AEE: How to Be Concise Part 3: Avoid the Passive

Summary

All Ears English Podcast: How to Be Concise Part 3 – Avoid the Passive

Release Date: May 24, 2025

In the third installment of their enlightening series on conciseness, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan delve into the crucial topic of avoiding passive grammar to enhance clarity and impact in American English communication. This episode, titled "AEE: How to Be Concise Part 3: Avoid the Passive," offers intermediate to advanced English learners practical strategies to streamline their language for more effective conversations and professional interactions.

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Introduction to Conciseness and Passive Grammar

The episode kicks off with Lindsay and Michelle acknowledging their own assertive personalities, contrasting the concept of being a "passive person" with passive grammar. They emphasize that while neither host sees themselves as passive individuals, the focus of the discussion is on how passive grammatical structures can dilute the strength and clarity of a message.

Lindsay (02:23): "But this is interesting because today we're talking about passive grammar. So this is part three of our series about being concise, the grammar you use can affect how concise your message is."

Understanding Active vs. Passive Voice

A significant portion of the discussion centers on distinguishing between active and passive voice. Lindsay explains that active voice places the subject as the doer of the action, making sentences more direct and impactful. In contrast, passive voice emphasizes the action itself, often obscuring who is responsible.

Michelle (05:13): "Active voice focuses on the subject performing the action, whereas passive voice focuses on the action being performed."

Example Transformation:

• Passive: "The call was made by me." (05:30)
• Active: "I made the call." (05:52)

Lindsay adds an insightful note on the versatility of the word "call," highlighting that it can refer both to a phone call and a decision, thereby enriching the learner's vocabulary.

Strategies to Enhance Conciseness

The hosts outline two primary strategies to manipulate grammar for conciseness:

1. Use Active Voice:

   • Metric: Focus on who is performing the action.
   • Benefit: Reduces wordiness and increases clarity.

   Example:

   • Passive: "She was visited by him." (07:05)
   • Active: "He visited her." (07:17)

2. Combine Sentences:

   • Metric: Merge simple sentences into compound or complex structures.
   • Benefit: Creates a smoother flow and eliminates unnecessary pauses in speech.

   Example:

   • Before:
     • "The phone is small."
     • "It is black." (08:28)
   • After: "The phone is small and black." (08:44)

Lindsay (07:45): "Another thing we could avoid is repeating the subject. Combine sentences to make your message more direct and concise."

Role-Play Demonstration

To illustrate the practical application of these strategies, Lindsay and Michelle engage in a role-play segment. They present two versions of the same scenario – one utilizing passive voice and simple sentences, and the other employing active voice and combined sentences for conciseness.

Less Concise Example (13:00 - 14:52):

• "The accident was caused by me. I ran a red light."
• "She was visited by him."

More Concise Example (14:52 - 17:59):

• "I caused the accident when I ran a red light."
• "He visited her."

Michelle (15:19): "This super high-level getting into complex and compound sentences makes your message more direct and smooth."

Lindsay (16:08): "By combining sentences, we flow much more smoothly when speaking."

The role-play underscores how shifting from passive to active voice and merging sentences can significantly enhance the clarity and effectiveness of communication.

Recap and Practical Applications

In wrapping up, Lindsay and Michelle reiterate the importance of conciseness in various contexts, from daily conversations to professional settings like public speaking and meetings. They encourage listeners to practice these grammatical adjustments to build confidence and improve their overall communication skills.

Michelle (19:14): "Being concise makes you a better conversationalist and improves skills like public speaking and leading meetings."

Lindsay (20:16): "It's vital for both daily conversations and work."

Conclusion and Next Steps

The episode concludes with information on accessing the first two parts of the conciseness series and a call to action for listeners to engage with the podcast by leaving reviews. Lindsay and Michelle emphasize that mastering the art of conciseness, particularly through active grammar, is pivotal for anyone aiming to speak American English more effectively and confidently.

Michelle (18:35): "If you have loved this three-part series, make sure you hit the follow button to get our next series right here on the show."

