, right? Because we only have 30 minutes, let's not say due to the fact that.
Exactly. It would be ironic, right, if you're wasting our time telling us we're going to be efficient.
Yes. All right. Next one.
Aubree. I said, I have an announcement to start us out.
That's instead of what?
Yeah, you're replacing this with a B verb.
Maybe there is an announcement, that more general abstract way of talking.
Right? To make it more personal.
Like you said, Lindsay, personal is powerful, right?
Personal is powerful.
Yes. Uh, and then the last one, I, you said, that's great news.
I'm thrilled to hear that.
And that's, instead of what?
Yeah. Very excited.
Right. Thrilled is a great word that replaces excited or happy with a qualifier.
And then you'll also notice there are no ums and us here, right?
This is even though it's a pretty informal meeting, we still are careful to eliminate those ums and uhs that are it saves time.
It makes your language more concise.
Yes, I love it. This is turning out to be a very high level series for our listeners, which I love.
I love this. So guys, go back and check out part one of this series, how to be concise part one, direct your message, that is episode 2410.
Okay. Yeah. Scroll up if you missed it and be sure to hit follow so you don't miss part three, which is all about how we can use our grammar to be more concise as well.
Oh, I'm excited for that.
I know. I love that too, right?
Not only do you need to think about your message, which we talked about in part one, and the actual phrasing, your vocabulary.
Also, the grammar changes as well.
Yeah. Any final takeaways on words and how they play a part in being concise?
Yeah, they just play an enormous role, right?
To think about how it seems subtle, But really does make a difference you will have an impression of someone as being someone who is concise and respects your time Depending on the language the vocabulary they use Yeah And I think the other piece of this is consuming a lot of content reading a lot, right reading the news Watching TV watching movies.
So then we have those vocabulary words that are more powerful, right?
Absolutely, right because in order to eliminate the qualifiers you do need to know these maybe higher level more interesting words that could replace very easy very fast, right?
What are those more interesting adjectives?
Nice. Great stuff Aubrey, can't wait for the next part three in this series and we'll see you next time.
Awesome. See you there.
Alright, take care.
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