The Paramedic Method

1 Circle the prepositions (of, in, about, for, onto, into)

2 Draw a box around the "is" verb forms

3 Ask, "Where's the action?"

4 Change the "action" into a simple verb

5 Move the doer into the subject (Who's kicking whom)

6 Eliminate any unnecessary slow wind-ups

7 Eliminate any redundancies.

Use the Paramedic Method in the sentences below to practice.

1 The point I wish to make is that the employees working at this company are in need of a much better manager of their money.

2 It is widely known that the engineers at Sandia Labs have become active participants in the Search and Rescue operations in most years.

3 After reviewing the results of your previous research, and in light of the relevant information found within the context of the study, there is ample evidence for making important, significant changes to our operating procedures.

Example Concise Solutions:

4 Employees at this company need a better money manager. (Original word count: 26. New word count: 10).

5 In recent years, engineers at Sandia Labs have participated in the Search and Rescue operations. (Original word count: 24. New word count: 16).

6 After reviewing the results of your research, and within the context of the study, we find evidence supporting significant changes in our operating procedures. (Original word count: 36. New word count: 25).

Otherexamples can be found in StyleWriter 4/4.1 (examples and improvement of your texts)

5. These exercises will help you to review more of the important words that we use to join ideas in a piece of writing.