how to make your essay sound smarter

According to the K-lytics report on Christmas mysteries, authors heavily advertise in order to make money on low-priced books. This report highlights the seasonal popularity of those mysteries.

Tip 10: Who and Whom

Who is doing what to whom? That question sums it up.

Who is the subject in the sentence, the one that takes action. Whom is the object of the sentence, the one who receives the action.

Tip 11: No One Is Ever That

As a corollary, do not use that to refer to a person. They are not a thing. Use who or whom . It’s not the first man that walked on the moon . It’s the first man who walked on the moon . Enough said.

Tip 12: The Colon

A colon is used two ways: to make lists and to tell what you mean. When you use a colon, do not capitalize the first word after the colon.

You can use a colon to add a list to a sentence.

Novelists add the five senses to bring a scene to life: taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing.

Colons can also be used to separate independent clauses when the second clause/sentence illustrates, explains, paraphrases, or expands on the first.

Jim realized his worst fear was coming true: his family would be homeless when they were evicted tomorrow.

Finally, you can use a colon to follow a salutation in a business or formal letter.

To the Tri-Valley Committee Chairman:

A grammar guru, style editor, and writing mentor in one package.

Tip 13: The Semicolon

Use a semicolon to separate two ideas (independent clauses) that are closely related.

Jane thought May was inviting her to a girls night in; it turned out, Mary was planning a surprise birthday party.

Also, use semicolons in a list when the list items contain commas.

Dave’s best high school buddies now lived far away: Tempe, Arizona; Union, New Jersey; Galveston, Texas; and Seattle, Washington.

Tip 14: Commas

Commas are the most frequently used, and misused, punctuation mark. When in doubt, look up your use. But here are four crucial guidelines to tame your comma use.

Use commas to separate items in a short list: Mary bought party favors, silly hats, and noisemakers for everyone at the surprise party.

Use a comma to separate two long independent clauses connected by a conjunction: Children labor over grammar rules in school, but they forget them later in life.

Use commas to set apart a parenthetical phrase (see em-dash in Tip 8 above): Your SEO practitioner, if he cares about your business, will tell you it may take months to gain organic traffic.

Use a comma after an informal introductory phrase: Dear John,

Good grammar helps your reader understand your concept. And, when you want to convey concepts, you also need to keep your syntax and vocabulary succinct. You’ll keep your reader from being confused.

In The Sense of Style , Steven Pinker said:

The key is to assume that your readers are as intelligent and sophisticated as you are, but that they happen not to know something you know.

Now, go share what you know.

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips From Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas., this guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers..

Zara Altair writes traditional mysteries set in ancient Italy under Ostrogoths rule in The Argolicus Mysteries . She teaches mystery screenwriters and novelists at Write A Killer Mystery . She creates semantic web content for a select clientele.

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How to Make Writing Sound More Professional

Honed, professional writing doesn’t just make your business look good—it’s also a smart investment. Consider what can happen when written communications aren’t prioritized: Blue-chip businesses are reportedly spending $3.1 billion per year on remedial writing training, according to a study by CollegeBoard. It also found that $2.9 billion of that budget is dedicated to training existing employees.

Written communications that don’t adequately represent your company could end up costing you billions in revenue. Poor internal communications alone can cost your company up to $62.4 million annually .

Get hands-on with Grammarly Business To empower your team with effective and efficient communication Start Free Trial

So how can you make your team’s writing sound more professional?

Let’s review some quick tips and actionable approaches you can introduce to your team that you can implement swiftly, as well as some tools that benefit your entire team as well.

6 tips to make writing sound more professional

Here are some of the key tips your teams can quickly implement for more effective and engaging business emails, memos, articles, and presentations:

1 Use active voice. To sound more professional, be concise and to the point. Short and uncomplicated sentence structure that uses active verb phrases and minimizes passive voice will express your point more quickly and clearly, avoiding potential miscommunication and confusion.

Example: Instead of “Your efforts to expedite the process are appreciated,” write “I appreciate your efforts to expedite the process.”

2 Focus on formal language. Engage the reader with a professional tone that’s free from unprofessional, informal language. Stay away from figures of speech, slang or jargon, colloquialisms, and redundant expressions that can add take away from the intended message you’re trying to convey.

