Power Words and Weak Words

Why this matters

Certain words carry emotional charge — 'free,' 'instantly,' 'proven,' 'without' — while others drain energy from a sentence without adding meaning — 'very,' 'really,' 'quite,' 'just.' Swapping weak words for power words or cutting them entirely tightens copy and raises conversion without changing structure.

Try it yourself

1. Run your copy through a word-frequency count and find every instance of 'very,' 'really,' 'quite,' 'just,' and 'actually' — delete each one and check whether the sentence means the same thing.
2. Identify the single most important benefit in a piece of your copy and rewrite the sentence around it using a concrete power word ('free,' 'instantly,' 'without,' 'guaranteed').
3. Compare the word count and emotional register of the original versus revised version by reading both aloud.

References

• CopyBlogger — Power Words