Even as more people skim and scan than actually read our content, we have clients and bosses who think the more words the better. But readers are busy. Unnecessary words slow them down. Every word should matter.
Some words and phrases do no work; they’re slackers. Deleting them doesn’t hurt your meaning -- it often improves the readability of your content.
Consider this sentence:
I am bewildered by your inconsistent use of the serial comma.
Tacking on any of the expendable phrases below would add nothing. So, if you catch yourself including them in your copy, hit the delete key: