Too Long/Complicated Version

Shorter, Better Version

A

Actually

[Nothing; just cut] *

Accordingly

So or Thus

Accounted for by the fact that

Because

Advantageous

Helpful

Afford an opportunity to

Permit or Allow

Am in the receipt of

Received

Ameliorate

Improve

Are + gerund, e.g.

Are planning

Are showing

Make gerund the verb, e.g.

Plan

Show

Are able to + verb, e.g.

Able to write

Able to reset

Can + verb, e.g.

Can write

Can reset

Are capable of + gerund, e.g.

Are capable of showing

Are capable of reporting

Make the gerund the verb, e.g.

Show

Report

Arrive at/Come to a decision

Decide

Arrive at/Come to an agreement

Agree

At a later moment/date/time

Later or [specific time frame]

At present

At this point in time

In this day and age"

Now

Attend a meeting

Meet

B

Business jargon, e.g.

Back of the envelope

Forward planning

Low hanging fruit

Human capital

Use plain language, e.g.

Initial estimate

Planning

Easy tasks or Quick steps

Employees or People

Came to the conclusion

By or With

C

Came to the conclusion

Concluded or decided

Clearly

[Nothing; cut] *

Can be of assistance

Can help

Conduct an investigation of

Investigate or Study

Consider + noun derived from a verb, e.g.

Consider implementation

Consider investigation

Verb form of the noun, e.g.

Implement

Investigate

Contact by phone

Call

D

During the course of

During the process of

During

E

An example of this is the fact that

For example

Enumerate

List

Evidenced

Shown

F

Few and far between

Few **

Rare

Fewer in number

(Note: It’s never “less in number,” because you don’t use less with countable nouns!)

Fewer

Fill completely

Fill

First and foremost

First **

For the purpose of

For or to

For the reason that

Due to the fact that

In light of the fact that

Because of the way that

Because or As

G

Going forward

Moving forward

[Cut; just start with whatever comes after the phrase]

Greetings

Greetings of the day

Hello or Hi

H

Has been shown to

[Cut, really!]

Has the ability to

Can

Has the potential to

May

Have a meeting

Hold a meeting

Meet

I

I believe (that)

I feel (that)

I think (that)

[Cut; begin with whatever comes after]

I myself

I

I would like to request that

Please

In an effort to

To

In consideration of

Considering

In excess of

More than

In order to

To

In reality

[Cut]

In regards to

Regarding or About

In the case of

In the event that

For or With

If

In the last decade

Since [year]
(N.B. This version also ages more accurately.)

In the vicinity of

In the proximity of

Near

In the year 2018

In 2018

Inception

Start

Interestingly

[Cut] *

Is applicable to

Applies ***

Is going to

Will

Is in attendance

Attends ***

Is in violation

Violates ***

Is of the opinion

Thinks ***

Is prepared to [verb], e.g.

Is prepared to review

Is prepared to analyze

Will [verb] ***

Will review

Will analyze

It has been decided that

[Cut; just start with whatever comes after the phrase]

It is evident that

It is clear that

It is obvious that

[Cut; just start with whatever comes after the phrase]

J

Join together

Join

K

Kind of

[Cut]

L

Lacked the ability to

Could not

Last but not least

Last or Finally

M

Make adjustments/changes

Make a comment

Adjust or Change

Comment

Make contact with

Contact

Make revisions

Revise or Change

Methodology

Method

Modification

Change

Moreover

Also

N

Needless to say

[Cut]

O

Obviously

It is obvious that

[Nothing; cut—you never want to insult your reader!] *

On a daily basis

On a weekly basis

On a monthly basis

On an annual/yearly basis

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

Annually/Yearly  

Over the course of

In or During

P

Phrasal verbs (verb + preposition), e.g.

Look in to

Blowing up

Action verb, e.g.

Investigate or Research

Explode

Plain and simple

Simple **

Plan ahead

Planned in advance

Plan

Planned

Q

Quite clearly

[Cut]

R

Realistically

[Nothing; cut] *

Really

[Nothing; cut] *

S

Similar to

Like

Strikingly

[Nothing; cut] *

Surprisingly

[Nothing; cut] *

T

The extent to which

How (much)

The question as to whether

Whether

The question as to which

Which

The way in which

How

U

V

Various

[Nothing; cut]

Very

[Nothing; cut] *

W

Was/were able to

Was/were not able to

Could

Could not

With the exception of

Except for

X

Y

Z