Communicating Ideas

Liar liar pants on fire

2012-01-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

Who knew? Until I started researching for this post, I had no idea that William Blake, the poet, was the likely source of this colorful and catchy phrase. In his 1810 poem, The Liar, he phrases it somewhat more elegantly: Deceiver, dissembler/Your trousers are alight. In any event, this colorful phrase comes to mind in this campaign season. The Tampa Bay Times maintains a useful non-partisan site called PolitiFact that fact checks the candidates' claims, with ratings on a truth-o-meter that has a setting called Pants-on-fire for the most outrageously untrue claims.

Email best practices

2012-01-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

Do you use abbreviations in email? How about emoticons? Unless you know your recipient well, you should probably avoid both abbreviations and emoticons or smiley faces. What else can you do to make your email clear to the reader? Well, the one tip most people seem to forget is use a clear subject line. Studies show most business users can't handle more than about 50 messages a day. You know if your recipient gets that many, some of them probably aren't even opened. So help the reader out by making your purpose clear with a good subject such as Agenda for Wednesday meeting. Here are some other etiquette tips to produce better email and better results.

Try a little redundancy

2011-11-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

So, did you watch the World Series? There was a classic miscommunication between the manager of the Cardinals, Tony LaRussa, and his bullpen coach, Derek Lilliquist, in game 5. LaRussa asked the bullpen coach to warm up two pitchers, a right handed pitcher and a left hander, and only one was warmed up. The end result was the probable loss of a game.

What could have been done differently? If the conversation had included a confirmation of the instructions back to LaRussa by the bullpen coach, both men would have been able to agree the same message was sent and received. Try incorporating a little redundancy in your communications, and see if it does not help. Here's an article with the four steps to include for clearer communication: tell, summarize, paraphrase, repeat.

How does Twitter describe our moods?

2011-09-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

As of February 2010, Twitter was getting about 50 million tweets per day. That much data allows social scientists to study human behavior in new ways. Sociologists at Cornell studied a smaller set of tweets looking for indications about how these messages describe our moods. Apparently, moods are similar across cultures. We all seem to dislike Monday mornings, and get cheerier as we move towards the weekend. It may be that Twitter behavior doesn't generalize to all people, but it will be interesting to see over time what other conclusions can be drawn from these short messages.

What is the other 10% of the job?

2011-09-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

So, after less than a year Leo Apotheker lost his job as CEO of Hewlett Packard, and was replaced with Meg Whitman, who had great success at eBay, a web company, but never worked in a hardware company. Why?

In an interview, HP Chairman Ray Lane said "The market’s a little confused because we’re in so many different businesses. This is 90 percent about leadership, communications, and operating execution." So, the lesson here is that communication skills are more critical than business knowledge, it seems. The article referenced above calls out four things Meg Whitman does very well that make her a good communicator.

To appear competent, smile more

2011-08-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Communication takes place on many levels. If you are communicating in person or via a video link, there is a lot of non-verbal communication going on. Your posture, eye contact, and facial expressions will all play a part in what you convey. Here's a fascinating talk about why you should smile. It can improve your life span, help you appear more competent, and many other things. Also, can you read the smiles of others? Test yourself to see how many fake and real smiles you can spot. Here's a hint, though: look at the eyes and other parts of the face and head.

Embellishments, Jargon, and Buzzwords

2011-08-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

The best business writing is simple and easy to understand. Even if you love baseball and thrill to read about latest record broken , you can't assume your audience shares that enthusiasm for the Boys of Summer.

Here are some examples of wretched buzzword-filled writing that only served to annoy and alienate the reader. Doesn't the notion of disruptive ideation methodology appeal to you? No? Any idea what it is? I'm guessing the writer wanted to say something about how their company approaches problem solving in creative and unexpected ways. But why not just say that?

Beware of Lavish Reviews

2011-08-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I have certainly read my share of reviews on Yelp, Epinions, and other user created review sites. So how does one know that the generous praise accorded a new restaurant down the block is real and not written by the family of the owners? Researchers at Cornell have come up with an algorithm to identify fake reviews. Apparently, if there are too many adjectives and very little specific description, the review is suspect. Companies such as Amazon and Trip Advisor are very interested in the research, because good quality reviews benefit their reading public and add credibility to their content. This article has more information.

