Writing With Confidence: Hedging Words to Cut From Your Drafts
I think and sort of weaken every claim they touch. Confident writing removes them without becoming arrogant.
Hedges Are Not Humility
Writers sprinkle hedges into their sentences because they think it sounds modest. I think, sort of, just my opinion, if I'm being honest. The instinct is understandable. Nobody wants to sound arrogant. But hedges do not make you sound humble. They make you sound unsure of what you are saying, and readers take you at your word.
If you hedge a claim, the reader assumes you hedged it because you had reason to. They downgrade the claim accordingly. The very move meant to protect you from overreach ends up sinking the point you were trying to make.
Confidence Is Not Arrogance
Confident writing is often feared because it gets confused with cocky writing. They are different. Confident writing says what is true and stands behind it. Arrogant writing claims more than the evidence supports. You can be confident without overstating.
The trick is to match the strength of your claim to the strength of your evidence. If you have the data, say it plainly. If you do not, do not pretend. What you should not do is dress up a solid claim in soft words just to feel safe.
Hedged vs. Confident
| Hedged | Confident |
|---|---|
| I think this might help | This helps |
| It seems like the cause | The cause is |
| This is probably better | This is better |
| In my opinion, you should | You should |
| I guess the reason is | The reason is |
| It's sort of a problem | It's a problem |
| Just wanted to suggest | I suggest |
Cut Hedges Without Becoming Arrogant
- 1Search for the common hedges
Run a find for I think, maybe, probably, sort of, kind of, just, seems, and likely. Most drafts have a dozen of these. Each one is a candidate for cutting.
- 2Test whether the hedge carries weight
Ask whether removing the word changes the truth of the claim. If it does not, cut it. If it does, keep the hedge because it is doing real work.
- 3Match the claim to the evidence
If you have strong evidence, state the claim flatly. If the evidence is thin, soften by naming the limit honestly, not by padding the sentence with vague words.
- 4Keep hedges only where they earn their place
Real uncertainty is worth marking. Forecasting, opinions on contested topics, and predictions can carry a hedge. The rest of your writing should not.
Keep hedges in writing about uncertainty, such as forecasts, probabilities, or contested claims. Removing them there is not confidence. It is dishonesty dressed up as strength.
The Softeners That Sneak In
Some hedges are obvious. Others are quiet. The word just does almost nothing except shrink the sentence around it. I just wanted to check becomes stronger as I wanted to check, and stronger still as can you confirm. Removing just costs you nothing and gains you force.
Softeners like a bit, somewhat, and relatively do similar work. They tell the reader you are not fully committed. Sometimes that is the honest choice. Often it is just a habit. Read each one back and decide whether it is doing real work or just sanding down your edges.
Words to Search and Question
- I think, I believe, I feel before a factual claim
- just, simply, basically as sentence softeners
- sort of, kind of, a bit, somewhat
- probably, maybe, perhaps where you have data
- seems to, appears to when you mean is
Say what you mean with the exact strength your evidence allows. No softer, no louder.
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