People who write well easily convey their ideas and increase their influence. Poor writing makes you stand out – in an unpleasant way. Here are some tips for smoother writing and picking the right word.
Easily Confused Words: Insure, Ensure, Assure
- Insure relates to insurance policies and limiting financial liability.
- Assure is something you say or do to make another person comfortable.
- Ensure is what you do to guarantee a result.
Here are examples:
- “I purchased a homeowner’s policy to insure my house.”
- “I can assure you your clients will come away with actionable items.”
- “This program will ensure your employees will improve their customer service.”
- “I insured my car so I could ensure I could fix it and assure my parents.”
Correct Use of Semicolons
These often-overlooked punctuation marks make your writing more professional.
A semicolon joins two sentences when there is no conjunction such as “and” or “but” in between.
- “The HR department completed an assessment; it showed the need for training.”
- “The VP for Sales completed a sound check the morning of the event; she was horrified by the room’s acoustics.”
A semicolon separates items in a sentence that has commas.
“The corporation has offices in Philadelphia, PA; Chicago, IL; and San Francisco, CA.”
Be Brief
Make your writing smoother with a minimal amount of right words.
Don’t
“Your clients will find our services delightful, will be amazed and come away inspired by our services.”
Do
“Your clients will be delighted, amazed and inspired by our services.”
Be Consistent in Using the Right Word
Repeat the same grammatical form to make it easy for your reader to assimilate your ideas. This is also called “parallel structure”.
Don’t
“The audience members cheered, were getting on their feet, and clapped at the end of the speech.”
Do
“The
audience members cheered, clapped, and stood at the end of the speech.”
Pat Iyer is an editor, author, book coach and ghostwriter who helps individuals create books that encourages their expertise to shine and advances their businesses. She has written or edited 48 of her own books.