Lindsay (19:38): "Especially if you are at a B2 or C1 level, it is time to step up and become more concise."

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Key Takeaways:

• Active Voice Enhances Clarity: Prioritize active constructions to make statements more direct and powerful.
• Combine Sentences for Flow: Merge simple sentences into compound or complex ones to maintain momentum in speech.
• Practice Regularly: Implement these strategies in daily conversations and professional scenarios to build fluency and confidence.

For those eager to refine their English communication skills, this episode offers actionable insights and practical examples to move towards more concise and effective language use.

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Remember to subscribe to the All Ears English Podcast for more valuable lessons and resources to master American English. Visit allearsenglish.com for additional materials and to leave your reviews!

Transcript

[A]

This is an Allers English podcast. How to be concise part 3 avoid the passive.

[B]

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe today in our third episode of our three part series on being Concise. Find out how you can manipulate your grammar to be more concise and therefore more powerful when you speak.

[A]

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[B]

Hello Aubry, how are you today?

[A]

I'm great, Lindsay. How are you doing?

[B]

Fantastic. I am so excited to get back into our series today on being concise. Aubrey, do you consider yourself a passive person?

[A]

Oh, good question. No, I don't think I am. I get if I am really passionate about something or I feel like something is unjust or someone is being treated unfairly, I am not passive at all. I become very, yeah, active. Like I want to do something. So I don't think I'm passive. What about you, Lindsay?

[B]

Oh my gosh, yes. I've been in the streets a lot lately for sure. But when it comes to, for me, when it comes to if there's a goal, there's something I really want to achieve to create, I'm definitely not passive. I will go after that goal and I will get a little bit obsessed with what I'm trying to build or create for sure. So I think neither of us are very passive.

[A]

Correct. Right. But this is interesting because today we're talking about passive grammar. So this is interesting that in English we have this adjective, passive where you could describe a person as passive. So they're just kind of go with the flow, laid back, not getting really passionate and active about causes maybe. And then we also have passive grammar. So this is interesting because in this part three of this series about being concise, the grammar you use can affect how concise your message is.

[B]

Oh my gosh, I love This I feel like often when we talk about being concise, we talk about vocabulary, we talk about using fewer words maybe, but changing our grammar is something I haven't really thought about yet. And I bet our listeners haven't either. So I'm excited to get into it. But first, Aubry, we want to call out some amazing listeners that reviewed our podcast. Yeah.

[A]

Yes, absolutely.

[B]

All right, so guys, it makes a big difference for us when we see your review. It helps us to stay motivated. So a big thank you to Daru youo from Taiwan. Five star review. All of these, by the way, Aubry, are five star reviews.

[A]

Amazing.

[B]

Yes. Salon Iraj from India, Ms. LC from the U. S. Joseph M. From Uzbekistan. Wow. Fantastic. Rafael Santos from Brazil, and English Shiva from the US A huge thank you to everyone that reviewed Allers English and Aubry. What should our listeners do?

[A]

Yes, leave us a review. We read these. We really love to see them and it does help other English learners find the podcast. So thank you to everyone who has left a review. And if you haven't yet, please go and leave us a review wherever you listen to the podcast.

[B]

Yes, we'll do our best to read your name out loud on the show if you do leave a review. So go ahead and leave that review for all ears. English. Aubry, I bet our listeners are curious now what we're talking about. How can we do this by manipulating our grammar choices to be more concise.

[A]

Yeah. So it's vital that you prioritize clear, active language and also combine sentences in order to be more concise. So like you said, Lindsay, yes, it does matter how concise your message and the vocabulary you're choosing that was in the rest of the series. And you can absolutely listen to these out of order. So stay to the end here and we'll share how you can find part one and two if you miss them. Because this is so important. Whether it's in daily conversations to be a better conversationalist or at work to be more concise. This is a very vital skill.

[B]

Yeah, this is huge. And I love that we're doing this series. If you can master the skill of being concise, you can build confidence in your ability to communicate what you need to, to get on stages, to get in front of groups, and to start to become a leader. Okay, so super important.