Example: Instead of “Our teams need to focus on creating efficiencies rather than continuing to use old-school processes that boil the ocean,” try “Our teams need to focus on creating efficiencies rather than utilizing outdated processes that use up a significant amount of our valuable time.”

3 Incorporate statistics and facts. Concrete examples, statistics, and facts create a more powerful message for readers, while generalizations can tend to have less of an impact when written.

Example: Instead of “Many companies consider us a leader in our field,” try “Forbes and Bloomberg ranked us as number one of the top 100 cloud companies for the third year in a row.”

4 Revise for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. No one is immune to mistakes—no matter how good of a writer they are. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar should be carefully reviewed before content is submitted or sent off to its intended audience. Simple mistakes create a poor impression that can be difficult to shake off.

Example: When time is of the essence, you can run your content through a virtual writing assistant like Grammarly , which quickly detects mistakes and provides suggestions for improvement in a matter of seconds.

5 Eliminate excessive words and awkward phrasing. Deliver concise writing that avoids redundant phrasing—it can cause your message to land awkwardly.

Example: Instead of “In my personal opinion, a rough estimate should suffice,” try “In my opinion, an estimate should suffice.”

6 Ensure content strikes the intended tone. Just as people sometimes say things they don’t mean, people can also write things that don’t necessarily reflect what they want to convey. While in spoken conversation this can easily be rectified, the stakes are a bit higher in professional writing. It’s critical for employees to ensure their writing strikes the intended tone to eliminate any chance for misinterpretation or confusion—especially since they can’t quickly justify or clarify the meaning in real-time. Content needs to be carefully written in a way that is clear, concise, and contributes to creating the right tone.

Example: Instead of “Why did you do that!?” try “Can you please elaborate on the thought process behind your actions?”

While these tips may be quick to implement on an individual basis, following up to check for compliance presents a greater challenge. How can you make sure everyone on your team is producing consistently professional writing?

How to facilitate a professional writing upgrade

To ensure everyone on your team is equipped with the information they need to produce professional writing that best represents your company, there are a number of actionable initiatives you can invest in.

Invest in a dynamic digital writing assistant

This option encapsulates the best features of a writing course and a style guide to bring you the quickest, most cost-effective way to ensure all team members are writing in a professional manner that is brand-aligned.

A digital writing assistant like Grammarly Business quickly checks your teams’ writing against standard conventions—as well as customized best practices for internal and external messaging created by you via the custom style guide feature—offering suggestions to add polish and help teams learn as they write. This saves valuable time and eliminates the need to proofread when the draft is complete. It can also easily integrate with your teams’ day-to-day workflows, reducing the need for ad hoc learning or expensive developmental programs.

A modern writing assistant tool will also provide you with an administrative dashboard that allows you to monitor your teams’ usage and performance statistics.

Schedule a writing course

Enrolling all teams in a writing course ensures that they all receive the same instruction. You can even bring in a consultant and customize the learning to your specifications, or you can opt for a webinar or online learning modules that meet your needs.

However, writing courses can be costly. And they present a lot of information at once, which raises some concerns. How can you extend the same benefit to new team members as they join your workforce? How will you follow up to be sure everyone is implementing their new knowledge consistently?

Develop style guides

Developing a traditional style guide or manual can elevate content, formalize the voice of the company, and help teams to write in a more professional manner. It provides a single source of truth for team members—both existing and new—to easily refer to. This reduces the risk of different voices being externally projected.

However, they can be tedious to create, difficult to enforce across teams, and challenging to ensure their consistent use.

Luckily there are more modern custom style guides available that provide all the benefits of traditional style guides, with new improvements. For example, Grammarly Business allows its administrators to easily and quickly create a custom-branded style guide that can be shared with all members of their organization in a matter of seconds. Grammarly Business can then scan and evaluate team members’ content against the branded style guide in real-time to ensure the content is aligned. It also allows administrators to review performance and usage statistics so they can better optimize the guide to fit current needs.

Choosing an effective writing solution

Though there are several measures you could take to make your teams’ writing sound more professional, Grammarly Business provides an all-in-one solution that uses artificial intelligence to learn and grow alongside your teams while helping them elevate their professional writing skill sets.

In fact, 83% of Grammarly Business users agreed that the tool helped them sound more professional.

Grammarly Business acts as a professional editor and writing coach for every team member, fostering a productive environment where everyone is learning and improving at their own pace.

