• American Writers & Artists Inc.

Quick Tip:
Words to "Actually" Avoid

Certain words and phrases have a way of sneaking into our daily language unnoticed. All of sudden, they pepper every conversation.

They’re used so much, they’ve lost all real meaning and only take up space.

The two latest intruders are "actually" and "exactly." Listen how often these words are overused in conversations.

These empty words are creeping into conversational writing as well – writing you use to connect with your prospect.

Yes, you want your writing to feel like it just flowed naturally without any thought. You want it to sound familiar and friendly. But you don’t want to waste a single word in copywriting, and words like "actually" and "exactly" are wasted words.

Strike them from your writing. Strike all the other words that don’t add meaning or influence to your writing.

And be on the watch for new fluff words that will inevitably take their place … and avoid using them and all empty words in your copy.

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Published: March 21, 2005

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