[A]

Yeah. So let's talk about the active voice. Right, so active versus passive. Active voice focuses on the subject performing the action, whereas passive voice focuses on the action being performed. So if we look at a couple example sentences, you can See how in this case, concise doesn't mean how many words we're using, but how direct we are being. So, for example, if I say the call was made by me, that is a passive construction. The focus is on the call. The subject of the sentence is the call. But if we want to make this an active construction and make me the focus and make the sentence a lot more direct, how would we say that, Lindsay?

[B]

We could just say, I made the call. Right. I made the call. Okay.

[A]

Exactly right. And this is interesting. You could be talking about a phone call or you could be talking about a decision. We also use the call to be like, like a decision I made. Well, it was my call. I made the call. It means that's the decision I made.

[B]

Oh, that's a good bonus learning for today for our listeners. Right. To make a call is not just make a phone call, it's to make a decision in kind of a casual way of saying that, Right?

[A]

Yeah, but it's like you're accepting responsibility sort of for the, the consequence of any decisions. Like it was my call or I made the call. I'm responsible in the end for the decision that was made.

[B]

Yeah. It makes me think of all the medical dramas that I, I always like a good medical drama. You know, the good doctor, then, er, the original medical drama. There's so much energy and, and, and worry and anxiety in a hospital.

[A]

Right. In this. And we hear this doctor saying, make the call. What's, what's the call? Or they'll say, call it. When it's like you have to determine cause of our time of death.

[B]

Or they're making these decisions under such pressure. Yeah. You have three seconds to decide what kind of med to administer. Oh, my gosh, I could never be a doctor up.

[A]

Right. They can't just take time to think through all of. They have to be able to make these snap, immediate decisions.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. So coming back to using the active voice as a strategy to be more concise. Another example, instead of saying she was visited by him, what would be better? What would be more powerful, more concise?

[A]

Yeah. I could just say he visited her. So we will hear this. We'll hear people use the active voice. It's very common in like, academic writing, maybe instructions, pamphlets. Pamphlets where people are trying to sound less direct, maybe more formal. But when often your message, if you're wanting to be clear and direct and concise, you should use the active voice. It's less wordy for these examples. It is less words and it's just more to the point.

[B]

All right, that's perfect. So that is our first tip on how to manipulate your grammar strategically to be more concise. What would be the second thing we could do? Aubry? When it comes to grammar.

[A]

Yeah. The second thing is to combine sentences. So individual, simple sentences require breaks in speech. When there's a period, we take a breath, we pause a little bit. So especially for speaking, if you're going to give a speech, a presentation, you will not want these choppy, simple sentences. Sometimes that's a strategy to emphasize that we use these individual, more simple sentences. We want those breaks, but often we need to think about combining these sentences and removing those pauses to be more concise.

[B]

Yeah. So let's take a look at what exactly that means. So this idea of avoiding repeating the subject is one thing that we could avoid repeating. So, for example, the phone is small, it is black. Or it's black. Instead of saying what?

[A]

Yeah, instead you could say, the phone is small and black, or the small phone is black. Right. You combine it to remove the subject, whether that's actually the word a subject. The phone is small, the phone is black. That's even worse. Here you have a pronoun replacing it. At least. The phone is small, it is black. Combine these sentences, have just one subject and then the descriptors.

[B]

Yeah. I could imagine using this phrase if I lost my phone. Right. And people are looking for my phone around the house. What does it look like? Oh, it's small and black, and it has a sticker on it. And, you know, you're giving the details. You're not going to start over and say, my phone is small, my phone is black? No, of course not.

[A]

That's the opposite of being concise, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So this may seem obvious, but once you are using more complex sentences, sometimes we will find ourselves repeating the subject or using pronouns when we should actually combine those sentences to be more concise. And not only should you avoid repeating the subject or using pronouns when it's unnecessary, sometimes you should just avoid using simple sentences. You can combine them into compound or complex sentences.

