Use specific nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

Select the most specific word for each situation.

Change passive voice to active voice.

Revise the sentence so that the subject performs the action.

Use passive voice to soften the message.

Use passive voice for bad news, diverting emphasis from the sender onto the message.

Avoid slang and cliches.

Avoid slang, which is informal language that becomes popular, is widely used, and then falls out of style. Using it undercuts your thinking, excludes receivers unfamiliar with the expression, and quickly dates the message. Also avoid overused expressions, or cliches.

Professional:

Our goal is to provide you the best service at the best price.

Professional:

The lawn application both fertilizes the ground and kills insect pests.

Use plain language:

Avoid long, wordy phrases.

Use plain English.

Avoid pompous language, which some people use to sound “important.” Pompous language actually makes you sound fake and silly. Plain English does a much better job of communicating.

Plain:

I have enclosed a brochure that describes our credit policies and procedures in more detail.

Cut deadwood.

Watch for and cut irrelevant information, obvious statements, and awkward phrases. Also cut wordy phrases or clauses that could be replaced by concise words.

Concise:

The plant must retool to produce competitive products.

Double-check facts.

Double-check names, key terms, and other facts. A message that makes mistakes with fact-words confuses instead of communicating.

Correct:

I completed the installation of the 220-amp electrical service for the customer at 311 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Use accepted words when you refer to age.

Use terms of respect when referring to age. Mention age only when it is necessary to the issue.

• boys, girls (up to ages 13 or 14)

• youth, young people (between 13 and 17)

• young adults (late teens and 20’s)

• adults (30’s to 60’s)

• older adults (60 and older)

Use accepted words when you refer to gender.

Use terms of respect when you refer to gender. Mention gender only when it is necessary. Take special care when dealing with occupations, courtesy titles, and salutations.

• chair, presiding officer, moderator (not chairman)

• sales representative, salesperson (not salesman)

• mail carrier, postal worker (not mailman)

• executive, manager, worker (not businessman)

When possible, refer to people using third-person plural antecedents (workers) and pronouns (they) instead of third-person singular antecedents (worker) and pronouns (he or she), which can create sexist or gender-binary language. If an antecedent referring to a person must remain singular, The Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press now accept use of plural pronouns to refer to it.

Use accepted words when you refer to race.

Use respectful language that gives equal value and respect to all races and ethnicities. Mention race only when it is central to the issue.

Note: Some Native Americans prefer the term "Indian," and some African Americans prefer the term “Black."

Use accepted words when you refer to ability.

Refer to the person first and to the disability second. Mention ability only when it is the central issue. Use the following accepted terms.

• person with HIV/AIDS (not AIDS victim)

• person with ADHD (not a hyperactive)

• person with a disability (not handicapped)

Use clear language and avoid cultural pitfalls.

Here are tips for communicating with those who come from different language and cultural backgrounds:

• Avoid cultural references. Be careful with references to people, places, and events specific to a culture. These may confuse or alienate your reader. Specifically, avoid sports, pop culture, religious, and military references.

• Avoid jargon, slang, idioms, acronyms, and abbreviations. Such shorthand has a restricted use that may confuse bilingual readers. Use plain English instead.

• Use simple, objective words. Avoid words that have emotional or historical baggage. Use nouns with clear meanings and verbs that express a clear action. However, don’t confuse simplicity with a condescending tone: Don’t write as if your reader were a child.

• Use clear, obvious transitions. At the beginnings of paragraphs and sentences, use obvious transitions like however, in addition, first, second, and so on, whenever appropriate. Such transitions highlight relationships between statements and help bilingual readers follow your thoughts.

• Be grammatically correct. Spelling errors, misplaced modifiers, sentence fragments, and faulty comma usage can confuse bilingual readers. Be especially careful with spelling. When a name or word includes accents or other diacritical marks, make sure that you use them.

• Keep sentences and paragraphs short. Avoid long, complex sentences (more than 15 words) and big, intimidating paragraphs (8 lines or longer). Such sentences and paragraphs are challenging for some bilingual readers.

• Use Standard English. Not all English is the same. For example, American English is different from Canadian, British, and Australian English. Bilingual readers will have the most success reading Standard English.

• Caution: Avoid humor. Cultural differences present ready opportunities for unintended offense. Humor does not translate well from one culture to another.