7 Ways to Sound More Professional

When writing an assignment for a class or for work, it's best to sound as professional as possible.  But how do you do that?

Well to start...

1. Read more

The more your read professional work, (articles, biographies, textbooks, novels, etc.) the more you'll get a feel for how professional writing works.  You'll be able to model your work after the thousands of things you've read.

Another thing you can do is...

2. Avoid slang

Slang is fine for personal conversations and fun writing, but in assignments for school and work, you'll want to eliminate it.  It's too casual and can be confusing to readers who aren't hip with the lingo.  Here's an example list of slang to cut out: cool, lit, lol, on point, savage, woke, ride.

Along with this, you can...

3. Use specific words

Big, neat, pretty, great, good, nice, okay--are all general terms that we use in everyday speech.  Because we can put a little more thought to our word choices when we write, these are not the best options.  Instead, try: huge, immaculate, gorgeous, tremendous, satisfactory, charming, decent.  An easy way to do this is to use synonyms--to read more about that, click here.

A simple but effective adjustment you can make is...

4. Avoid exclamation marks

Like the plague.  They make it sound like you're yelling, and it can feel like getting slapped in the face over and over.  They weaken your writing because they give you the voice of a toddler throwing a tantrum. Also, they're distracting because they draw too much attention to themselves.  There are, occasionally, places for exclamation marks, but be sure that they come few and far between.

One of the best things to do is...

5. Cut out personal pronouns

You, I, and me are the biggest offenders. If you're writing something directly to a reader, (such as a blog post like this) then you're fine to address the reader.  Typically, however, you want to avoid that.  Addressing the reader directly can make them feel uncomfortable, like you're poking at their lack of knowledge or deficiencies.  It can also isolate them, or make them feel like what you're writing doesn't apply to them.  For instance, a line like "if you like chocolate like everybody else..." can discriminate against people who happen to not like chocolate.  It would be better to say "many people enjoy chocolate...."   Using "I" and "me" is unnecessary and brings down the tone of your writing.  If you're saying "I think that this is important" or "this is important to me,"  you could easily cut out those personal pronouns to say "this is important" instead.  We know it's important to you, you're the one writing the darn thing.

Another strategy to try is...

6. Avoid questions

When you're writing an essay or an article, you're job is not to ask questions, it's to answer them.  Questions are usually fillers that serve little purpose other than to take up space.  It can be effective to include a "call to action" or thought provoking question if it suits the genre of your piece such as: "what can you do to protect the environment?"  But you have to be careful.  This question could be inspiring depending on the rest of the content in your piece, but it also uses a personal pronoun, so is it worth it?

The last suggestion I have is...

7. Check your sentence structure

Run-on and incomplete sentences will kill your professionalism.  Proofread to make sure your sentences are complete.  A complete sentence contains a subject and a verb and makes sense standing alone: e.g. "Jim ran." You can bend and twist sentence rules for creative writing purposes (like I do), but if you're going for professionalism, stick to the rule book.

Well, there you have it.  7 ways to sound more professional in your writing.  What other suggestions would you make?  Comment below.

Until next time, I remain your hungry (I need lunch) Online Writing Tutor,
Mrs. B