[B]

What does this look like? Aubry, can you give us an example of what you mean here?

[A]

Yeah. So, for example, if you're describing what someone did and you say, she arrived at 2pm yesterday, she opened up the store, she then organized the shelves. You can combine these sentences into one complex sentence. What would that look like? Lindsay?

[B]

Okay, so this is how, you know, a native speaker would say it. She arrived at 2pm opened up the store, and then organized the shelves. So Here, it's flowing together. It's not giving me a chance to get bored or to lose the momentum.

[A]

Right, exactly right. And it's just making your message more direct, more concise. So whenever, if you're planning ahead of time, what to say for a presentation or even a conversation, and you want to avoid, you know, taking the time for those stops, those breaks, the pauses that are necessary when we have these simple sentences, think ahead of time. How could I combine this into either a compound sentence, that's where you have two independent clauses, two sentences that could stand on their own with a conjunction dividing them, or a complex sentence that has lots of relative clauses. All of these interesting, where you're combining multiple thoughts into one sentence.

[B]

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[A]

Exactly right. This first role play, it's going to be the same basic sentences in both of these, but we'll first show you what it would look like with passive voice, with simple sentences a little less concise. And then we'll show it using today's strategies.

[B]

Excellent. Let's do it.

[A]

Here we go. I'll start us out.

[B]

All right.

[A]

The accident was caused by me. I ran a red light.

[B]

Oh, no. Were you on your phone?

[A]

Oh, there was a tall truck in front of me. It went through a yellow light. I couldn't see past it.

[B]

Oh, I see you follow them through the light. It was red by the time you got through.

[A]

Yes. I have to go to traffic school now. That will remove the citation from my record.

[B]

Sometimes I have this problem when I'm driving on a highway or in a town. I can't see beyond the truck, and I can't see an exit off ramp or a sign.

[A]

This extra. This exact thing happened to me once several years ago where I was behind a really tall truck.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I just. There. I didn't realize how close the stoplight was. And I couldn't see the stoplight because of this truck. And I was maybe following a little too closely, but I just remember as it went through the light, and I just followed it through the light, and then I glanced, and it was red, and maybe it was, like, yellow for the truck. Right. They kind of, like, barely made it through, but I definitely would have stopped if I had seen. So anyway, this did happen to be. I'm like, oh, gosh, I need to follow less closely, make sure I can see all the stop lights.

[B]

I think that's the key, is the following distance but no accident. Right. Aubrey, you're luckily scare me. Yeah. Okay.

[A]

I have a few of them. Luckily, all of the other traffic in the intersection, they know to, like, wait for anyone going through that yellow light. At least I do. I don't want to be the first one through an intersection. I'm making sure it's clear.

[B]

Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, good. Safe driving here at Dollars Other stuff. All right, now this is a what to do, how to make this more concise.

[A]

Yes. And then we'll show how we combined these sentences, whether we switched from passive to active. So let's show the better option here. I'll start us.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I caused the accident when I ran a red light.

[B]

Oh, no. Were you on your phone? No.

[A]

There was a tall truck in front of me that went through a yellow light, and I couldn't see past it.

[B]

Oh, I see. You followed them through the light, but it was red by the time you got through school.

[A]

Yes. I have to go to traffic school now, and that will remove the citation from my record.

[B]

Okay, this is super high level getting into complex and compound sentences. So where's the first time we created a complex sentence? Aubry.

[A]

All right. So that first thing I said, first of all, we switched to active voice here. I said, I caused the accident when I ran a red light. Instead of. In the first option, we had passive voice. The accident was caused by me. And sometimes you will use passive voice to maybe take the focus off yourself. Right. I'm like, oh, I want this, the. The emphasis to be on the accident and not me. But if I want to be more concise, more direct, and usually more natural sounding, I would use active voice here.

[B]

Or it does depend on, you know, if the cop is there, there are four people that came out of the car, you know, who caused this accident. It was me. It was caused by me. That would be appropriate to use passive voice, but that's a different kind of scenario.