Precision in writing

2011-03-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

If I were to make a list of great writers, I don't think the first person I'd think of would be Chief Justice John Roberts, but according to this very amusing article about a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the chief does have a way with words. The plaintiff was trying to claim that a business had a personal right to privacy, much the way an individual does. But the claim is refuted with a wealth of examples of where words can have different meanings in different contexts. How different is a golden cup from a golden opportunity? And how different are crab apples and crab legs?

Bad Job Interviews

2011-02-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Look up statistics for how much of face to face communication takes place in words, and how much takes place in other cues, and you will find a variety of statistics. However, people do agree that communication is more than just words. So, here are a few examples of nonverbal signals that jobseekers gave that may have cost them their chance at a job offer:

- eating all the candy in the interviewer's candy dish

- tossing a beer can in the receptionist's trash receptacle on the way into the interview

- presenting a college diploma where the name had been changed with white-out

- bringing your parent to the interview

Read the article for more amazing examples.

This is not a story about communication

2011-01-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

One of the most famous paintings by the French surrealist Rene Magritte is a picture of a pipe with the words Ceci n'est pas une pipe or This is not a pipe under it. His point is that the picture is merely an image of a pipe, and not the pipe itself. In today's New York Times is an article that is not about communication, but the article illustrates a number of points that are critical to understanding how to communicate effectively. The article is about the creation of a National Museum of African-American History and Culture as part of the Smithsonian Institution, but the author touches on key goals of good communication, including:

understanding your target audience
building credibility
presenting facts in an unbiased way
using positive characterization
reading non-verbal cues

The author uses examples to show how good communication is critical to the success of this complex project, scheduled to open in 2015.

Dear Reader,

2011-01-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

How do you start your email? Is "Dear ____" too formal? This Wall Street Journal article suggests that the use of dear as a greeting is incorrect. It is either too initimate, if you don't know the reader, or too impersonal, if the reader is someone the writer already knows. However, just launching into the content of the mail is too abrupt, according to one etiquette expert. Is "Salutations" or "Hey" any better?

Lies, Quotes, and Shoes

2010-11-29T17:36:00.000-08:00

You may have heard that Truman quote about political life "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." It's a great line, but Truman never said it. However, a fictional Truman said it in a play, apparently. This great article tracks down some famous but fictional quotes from well known historical figures. Sadly, Edmund Burke did not say "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Nor did Mark Twain say "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes," though in our Internet age, it's certainly true. It's also the case that unfortunately in our Internet age, a falsehood is likely to persist, even it's retracted from its original source. Try using a search engine to find pages about health care reform and so called "death panels," for instance. There are plenty of claims, but health care reform in any form, as it was passed in Congress, or as it was originally proposed, never contained any such reference.

Liespotting

2010-11-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ah, election season, not the best time of the year for truth. Now that the mailers and calls have stopped coming, have a look at this page that discusses lies in the business setting. Many of the cues that you will have to lies come from nonverbal communication, such as licking of lips, lowered voice, and frozen upper body. There are also cues in the words, though, such as unnecessary details, and lack of contractions ("did not" instead of "didn't") or distancing language.

Words that don't translate

2010-10-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

You may be aware of some words that we have borrowed from other languages, because we don't have a word for them in English. One well known example is schadenfreude, or the enjoyment people have in hearing of the troubles of others. Here's a cross cultural list of 20 such words from various languages, including jayus, an Indonesian word for a joke so poorly told or written that it's funny. However, my favorite such word, mokita, does not appear on this list. A mokita is a truth that a group agrees not to talk about. The phrase elephant in the room describes a similar concept, but it's not exactly the same thing.

Free automated grammar correction

2010-08-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

There are some places on the web where you don't want your writing to show up, such as The "Blog" of "Unnecessary Quotation Marks." But sometimes we all need help making sure our writing is flawless. What's a person to do? Help is at hand. Here is an article that lists some online sources for automated checking of your writing, including both spell checking and grammar correction. The article does mention that these tools are in addition to your own careful proofreading, and discusses some of the shortcomings of automated tools. For example, comma splices and dangling modifiers may not be identified. You should never assume a document that passes these tests will have no errors.

