full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jim VandeHei: How to write less but say more

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Which is related to tip three, which is: just keep it simple. Keep it simple. Like think of that one sentence, one stennece is better than two sentences. One pagraarph is better than two paragraphs. Use simple, strong words. There's a reason you're taught a simple sentence sucturtre when you're a little kid. It still works eflcfeitevy today. It still works effectively. Keep it simple. If you're going to write about a banana, you're not going to call it an etoeanlgd yellow piece of fruit. You're going to call it a banana. If you're going to talk about someone lying, you're not going to say prevaricate, you're going to say lie. Keep it simple.

Open Cloze

Which is related to tip three, which is: just keep it simple. Keep it simple. Like think of that one sentence, one ________ is better than two sentences. One _________ is better than two paragraphs. Use simple, strong words. There's a reason you're taught a simple sentence _________ when you're a little kid. It still works ___________ today. It still works effectively. Keep it simple. If you're going to write about a banana, you're not going to call it an _________ yellow piece of fruit. You're going to call it a banana. If you're going to talk about someone lying, you're not going to say prevaricate, you're going to say lie. Keep it simple.

Solution

  1. paragraph
  2. effectively
  3. structure
  4. elongated
  5. sentence

Original Text

Which is related to tip three, which is: just keep it simple. Keep it simple. Like think of that one sentence, one sentence is better than two sentences. One paragraph is better than two paragraphs. Use simple, strong words. There's a reason you're taught a simple sentence structure when you're a little kid. It still works effectively today. It still works effectively. Keep it simple. If you're going to write about a banana, you're not going to call it an elongated yellow piece of fruit. You're going to call it a banana. If you're going to talk about someone lying, you're not going to say prevaricate, you're going to say lie. Keep it simple.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
pay attention 3
entire life 2
mass producing 2
producing words 2
teach journalists 2
consume information 2
paying attention 2
smart brevity 2
works effectively 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
mass producing words 2

Important Words

  1. banana
  2. call
  3. effectively
  4. elongated
  5. fruit
  6. kid
  7. lie
  8. lying
  9. paragraph
  10. paragraphs
  11. piece
  12. prevaricate
  13. reason
  14. related
  15. sentence
  16. sentences
  17. simple
  18. strong
  19. structure
  20. talk
  21. taught
  22. tip
  23. today
  24. words
  25. works
  26. write
  27. yellow