by Carolyn Piper
Many years ago I was given a grammar lesson from an employer. One I will never forget.
I wrote a report, which I thought was perfect. He handed it back to me and said, “Carolyn, take every “that” out and I do not ever want to see a “that” in any reports handed to me again.”
At first I objected and said it was impossible. Then he continued to impart his wisdom to me. “That”, is an unnecessary word. If you think about it, and I have many, many times since then (and have rewritten many, many sentences), he’s correct. We can remove “that” from our communications to convey a clean, crisp message.
Here’s an example:
I was very happy that our entire group was able to be at that meeting.
I was very happy our entire group was able to meet.
Notice the same message comes across with fewer words as well. We can save time and money by cutting out one four letter word.
Yes, there is a need for the word on some occasions. (i.e. What’s that?) However, most of the time, we can omit it from our language and never miss it.
YOUR CHALLENGE: I do not want to see (or hear) a “that” in your communications again.
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Carolyn Piper is an entrepreneur based in Bakersfield, California. She's a Zumba instructor, loves to laugh, and just happens to be Melanie's grandma. This is her first time being a Sisarina guestblogger & is thrilled to see what else she can come up with.