Did you know there is a word purgatory?

2010-08-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the Oxford English Dictionary keeps a list of words submitted for inclusion in the dictionary but rejected. Some words spend time in this lexical limbo and eventually are included in the dictionary, and some do not. Here's a short list of some of the words that have so far not made it out, including earworm (a catchy tune that runs through your head) and wurfing (surfing the internet at work). The older words are stored on file cards, but the new ones are stored digitally. Any suggestions for naming this repository? I kind of like word purgatory myself.

Writing for the Web

2010-07-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Yahoo has released a style guide for web writing - in print. (The irony of the fact that it's a book is not lost on me, but of course they are entitled to make money...) However, there are a number of good bits of information available on the web site for the book. For example, web readers are more likely than print readers to scan a page before they decide whether to devote any more time to the page, so short sentences work best. There is also a word list which dictates how to spell, capitalize, or punctuate technology terms. For example, email is the preferred form, but e-commerce, e-reader, and other e- words are still hyphenated.

Post No Bills

2010-07-19T10:33:00.001-07:00

Here's a great visual pun. The text says "post no bills" - which is to say, don't put any advertisements here - but it's accompanied by stenciled pictures of four well known Bills - Murphy, Gates, Clinton, and Cosby. The pictures can be found around Toronto and are apparently the work of a graffiti artist. I found this page from a post in the Word A Day newsletter. Need help increasing your vocabulary? Sign up for their five-days-per-week email and learn new words. The theme for this week is words that look like one part of speech but are another. Today's word is contumely, which is actually a noun.

Is "unfriend" a word?

2010-06-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

The 2010 AP Style guide, "the essential tool for writers, editors, students and public relations specialists," according to its website, has just been released. This reference is used to determine such things as what new terms are acceptable when referring to social media. In it, "friend" and "unfriend" are both verbs. I don't know about you, but we regularly disagree on this point in my house. Other terms found in this edition include app, e-reader (still gets the hyphen), and flu-like.

Watch what I do, not what I say

2010-06-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

This week the French Open tennis tournament is going on. As always, there is plenty of good tennis and some drama to be had. In honor of this tournament, I offer you this thought provoking video about the disconnect between what people do and why they think they do it. Malcolm Gladwell, well known author of books like The Tipping Point and Outliers, and sometimes iconoclast, is talking about why focus groups don't work that well, and he uses interviews with the world's best tennis players to help illustrate his point.

Negotiation tactics for women

2010-05-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

First, the good news: the pay gap between what men and women earn for comparable work is narrower than it used to be. Now, the bad news: women still earn only $.77 for every dollar earned by men in comparable jobs. A New York Times article suggests that even after you adjust for differences in women's career paths, such as taking time off for child rearing, there's still a gap. But hope is not lost. The article also describes some ways that women might negotiate for raises that are different than successful strategies used by men. For example, frame a request for a raise as a team-aware request, by explaining how it will benefit either your work group or the organization as a whole. Think about how schedule flexibility might work for both the employer and the employee. You knew there was a difference between men and women, but put that difference to work and see what you get.

Learning from greatness

2010-05-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

On May 13, 1940 [big hint right there] who famously uttered these words? I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. I won't make you guess - Winston Churchill, in a speech to Parliament the day he took over as Prime Minister. His predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, was loved and admired, and his support was mildly enthusiastic at best. It was the beginning of the British involvement in World War II, and this was part of his attempt to muster support for the cause. Many years later, this is considered a great speech. Read the entire text of it here.

Is proofreading important?

