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I had a global politics professor whose class included a significant participation component. After every student comment or interjection, he would look at the speaker and ask, “So what?” That was your cue to move beyond a simple statement of fact and link your observation to an outcome or embed it in a context. It was intimidating, but hugely helpful in sharpening our collective rhetorical skills.

Do the same thing with your writing. Interrogate it mercilessly (your audience certainly will). So what? Why does this matter? Why should the reader care? Why is this important? Why can’t it be cut? Make every sentence and idea defend its life. And if you can’t do that yourself, get an editor who will be merciless in doing it for you. You need it. We all do.