Evidence-for-Adjectives Specificity Test
Replace vague adjectives with names, numbers, dates, or measurements
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 98%
Run a sentence-level audit focused on adjectives and vague qualifiers. For every word such as fast, popular, recent, successful, durable, or significant, ask whether it can be replaced by a number, proper name, date, measurement, product, or place. The replacement should carry the factual burden of the claim: “fast” becomes “11 seconds,” “popular” becomes “4,200 orders last month,” and “recent” becomes a specific date. Remove the adjective if no evidence supports it and it contributes only decoration. This editing rule makes content more credible, useful, and difficult to reproduce generically because it exposes the underlying observations rather than merely asserting conclusions. It can be repeated during drafting, editing, or final quality control.
Origin
Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain as the episode's practical test for moving content from general language toward specificity.
Core principles
- 01Specific evidence communicates more than evaluative language
- 02Numbers, names, and dates make claims inspectable
- 03Concrete detail helps distinguish firsthand knowledge from generic prose
How to run it
- 1
Find Vague Qualifiers
Scan the draft for adjectives, superlatives, and imprecise timing or quantity words. Mark terms that express an evaluation without showing its factual basis.
Pro tip Search separately for words such as fast, best, popular, recent, many, significant, and successful.
Watch out Do not limit the audit to obvious adjectives; vague quantities and time references create the same problem.
- 2
Locate the Underlying Evidence
Determine what observation caused the writer to choose each qualifier. Look for a measurement, count, date, customer, product, event, or location that can carry the meaning directly.
Pro tip Use source records rather than estimating a more impressive-looking figure.
Watch out False precision is worse than an honestly qualified statement.
- 3
Replace or Remove
Substitute the exact evidence for the vague word, then reread the sentence. If no reliable evidence exists and the adjective adds no necessary meaning, delete it.
Pro tip Retain both the adjective and evidence only when the adjective helps interpret the number.
Watch out Do not overload the prose with details irrelevant to the reader's decision.
- 4
Verify Decision Value
Confirm that each added detail improves understanding, credibility, comparison, or action. Preserve confidentiality by aggregating or anonymizing evidence where necessary.
Pro tip Prioritize details that reveal conditions, trade-offs, or outcomes.
Watch out Names and dates should never be added at the expense of customer privacy.
In the wild
An editor changes “fast delivery for our popular new service released recently” to “11-second processing for a service used in 4,200 orders last month and released on March 14.” Each assertion now exposes the evidence behind it.
→ The copy becomes measurable, credible, and easier for readers to evaluate.
Instead of saying that certain countertops stain easily, a specialist names Calcutta, Viola, and Taj Mahal quartzites, identifies grape juice and turmeric as the test substances, records March 14 as the test date, and shows the 24-hour results.
→ A broad warning becomes a concrete comparison grounded in observable evidence.
Common mistakes
Adding Unsupported Precision
Inventing a number or presenting an estimate as an exact measurement creates misleading specificity.
Keeping Decorative Filler
Vivid but interchangeable language can still obscure the absence of evidence.
Including Irrelevant Detail
Specificity should improve understanding; unrelated names and numbers merely distract the reader.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for editing case studies, expert articles, landing pages, and recommendations that rely on broad descriptive claims.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal where precise evidence is unavailable or where additional detail would expose confidential information.
From the transcript
“If you want to move this on the right dimension, for every adjective, ask, could I replace that with a number, name, or date?”
“So fast, 11 seconds. Popular, 4,200 orders last month. Recent, March 14th.”
From the episode
How to Rank #1 on Google in 2026 (The 6-Step SEO Playbook)