2010-03-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

You bet it is. I was at a meeting and one of the participants mentioned that he knew someone who worked in Human Resources at a large well known company. They receive about 1500 resumes per day, and yet they only give ten of them (that's less than 1%) serious consideration. Why? They are able to eliminate most of the submissions because they contain errors, such as typos and misspellings. So how should you proofread? One choice is to swap documents with a friend or colleague and read each others' work. Here are some other suggestions. As the author of this post points out, different strategies work for different people. Some of them are pretty obvious and well known, like limiting distractions while you read, and printing out a hard copy. Some were new to me, like reading the document backwards. Also, remember that we are all victims of certain bad habits, so you probably know which errors you are most likely to make. After all the time you take crafting a document, make sure to polish it up so it can be taken seriously.

Live and In Person!

2010-03-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Do you still meet face to face?Do you still talk on the phone? I hope so. Some things can be done well via Skype, or virtual conferencing, but some things are still best done face to face. Here's an article arguing for why face to face meetings will always have a place. According to a survey by Harvard Business Review, F2F meetings were more effective for building relationships, negotiating, understanding customers, and interviewing for high level positions. I find that some conversations are just a lot easier over the phone than via email.

I really just think this is pretty useful

2010-03-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

Look at the subject of this post. It's full of filler words. This article from freelancewriting.com helps identify some words to leave out of your writing. The author makes several important points. For example, if you want to make a quantifiable claim, improve your credibility by using a real number instead of "a lot." Words like "just" and "really" can often be omitted without changing meaning. Good writing should be clear and concise. Convince your reader you can make your claims without qualification, and you'll win over more of your audience.

Spelling matters

2010-02-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

It's not that hard to find articles bemoaning the lack of spelling skills in written communication. Even spell checkers don't help that much; I regularly see student work with "costumer" instead of "customer" and "form" where the intended word was "from." One often sees the problem attributed to instant messaging, but it turns out that's not necessarily the case. This study from the University of Alberta shows that students who can spell in text messages also spell well in traditional writing, and students who don't spell well in traditional writing don't spell well in text messages either. Which is cause and which is effect?

However, there is no question that spelling properly is important. The hapless head of the Chilean mint misspelled the name of the country on a coin (!!!) and lost his job as a result. What's bad for him might be good for coin collectors, though.

Wall St Journal article on email

2010-02-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

This article about mistakes made in email should be required reading for anyone using email for business. Personally, I have not grown to love Twitter, though I hope that its appearance makes people learn the value of brevity, since there is a 140 character restriction on content. The WSJ article points out the value of short, clear content and useful subject lines. Which email would you open first - one titled "Meeting" or one titled "Your action items from Friday's meeting"? The article also contrasts the meaning of Dear Betty, and Dear Betty! Have a look, and see if it doesn't spur you on to higher quality in your email communications.

Our changing world

2010-01-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

What will cell phones be used for in five years? I don't know, but I know they will be used differently than they are now. You can already use them as cameras, GPS devices, and email service, but new uses are appearing rapidly. In third world countries, phones may serve as banks for people who otherwise have no access to credit. In the past week, we've all had ample demonstration of how cell phones can allow users to donate funds to causes, such as The Red Cross's Haiti Relief efforts - the last time I checked, over $8 million in $10 increments had been donated this way, and the Red Cross is only one of several such efforts. So, what does the future look like? This week's activities in the tragic Haiti disaster have given us a glimpse.

What not to say at work

2009-12-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

This article starts with a good premise: don't use phrases at work that refer to gross bodily functions. It also mentions some of the redundancies that crop up, such as "past history." I'm guessing we all have our own list of phrases we never want to hear again. In my case, "thinking outside the box" and "pushing the envelope" would have to be pretty close to the top. I'm also pretty much done with any references to economic stimulus, credit crunch, and bailout. The important point here is this: if you want people to listen to you, don't use trite phrases. Find your own way to say what you have to say, and people will be more likely to listen.

The New York Times calls out it errors

2009-12-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a little preemptory self criticism: this article shows some grammar and syntax errors from this week's NY Times, with corrections. The explanations are all very clear and simple.

DIY project: Write a new language

2009-11-29T16:41:00.001-08:00

How often does the opportunity to write a whole language come up? No very often. There is Klingon, the language spoken by an alien race in the Star Trek series. Klingon is so well established that it has a published dictionary and has found its way into other television shows besides Star Trek. You can even have your Google search page displayed in Klingon if you wish. Now there is a new language entering the scene, written for the new movie, Avatar. This LA Times article describes how it was created. I wonder if someday it will have its own printed dictionary?

