Looking to tighten up the copy on your Web site or in your next sales letter or press release. Take a look at the number of times you use the word “that”. Nine times out of ten, it’s quite easy to take “that” out and have the sentence read just as well. Maybe even better.
For example:
Mary may want to limit the size of the gift so that the gifted interest is too small to constitute majority control of the business (more than 50 percent).
Now, without the “that”:
Mary may want to limit the size of the gift so the gifted interest is too small to constitute majority control of the business (more than 50 percent).
Did the sentence’s meaning change at all? Nope. In fact, taking “that” out makes it read a little better.
Now, for one small sentence, removing one word is not such a big deal. Over the course of an entire piece or Web site, it can make a big difference in readability.
Too many excess words can wear the reader out after awhile. Taking “that” out is one easy step to creating a better flow to your words.
