Free tool · from Rich People Don’t Explain
Over-Explaining Checker
Sorry to bother you, just checking, if that’s okay. Paste a draft and see every apology, hedge and justification highlighted, with a directness score and a plainer version to start from.
Free, with no sign-up. It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to us.
How it works
It finds the phrases that turn a request into a favour
- Paste an email, a message or a cover letter. The more real the draft, the more useful the result.
- The checker highlights seven kinds of padding: apologies, hedges, asking permission, justifying, undercutting yourself, filler words and over-thanking. Extra exclamation marks count too.
- It scores how direct the message reads, from 0 to 100, by weighing the padding against the length, and tells you where your actual request sits.
- It drafts a plainer version by cutting the padding. Read it before you send it: automatic edits are blunt.
Before and after
The same request, three ways
Before · score 9
Hi Sarah, Sorry to bother you again! I just wanted to quickly follow up on the invoice I sent a few weeks ago. I know you’re really busy, and I totally understand if it slipped through the cracks. The reason I’m asking is that I have a few bills coming up, and I was kind of counting on it, so I hope that’s okay. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to maybe take a look when you get a chance? No worries if not! Sorry again, and thank you so much in advance!! Best, Jamie
The checker's plainer draft
Hi Sarah, I want to follow up on the invoice I sent a few weeks ago. I understand if it slipped through the cracks. I have a few bills coming up, and I was counting on it. Could you take a look? Thank you! Best, Jamie
What a direct version looks like
Hi Sarah, Could you pay invoice 2041 ($1,850) by Friday? It was due on the 3rd. I’ve attached it again in case it went astray. Thanks, Jamie
The request comes first, with the amount and a date. One line of context. No apology, because nothing went wrong on Jamie's side.
Why it matters
Why people over-explain, and when not to cut
Over-explaining is usually a negotiation with yourself. Each apology and each extra reason is an attempt to make a request impossible to refuse, and it does the opposite: it tells the reader you expect a no. People who get what they ask for tend to write the way the book title suggests. They state the request, give one reason if the reader needs it, and stop.
Not every soft word is padding. An apology for a real mistake belongs in the message. A reason belongs when the reader needs it to act. Warmth with a client you have known for years is not hedging. Use the score as a mirror, not a rule.
The book behind the tool
The title is the idea this checker tests
Rich People Don’t Explain is fifty-one short chapters of hard-earned business thinking: on customers and what delights them, on time, on leverage and people, and on the unwritten rules of making money. Read it for the thinking behind the habit, and for how differently people with serious money spend their words.
Buy the PDF · US$29.99 About Rich People Don’t Explain
Seven-day guarantee. Instant download through Payhip's secure checkout.
A second pair of eyes
Want your offer, your pages and your emails to sound like you mean them?
Solid Base House also works with businesses directly, at a fixed fee agreed before anything starts.
Consultancy
Fixed fee
Positioning, pricing and a marketing system a small team can actually run. The same thinking as the books, applied to your business, at a fixed fee agreed before we start.
Fixed-fee advisory
From US$4,000
For owners past the beginner stage and stuck on one specific decision: positioning and pricing, a marketing system a small team can run, payments, a product launch. A fixed fee, agreed before anything starts.
More free tools
Other tools from the same shelf
Cost Per Use Calculator
From The Poor Pay Twice
Is the expensive one really cheaper? Compare two buys over the years, with repairs and resale, and see the cost per use.
Open the toolBusiness Model Finder
From Somebody Else Pays
Tick what your business already has and what holds it back. Get three models to test, a payback check and the seven tests.
Open the toolObjection Reply Builder
From Your Phone Is a Shop
Choose what the buyer said. Get honest replies for a message, an email or a call, plus what not to say.
Open the toolQuit Your Job Calculator
From Nobody Is Coming to Promote You
Six months at 75% of your pay, six months of savings, more customers than time. See which you have, and when the rest arrives.
Open the toolQuestions
Over-explaining, answered
What is over-explaining?
Giving more reasons, apologies and qualifications than the reader needs to act. In writing it shows up as phrases like “sorry to bother you”, “I just wanted to” and “if that’s okay”, and as a paragraph of context before the actual request.
Why is the word “just” a problem?
“Just” shrinks whatever follows it. “I just wanted to check” asks the reader to treat your message as small and optional. Taking it out rarely changes the meaning and usually makes the request clearer. One “just” is fine; five in a short email is a pattern.
Should I never apologise in an email?
Apologise when you got something wrong, once, and then say what you are doing about it. Don’t apologise for writing, for following up on something you are owed, or for asking a question that is part of your job.
How is the directness score worked out?
Each flagged phrase carries a weight (apologies and undercutting yourself count most, filler words least), and the total is measured against the length of the message. A long email with two hedges scores higher than a short one with the same two. It is a rough mirror, not a grade.
Does it work in languages other than English?
No. It looks for English phrases, so it will miss padding in other languages, and it can occasionally flag an English word that is doing real work in context.
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
No. The check runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste is sent to our server or saved.