Apostrophes and how to use them

2009-11-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

I've been teaching writing as part of a communication class for a while, and one of the things I notice is the difficulty students have with apostrophes and possessive pronouns. Now, I realize learning the rules for these things can be tedious, but flawless writing is important. I also know that students learn different ways. So here is a nice visual lesson in correct use of apostrophes. Does that make it easier to understand? I'll let you decide whether it's a good explanation of a concept that is often seen in students' work. (Did I get it right the three times I used an apostrophe in that sentence?)

Can you read the grocery list?

2009-09-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

Good handwriting is almost a lost art. I know it's still taught in schools, but it certainly does not have the emphasis it once did. I suppose I'd be dating myself to say I had penmanship class when I was in elementary school. It was my worst subject. But handwriting is important. Bad handwriting allegedly causes 7,000 deaths a year when prescriptions are misfilled. Here's a quick primer from the New York Times with some times about how to write legibly.

Bad judgment or saavy marketing?

2009-08-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

So, Microsoft created an ad with an image of three people at a business meeting. The ad shows them sitting at a table, with computers open. One of the computers appears to be a MacBook, and the logo has been [presumably] digitally removed. The ad is published in the US. Then someone in the marketing department decides that if the photo is to be used in Poland, the African American man should be removed, and a white face put on his body. There is a range of opinions about this. I tend to agree with some of the printed opinions that if you wanted a photo with three white people in it, it would have been a lot smarter to start with a different photo. See the original and altered photos here.

How choice of language affects thinking

2009-08-13T10:46:00.001-07:00

In French, the word for bridge, pont, is masculine. In German, the word brücke is feminine. In this fascinating Newsweek article, the author describes how German newspaper accounts in 2004 of the newly built Viaduct de Millau mention its elegance and lightness, while French articles describe it as immense and powerful. A Stanford psychologist, Lera Boroditsky, has studied how language can affect thinking. There's an Aboriginal tribe who uses compass directions for spatial cues, and not surprisingly, these people show much better than average skill at dead reckoning. Imagine how your choice of words can affect others opinions. I find, for example, if I describe an assignment as particularly difficult, I am more likely to hear from students about how much trouble they had with it.

Easing the $%*@# pain

2009-07-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, who would have guessed? Swearing seems to help people tolerate pain. Read this summary for a description of the research and a few suggested applications. Now, I don't mean to suggest you should swear in print, or in a business setting, but perhaps there are places a good cuss word is appropriate.

Counting Up to the Millionth Word

2009-05-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

According to the Global Language Monitor, a new word is created in English on average every 98 minutes. This means that we should reach one million words on about June 10th of this year. What do new words look like? How about Bushism, interpandemic, microblogging, and defriend? These are a few of the words that have appeared recently. How do we know when a word becomes a word? As you might imagine, there are different opinions on this topic. Does it have to appear in the dictionary, or just be understood in conversation? This BBC video addresses that question. There's an absolutely delightful kids book on that topic also, Andrew Clements' Frindle, which I recommend to anyone.

Live Long and Prosper

2009-05-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a great Slate article on the origins of the Klingon language, in honor of the opening of the new Star Trek movie this week. What's interesting is how the language evolved. The first few words came from overdubbing some English lines and having to match the movement of the actors' lips with the created Klingon words. From there, the language was mostly created by a single linguist so that it worked like a real language, but with the militaristic and guttural quality of the Klingons as depicted in the Star Trek world. You can even display Google's home page in Klingon if you wish. (Google>Preferences>Interface Language). But here's a trivia question for you: what other prime time television show featured a speech in Klingon to play a joke on one of the characters? Give up? Here's the answer.

