Specific language is far stronger than general language. Specifics transport the reader or listener and give them a clear image, while general language forces the reader or listener to do the work of imagining what is meant. Let's look more deeply into this.
Great authors agree that specifics are vital. E. B. White, the well-known author of Charlotte's Web and a popular English style guide, The Elements of Style, says, "Use definite, specific, concrete language."
He uses some great examples. Compare these sentences.
- Bad: "A period of unfavorable weather set in."
- Good: "It rained every day for a week."
What is unfavorable weather? What is a period of time? The reader has no idea what exactly those mean. But if we say, "rained every day", you can imagine exactly what that's like. In fact, you are probably imagining it now.
So instead of saying, "I was really tired last night," say, "I got home at 1am, walked to my bed, and passed out in my work clothes."
Instead of, "My boss is smart", say something like, "My boss has so much knowledge about our industry. If you ask her a question about it, 90% of the time, she'll answer it faster than Google can—and she'll be right."
You can also find an excellent example of how to add detail to your language in our blog post, Don't say NATURE - describe it instead.
In meetings and speaking tests, make sure you back up your general language with specifics. It will give your presentation or argument much more impact!
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unfavorable [adjective] /uhn-FEY-ver-uh-buhl/—not good, and likely to cause problems or prevent success.
pass out [verb]—this can mean to actually faint, but in this case, it is a casual, natural way to say "fall asleep".
