Like to make yourself sound smarter on essays and other pieces of writing? While I can appreciate that, there’s a right way and a wrong way of going about it.
What’s the right way? Do solid research, fill your work with specific details and you’re guaranteed to come off smart. Not only that, you’ll likely end up informing your reader in a complete and well-rounded manner. Make sure to use a spelling and grammar checker, by the way, so the positive image is complete.
How about the wrong way? For most student writing I’ve seen, the biggest offender seems to be superfluous phrases. If you’re not familiar with the type, it’s the tendency to use phrases that communicate some amount of false authority. Check out the sample phrases below:
“Needless to say…”
“As you can plainly see…”
“It goes without saying…”
“For all intents and purposes…”
“If you think about it…”
There are dozens and dozens of them (probably hundreds, too). And they all do one thing: try to come across as being smarter than your reader. The result, however, isn’t as optimistic. Most of the time, your text ends up sounding too wordy and convoluted, leading your reader to miss the actual points being made.
Superfluous phrases? Cut them out. Sound smarter by actually turning out a smart paper.