How to turn off donors

2009-03-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

Let's see...you've decided for Earth Day you want to donate to a site that benefits the planet. There are plenty of choices, but how would you pick? Maybe you'd want to evaluate the mission of the organization. Maybe you would want to know what the organization does with the donations it receives? According to a study done by Jakob Nielsen, a usability expert, only 43% of non-profits put their mission statement on the home page. Follow the link for more information about how sites could do better:
- make the donation button easier to find!
- ensure that local chapter pages resemble the national site
- make your organization's values prominent on your page
Now, doesn't that seem obvious?

One more reason to treat others with respect

2009-03-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

"When I was a receptionist, I routinely culled the obnoxious candidates (as well as the clearly unqualified). If someone was sweet and I could make a case for their qualifications, they would get special attention." - a comment by a reader in a blog post about treating receptionists well when you are seeking a job.

At the risk of sounding obvious, I mention this simple rule about job seeking (and life in general): treat others the way you would want to be treated. This blog post explains some reasons why treating the receptionist well might benefit you. Remember, for many firms, the receptionist is the gatekeeper, and if you want entry, you need to keep that in mind. Other than the rare hostile secretary, like Carol in the Dilbert comics, you will find that your respect and consideration are at the very least appreciated.

Indexes or indices?

2009-03-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article on Friday about the volatility in the stock market, and it referred to "the major indexes" and I got to wondering whether that was grammatically correct. There are a handful of English words that have irregular plurals. For example, did you know the plural form of appendix is appendices when you are talking about the section in the back of the book, but it's appendixes when you are talking about multiple internal organs? Matrix takes the plural form matrices but I don't think you could properly use that form when referring to multiple copies of the Keanu Reeves movie. The Wall Street Journal apparently considers both forms acceptable. Wiktionary claims that indexes is more common in the US and indices is the British form. But does common usage make a word correct? Certainly that's not true initially, though it does tend to become a recognized correct usage if it persists. Irregardless is an example of a word that has come to be accepted, though Merriam Webster's online dictionary still claims it's not a word.

How to say goodbye

2009-03-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's a sign of the times, but here's a great article on how to write a final farewell email to your co-workers. The author points out that there is no standard etiquette like you might find for general email. What are some of the author's suggestions?
- err on the side of less information rather than more
- limit the melodrama
- be gracious to your supporters
- use humor sparingly
Actually, those are pretty good rules for most email.

Whither Twitter?

2009-02-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Technological changes are coming at us quickly these days, and communication technology is no exception. One relatively recent phenomenon is Twitter, the self described social messaging utility that allows users to share short (140 characters) messages with friends, colleagues, or other associates. Messages can be read as text sent to a mobile phone, updates at a social networking site like Facebook, or a number of other ways as well. Why would you care about this development? Well, there are over 700,000 registered users now, including President Obama, and a long list of companies and media agencies. But I want to suggest two articles that might help you understand how Twitter might be useful. First, from the New York Times' tech writer, David Pogue, on how he found Twitter useful. Second, a blog post on emergency response that points out how first responders have used Twitter to respond to disasters. Am I suggesting you jump right in to this new arena? No, but you should be aware of it.

Here's a fun history of Twitter. Here's Guy Kawasaki on how to create good Twitter content.

Writing Guidelines - some things are universal

2009-02-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

Problogger is a well established site for bloggers who hope to make a living blogging. Granted, there are relatively few people who are successful enough to give up day jobs to do this, but this site has great suggestions and ideas about how you might pursue making money with a blog. As you might imagine, good blog writing isn't that different from any other good writing. Here's a post from that site with five rules for good writing. The first two shouldn't surprise anyone: revise and proofread.

On a related note, here's a persuasive piece that suggests that even if your writing isn't perfect, the key to getting readers is providing great content. After all, the Federal Tax Code probably doesn't have a lot of grammatical errors, but for most of us, it's hardly scintillating reading.

