Defining verbiage, and tips to avoid it.

by Duncan Watts

A former manager once asked me to finish off a document, ending the request with, “Just fill it with verbiage… you know, because that’s what you do.”

Unsure whether to be offended (I hadn’t heard the term ‘verbiage’ before), I consulted the Oxford Dictionary, which defined it as:

verbiage /ver-bee-ij/ n. derog. Too many words or unnecessarily difficult words.
Ahem... yes, definitely offended, because if I learned one good habit during my business / journalism studies, it was the art of efficient writing.

While in the above example I produced verbiage under duress, I believe that business communications would benefit if we all took steps to avoid verbiage in
reports, emails and the spoken word.

Here’s how:

Ask “Would a 12-year-old understand this?”

Unless you’re writing a submission to Rocket Scientists Monthly, make sure a non-genius 12-year-old could understand it. You’ll probably also save time not having to explain yourself to others.

Take Pride in Brevity

A high school friend re-wrote final essay drafts with a thesaurus in hand, rendering them undecipherable. In my experience, fellow students took pride in (and were often unfairly rewarded for) verbiage production.

Before clicking the ‘send’ button on that email, check whether you can convey your point with fewer words. You’ll be surprised at how often this is possible without compromising on detail. I even cut this article from 570 words back to 461 words on the final draft.

Use the Active Voice

In most cases, active voice is more appropriate than passive voice, as it generally produces shorter, clearer sentences.

Active voice = subject + verb + object. e.g. The Newsport +  publishes + this column.

Passive voice = object + verb + subject (sometimes optional), e.g. This column + gets published by + The Newsport.

As a general rule, try and start with the ‘doer’ of the action and you’ll be using active voice, unless you’re a politician: “a mistake was made” (passive) lays much less blame than “I made a mistake” (active).

Pick Up the Phone

If, halfway through an email, you think “this is getting long-winded”, pick up the phone instead.

Ignore those who claim “voice is so last year”. It’s quicker, and you can always fire off a quick email confirming the conversation.

Make Notes

Hold that last thought. Before you pick up the phone, take a moment to write a couple of dot-points for yourself. You’ll steer the conversation more efficiently, cut down on the dreaded ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’, and avoid making that embarrassing call-back to ask something you totally forgot.

Less is More – Tips to Avoid Verbiage

1.    Ask “Would a 12-year-old understand this?”
2.    Take Pride in Brevity
3.    Use the Active Voice
4.    Pick Up the Phone
5.    Make Notes

Duncan Watts is a Business Consultant at The 20/20 Group in Cairns.