Professionalism is a staple characteristic of every business—making it essential that all communications convey a professional tone. Investing in tools that streamline and augment how you improve your business’ writing strengthens your entire company.

Interested in how Grammarly Business can make your teams’ writing sound more professional? Contact us to learn more or upgrade to Grammarly Business today.

Ready to see Grammarly Business in action?

20 Words to Make your Essays Sound Smarter

7 minutes reading time

Essays seem to come out of the blue sometimes, leaving you feeling apprehensive and underprepared.

Using the right vocabulary to convey a sense of intelligence is oftentimes a big source of anxiety when it comes to writing essays. That, and the at times overwhelming information you need to know with Harvard referencing.

While you shouldn’t try to fill your essay with flowery language and turns of phrase, it isn’t a bad idea to dust off the thesaurus and dictionary from time to time and get searching.

If you’re strapped for time though and would appreciate a few fancy words to sprinkle into your next essay then we’ve got you covered.

The 20 words we’ve listed in this article are all perfectly suited for use in essays, whether the topic is business or Shakespeare’s plays.

Grammar points to smarten up your essays

Before we tackle this vocabulary though it’s worth taking a moment to consider the different categories they fall into, so you can become more familiar about their purpose in a sentence.

While it may seem unnecessary to review the basics, we could all benefit from a refresher of the fundamentals every now and again. You never know, it could just improve your student performance and elevate your writing ability.

Connectors Words

If you’re trying to improve your essay writing skills then narrative flow is something you should take seriously.

Narrative flow refers simply to how well an argument or plot can be followed in a text.

A good author takes the reader along for a journey with compelling storytelling, and this is a technique you can use even in an essay about business.

At the beginning of an essay you want to pose a question which ideally you’ll answer in some way in the conclusion. Your job then is to keep the reader’s interest and focus on the question throughout the text.

If you stop too many times to digress, you may end up diluting the focus of the essay and confusing the reader.

One of the ways to effectively string together a coherent argument in an essay is through the use of connectors.

Connectors are the glue that keep the structure of an essay intact, and are crucial for linking together all of your key points and arguments.

While you don’t need to know too many smart connectors to write a stellar essay, you will want to make sure you have enough to cover each possible transition you could make.

Another part of speech to master if you want to improve your coursework is the adjectives.

Not enough adjectives and your essay might come across as bland.

Too many adjectives though and your essay could seem bloated.

Striking the balance is important if you want to come across as intelligent with your words, since too far either way and might lose a reader’s interest.

To make the most of adjectives, you should try to use them sparingly and only when they add real meaning.

For example, to claim that a building is ‘very tall’ might well be acceptable in speech, but can come across as a little redundant in the written word.

Instead, aim to use adjectives to point out something that is slightly unusual, or to reinforce a point.

‘The emotional scientist’ has more weight behind it than the ‘logical scientist’, since the reader would probably already assume that a scientist is logically-minded.

The ‘sharp decline’ in sales is an example of when an adjective can be used to reinforce a point well as it creates a visual image of a line dropping suddenly on a graph. A decline on its own doesn’t have as much impact on the reader, and doesn’t tell them how quickly it is happening either.

Check for English classes online on Superprof.

Getting to grips with the use of verbs in an essay can be one of the biggest factors in getting a higher mark.

To improve grammar and convince your teacher or examiner that you have a solid grasp of it, you’ll need to be familiar with the active and passive forms of verbs and when to use both of them.

Verbs in the active voice are those which highlight the person doing the action in the sentence and as a result come across as more direct.

Those in the passive voice instead emphasise another element of the sentence.

As an example, ‘the woman swings her racket’ shows off the active form of the verb swing. We know in this sentence that it is the woman that is highlighted, not the racket which is the object of the sentence.

If you were to instead write ‘the racket was swung by the woman’, then you would place more emphasis on the racket than the woman.

As a general rule, it’s best to stick with using verbs in the active voice as much as possible . This is a great way to keep the reader engaged without causing any confusion as to who is doing what.

In some cases, it might seem difficult not to use the passive voice.

It can be very tempting in an essay to say something along the lines of ‘it is said that’ or ‘it has been claimed’, and while you might think that this sounds good, it’s often the better option to identify the subject.

That way, you add clarity to your writing, which you should value above all else. So instead of ‘it is said’, you can think about who is speaking, for example ‘students say’ or ‘experts say’.