Speaking to your specific audience

2009-01-19T15:46:00.000-08:00

I've been reading Helen Thomas's Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President. Ms. Thomas was a White House press correspondent for many years, and this book is anecdotes from that time. There is a great story from the time when Ronald Reagan was President. Reagan was given the nickname The Great Communicator because he spoke so effectively to all sorts of people. According to Ms. Thomas, here he is speaking in front of the National Conference of Building and Construction Trades:

"Here is a story about some of the basic rules of communication. It was told to me for the first time by Danny Villanueva, who used to placekick for the Los Angeles Rams and then became a sports announcer. Danny told me that one night he was having dinner witha young ballplayer with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the young wife was bustling about getting the dinner ready while he and the ballplayer were talking sports. And the baby started to cry, and over her shoulder the wife said to her husband, 'Change the baby.' This young ballplayer was embarrassed in front of Danny and said, 'What do you mean, change the baby? I'm a ballplayer. That's not my line of work.' And she turned around, put her hands on her hips, and she communicated: 'Look, buster, you lay the diaper out like a diamond, you put second base on home plate, put the baby's bottom on the pitcher's mound, hook up first and third, slide home underneath, and if it starts to rain, the game ain't called - you start all over again.'"

Now that's a speaker who understands the audience.

To learn something, teach someone else

2009-01-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

What a surprise (not). If you want to learn something new so it sticks with you, one possible technique is to explain it to others. That's tip #4 on this list of ways to learn new material. And guess what? Your teacher has an excuse for giving you tests - tip #9 shows that students who were tested on material retained it better than those who were not.

Sending a symbolic message

2009-01-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

When you walk into a room, you present a message about yourself before you utter a single word. This message is carried in your walk, the way you dress, and the way you make eye contact with other people, as well as many other ways. There are many different forms of non-verbal communication, a few of which are detailed on this page. Here's a site that references a different sort of message, though: the mainstream fashion press has made plenty of speculation about what Mrs. Obama will wear to inaugural balls on January 21st. What if she wore (gasp!) a recycled dress? Mrs. Carter did, and it caused quite a flurry of attention and criticism. But is also is a form of non-verbal communication. In this depressed economy with many people calling for reuse of scarce resources, I can imagine the message that would be sent by such a choice.

Is it cool to be cool?

2008-11-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

Around 1990, Daniel Goleman first described the concept of Emotional Intelligence. In other words, in addition to the already recognized types of intelligence in the Gardner model such as spatial intelligence and musical intelligence, there is intelligence related to understanding and regulating emotions. This site gives a quick overview of that concept.

But none of that is the reason why I wanted to add a blog post on the subject. There's a great article in today's New York Times that discusses President Elect Obama's calm demeanor and suggests that perhaps his temperament is partly to credit for his electoral success. Who better to lead a country in troubled times than someone who can remain calm in the face of such turmoil? The article goes on to talk about how to regulate your own emotions and lists specific techniques. What would you use when someone backs into your car in a parking lot? I would imagine repression of anger might work, and it's way too late for situation avoidance by that point.

Are you unintentionally rude?

2008-11-12T14:52:00.001-08:00

Oprah Winfrey does interviews with celebrities for her magazine and television show. She asked Jerry Seinfeld what his pet peeve was, and he said it was a lack of civility. So she did a show with a discussion of rude behaviors that irritate people in customer contact jobs. I bet you can name a few of the behaviors that came up. Hint: a number of them have to do with cell phones and/or driving. Etiquette has been called the lubrication that keeps our interactions harmonious. So there are two good reasons to be polite - first, it helps keep peace and harmony, and second, it can make a business more successful.

The snippet matters too!

2008-11-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

By now, most writers know that an email subject line should have some content in it. Emails with subjects like "Hello" are not as likely to be opened as ones titled "Monday Meeting Agenda," or something else that will indicate what content is in the email itself. However, how much energy do you spend crafting a good first line? This short article points out that as more and more people read email on portable devices like Blackberries and iPhones, that first line becomes more important, since it's visible before the email is opened, and may determine whether it's opened or deleted. As is often true, it comes back to knowing who your audience is before you write. If you know your reader is likely to read the message on a portable device, then be sure to write with that in mind.

What does marketing email look like?

