What is best way to accentuate the positive in an endorsement?

Question

I want to write an endorsement for someone. I have one line that begins like this:

"I have no doubt that ..."

But I don't like the negative connotation of 'no doubt'. My best alternative of

"I am quite certain ..."

doesn't seem to have the impact I want to communicate. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

In this case, I would use something that's a little more succinct, but not negative:

Without question, [product/service/person is great].

This feels less negative to me because you aren't mentioning doubt, something that you don't want in an endorsement.

Answer 2

My preference: Drop the introductory phrase altogether, and simply say whatever you were going to say.

Answer 3

To endorse a person effectively, whether in an advertisement or a letter of recommendation, some strategies are to:

• Describe positive traits
• Avoid mentioning negative or irrelevant traits
• Emphasize how strongly you support, recommend, or believe in the person and their ability

It's possible to do this last one powerfully by saying how little doubt you have: I have no doubt... or how sure you are: I am quite certain... (You might try removing "quite"; adding a modifier like quite to certain sometimes doesn't help. In this case, it might make you sound less confident, because it could leave the reader with a bigger feeling of doubt about whether you're as sure as you can possibly be, compared with just I am sure.)

Whichever way you prefer, try looking at some examples of recommendations, where you'll find constructions like these:

...and I recommend her to you without reservation... (sample recommendation letter)

I am confident that... ( sample recommendation letter)