While the passive voice certainly has its uses, and can be a great way to vary up your language, if you don’t use it correctly you risk confusing the reader and detracting from the clarity of your writing.

You can check for an English class near me here.

If you upgrade the nouns you use in your essays, you can take large strides towards better grades.

By upgrade, I don’t mean replacing the nouns you use frequently with ones that sound smarter. I mean replacing nouns which don’t fully capture what you want to say with ones that are more specific.

For example, if you were to describe something as a ‘cure’, you could be saying one of various things. It could be medication, treatment, or something else designed to help you heal from an injury.

Cure is a perfectly valid word to use to refer to a new medicine that eradicates an illness, but ‘antidote’ is the best word to use for something that cures you from poisoning.

While it’s difficult to know the right noun for every situation, you will likely be able to figure out when a noun is too vague or general to capture a specific meaning.

You should also be careful when using a word that sounds smart and correct in context but you don’t know its exact meaning.

For example, ‘fortuitous’ could be used to describe a situation in which you were lucky, right?

The correct word here is ‘fortunate’, but unfortunately many have taken to using the ‘fortuitous’ instead.

As a general rule, if in doubt, check the word in the dictionary . If you’re in an exam setting and you don’t have that luxury, then resort to the simplest way you know of expressing what you want to say. Using a very simple word is far better than using a long yet incorrect one.

This comes back to the point of clarity in your writing, which is something you should look to uphold no matter what the cost.

Check for English classes near me for adults here.

20 Words to Smarten up your Essays

If you have to weigh up potentially sounding smarter vs absolutely sounding clear, then you should always pick the latter option.

Anomaly (noun)

An anomaly is something which doesn’t conform to what’s normal. That could be a stray statistic in a chart, or an odd sibling in an otherwise normal family.

Avant-garde (adjective)

Avant-garde is an adjective you can use to refer to something or someone with radical new ideas or a novel methodology.

Capricious (adjective)

Capricious is an adjective to describe someone or something that is very unpredictable or changes suddenly.

Dichotomy (noun)

A dichotomy can be used to describe a divide between two very different ideas or concepts.

Epitome (noun)

The epitome of something the perfect form of it.

Ubiquitous (adjective)

When an idea, object or anything else is ubiquitous, it means it can be seen everywhere.

Moreover (connector)

Moreover is a connector you can use to double down on your last point.

Compelling (adjective)

Compelling is an adjective which suggests something is so fascinating you have to pay attention.

Acrimonious (adjective)

Acrimonious is an adjective which suggests a conversation or person was full of bitterness.

Brusque (adjective)

To be brusque in conversation is to be very abrupt or impatient with someone.

Catch-22 (noun)

A catch-22 is a problem which will result in a negative either way.

Attest (verb)

Attest is a verb to describe when someone has proof of something.

Indicate (verb)

Indicate is a simple verb which you can use to replace ‘show’.

Constraints (noun)

Constraints is a noun which refers to limits that have been placed.

Incremental (adjective)

To make an incremental change is to do so in small steps.

Substantiate (verb)

The verb substantiate refers to the process of backing up a point with evidence.

Quintessential (adjective)

Quintessential refers to a strong example of a particular characteristic or type.

Machiavellian (adjective)

To describe someone as Machiavellian is to accuse them of scheming or using their cunning to get what they want.

Idyllic (adjective)

Idyllic can be used to describe a perfect scenario or place.

Malaise (noun)

Malaise can be used to refer to feeling less than ideal, or in a state of discomfort.

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How to Sound Smart

Last Updated: February 3, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Leah Morris and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Leah Morris is a Life and Relationship Transition coach and the owner of Life Remade, a holistic personal coaching service. With over three years as a professional coach, she specializes in guiding people as they move through both short-term and long-term life transitions. Leah holds a BA in Organizational Communication from California State University, Chico and is a certified Transformational Life Coach through the Southwest Institute for Healing Arts. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 90,574 times.

You don’t need word of the day toilet paper or a huge vocabulary to sound smart. Instead, focus on presenting your ideas in a clear, coherent way. With a few new habits, you can impress your friends, outshine your fellow students, or make waves at work.

Choosing Your Words Carefully

For instance, say, “I made dinner,” not “Dinner is made.” Similarly, say, “Research shows that students who read get better grades,” rather than, “It’s shown by research that students who read get better grades.”