[A]

Yeah, that's interesting. Well, the accident was caused by a driver. That was me. Still is me, right?

[B]

That's funny.

[A]

But this is a complex sentence here. So initially we had these simple sentences. The accident was caused by me, I ran a red light. And I'm having to pause there at these individual sentences. So here we've combined it. We have I caused the accident. That's independent clause. And then when I ran a red light. This is an adverb phrase. So we have a complex sentence here. It just flows so much more smoothly.

[B]

I love it. And then we get into another complex sentence where you said, no, there was a tall truck in front of me that went through a yellow light and I couldn't see past it. So what did we do here?

[A]

Exactly? So we had three individual simple sentences before. Now we've added that to combine the first two. So now that went through a yellow light. It's all an adjective phrase describing the truck and what it did. And then we add, we add this conjunction and. And I couldn't see past it. So we're adding and. And tacking on another independent clause at the end. So we have this very interesting complex sentence, more complex grammar, but also going to flow much more smoothly when you're speaking.

[B]

And that's what our listeners want to be able to speak with this more complex grammar to truly express everything that is on their mind. So let's keep going here. Aubry. So for the second to last one, I said, oh, I see, you follow them through the light. But it was red by the time you got through, right?

[A]

Yeah. So originally this was two simple sentences. Now we've added the conjunction, but combine them and made a compound sentence. So we have. You followed them through the light. That's an independent clause. It could stand alone As a sentence, then we have but the conjunction followed by another independent clause. It was read by the time you got through. So we've made a compound sentence here.

[B]

And we did it again in the last one you said, yes, I have to go to traffic school now. And that will remove the citation from my record.

[A]

Exactly. Another compound sentence here. Just flow. Having these two ideas flow together and it makes sense, right? Because these are very related. Going to traffic school, that will remove the citation. Often with these type of thoughts that are so related, it feels choppy and strange to divide it into individual simple sentences.

[B]

I love it. I love it. This is great. So this is part three in our series Aubry on how to be concise. And again, where can they go to get the other parts of the series?

[A]

Yes, guys, if you missed part one, it was episode 2410 on Allers English. How to be concise. Part one, direct your message. And then 2413 was part two. So all three installments of the series are right here on Allers English. How to be concise. Part two, choose your words. So it's about your message being concise. The vocabulary we need to use. And now the grammar.

[B]

All right, guys, if you have loved this three part series on Allers English, make sure you hit the follow button to get our next two or three part series right here on the show. Aubry, where should we leave our listeners? This idea of being concise, it's powerful, right?

[A]

It is, right. It makes you a better conversationalist in your daily life and it does improve skills like public speaking, giving presentations, leading meetings, all of these. We all know people who are concise and those who are not. Right? The tmi long message.

[B]

Wordy.

[A]

What they're saying is wordy. Long winded, right? And there is so much value to being more concise.

[B]

Oh my gosh. Especially if you are at a level on the show where you are at B2, C1, it is time to step up and become more concise. You've got the individual pieces of these sentences now moving to create complex sentences using active grammar. This is how you become better at really public speaking. You know, I think the, the time when it's the most important is when you're pulled in front of a group and you're being asked to say something important. People can get a little irritated if you don't get to the point quickly. And this can be different culturally too, Aubry. Of course. But I can tell you an American business culture, Western business culture, super important to get to the point and be concise.

[A]

Yes. So important in work but also in daily conversations. I know people who write TMI wordy using passive voice sometimes when really? Yes I do. Yes, this does happen in conversations too. So it's vital for, you know, both in daily conversations and also at work.

[B]

I love it. I'm so glad we covered this topic today. And for any of our students listening who are coming to occ, I want to see these skills right there in class. Looking forward to it.

[A]

It awesome. Nice. We'll see you there.

[B]

All right, sounds good. Bye Aubrey.

[A]

Bye.

[B]

Thanks for listening to all ears. English Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com forward SLF fluency score and if you believe in connection not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.