If you're not sure if grammar is a skill you need to improve, ask a few trusted friends for their honest opinion. You might also talk to a trusted teacher or coworker.

Making Good Arguments

Using Body Language

If eye contact is hard for you, practice by staring at yourself in the mirror. Then, get a friend or relative to help you practice staring into each other’s eyes. With practice, you can feel comfortable making eye contact.

Be careful not to slump or look down, as this makes you look less confident.

If you notice yourself start fidgeting, place your hands in your pockets or at your sides for the time being. Even though gesturing is important, it’s better to be still if you’re having a problem with fidgeting.

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About This Article

To sound smart, avoid using unnecessary filler words, like "um," "well," and "like," since they can make you appear uncertain. Also, try to use descriptive vocabulary, like "thrilling," "depressing," and "remarkable," instead of vague words like "good," and "cool." You should also avoid phrases like "I guess," "I'm not sure," or "maybe I'm wrong," since they undermine what you're saying. For tips on how to project confidence so you appear smarter, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Inflate your writing

It is 5 AM and you have a paper due in 3 hours. After staying up all night, you have only managed to type up 5 pages of the 8 page requirement, and you are beginning to run out of ideas. Never fear, Text Inflator is here to save your sanity.

Paste text in the form below to expand your paper without adding ideas, meaning, or value.

Don't have any text to use right now? Test with a sample: Select One (if needed) Text Inflator Information Declaration of Independence Intro Sample from Call of the Wild

Text Inflator is a tool that expands the length of a block of writing without adding any additional meaning. Simply paste your paper, essay, report, article, speech, paragraph, or any other block of English writing below and choose a desperation setting. A higher desperation setting will expand your essay much more than a smaller one, but will make your writing much more verbose sounding.

How does it work?

Text Inflator adds unnecessary modifiers to adjectives and verbs, uses larger words and phrases in place of smaller ones, and repeats parts of sentences. For the best results, it is recommended that you input grammatically correct paragraphs without spelling mistakes.

Although this tool will make your essay, paragraph, or paper longer, it may make it worse. It is not recommended that this be used for a formal, graded assignment, except possibly in the most extreme of circumstances with a low desperation setting and additional editing on your part. We are not responsible for lower grades or demoralizing remarks from your teachers or professors.

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15 Words and Phrases That Will Make Your Essay Sound Smarter
So enjoy our list of 15 words and phrases that will be of great help to make you paper sound smarter. In other words When to Use: To paraphrase something in a simpler manner, thus making it easier to understand; Exemplary Sentence: Writing an essay isn’t as black as it’s painted.
8 Tips to Make Your Writing Sound More Formal - ProofreadingPal
Truthfully, we cannot make you sound “smart.” There is no substitute for good ideas, but we can (and do) help you elevate your tone and make you sound like a bona fide professional-thinking person. Here are some handy tricks that you can use yourself. Avoid colloquial, informal words
14 Grammar Tips to Make Your Writing Sound Smart - ProWritingAid
If you want to sound smart in your writing, be clear with your audience. Clarity is key to helping readers understand your text. Good grammar makes your sentences easy to understand. No matter how sophisticated your idea is, present it with clarity. Good Grammar Clarifies When you want to sound smart, using good grammar is important.
How to Make Writing Sound More Professional - Grammarly
To sound more professional, be concise and to the point. Short and uncomplicated sentence structure that uses active verb phrases and minimizes passive voice will express your point more quickly and clearly, avoiding potential miscommunication and confusion.
20 Words to Make your Essays Sound Smarter - SuperProf
One of the ways to effectively string together a coherent argument in an essay is through the use of connectors. Connectors are the glue that keep the structure of an essay intact, and are crucial for linking together all of your key points and arguments.
3 Ways to Sound Smart - wikiHow
Download Article. 1. Use common words and phrases so you can clearly present your ideas. You might feel pressured to use “scholarly” words to sound smart, but it’s best to focus on being understood. Stick to everyday words that most people will know. Just try to use the best words possible to share your ideas. [1]
Text Inflator - Expand your block of writing
Simply paste your paper, essay, report, article, speech, paragraph, or any other block of English writing below and choose a desperation setting. A higher desperation setting will expand your essay much more than a smaller one, but will make your writing much more verbose sounding. How does it work?