2008-11-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I cannot wait for this election to be over. I can finally reclaim my radio station which has been hijacked by often repeated political ads, my phone which I don't answer unless I recognize the number, and my email in box which should have fewer impassioned pleas for funds for this or that candidate or cause. No doubt the results will be followed by the post-mortems discussing what this or that candidate did right or wrong. Regardless of who you support, this post describing stylistic differences between the presidential candidates' emails is pretty interesting. The writer makes the point well that you need to understand your medium and your audience. Email isn't just an electronic version of a printed letter. Good email is short and easy to scan, with text broken into small blocks, and possibly with a few eye catching graphics.

Lessons from a younger generation

2008-10-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

We own a very old (1930's) typewriter that I bought several years ago at a yard sale. We were recently doing some house cleaning and it was "rediscovered" by my sixteen year old daughter. I typed a sentence on it for her: Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. If you don't know why I chose that sentence, may I recommend that you find and read a copy of Ella Minnow Pea, a very amusing novel about the alphabet.

In any event, as we played with the typewriter, there were a number of functions of the machine that I took for granted, but had to show her. These included:

how to use a Carriage Return to start a new line and move back to the left side of the page
how to center words on a line
how to make an exclamation point out of an apostrophe and a period

This episode brought home for me once again how different the world is in which this next generation is growing up. I'm not that old, but the difference of a few years can be pretty dramatic.

What's in a name?

2008-10-03T09:56:00.001-07:00

It's no secret that the majority of Americans are incensed at the idea of a $700 billion Wall Street bailout. But consider this: would it be as unpalatable if it had been called a rescue plan? Maybe, as the article suggests, a better spin would have produced a public more willing to accept the necessity of some sort of congressional action. Still, what does that say about American voters - that they are too easily fooled, or too unwilling to understand what issues are really at stake? In any event, it does underscore the need for using positive terms to characterize a message.

Attention, Grammar Police

2008-09-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you are aware that "less" is used when describing things that cannot be counted: water, dirt, sand, that sort of thing. "Fewer," on the other hand, is used to describe countable things: rocks, ice cubes, and so on. So in the grocery store line, "Ten Items or Less" is not technically correct. It really should read "Ten Items or Fewer." Still, at this point, I think most shoppers would find that a bit awkward. So the British grocery chain, Tesco, has decided to change the wording on its signs to read Up to 10 Items instead. Of course, that's brought on criticism that this wording is ambiguous: can a shopper use this lane with ten items, or only with nine? And if most stores and most shoppers are used to "Ten Items or Less" can it really be wrong to use this wording?

What does your audience need?

2008-09-18T21:28:00.001-07:00

Stop what you are doing right now, and go read this interview about how to captivate your audience. The interviewee is Nancy Duarte, one of the principals of Duarte Design. Among their many clients was Al Gore when he prepared the slides for An Inconvenient Truth.

The interview is just full of good content. There are examples of good questions for how to figure out what your audience needs. (What keeps them up at night? How can you reach them? How can you solve their problems?) There are comments about why group presentations are hard, such as "The biggest danger in broad collaboration is that it dilutes a unique point of view." Think about that for a moment. Your unique point of view, your passion about your content, these are things that will make you a great speaker.

Why do rug salespeople get a bad rap?

2008-08-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here is an absolutely charming story about how an American guy walking down the street in Turkey gets talked into buying a rug. He even still likes the rug after they've brought it home. What I really liked about this story is how the writer describes why the persuasive salesperson was so very effective. He analyzes some of the techniques used so that you would be able to recognize them if they are used on you. Is the product really a scarce resource you can only get now at this one time price? I'm not suggesting sales people are all bad or insincere; it's just that you should be able to notice the techniques being employed, and decide how you want to react.

George Bernard Shaw's finest work

2008-08-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

GBS is often quoted as saying England and America are two countries divided by a common language, which is a really amusing and descriptive quote, except that he never said that. Oh well, it's a great misquote. This lovely page mentions some of the most well known misquotes. What? You mean Kirk never told Scotty to "Beam me up"?

One of the things that's interesting to me is the persistence of misinformation. I suspect the Internet has made this sort of mythology harder to eradicate. Once it appears in one place, and then gets referenced elsewhere, it's even harder to correct. Even if you remove a web page, many times a saved version of it remains in Google's cache or the Wayback machine archive.

Bland food or spicy food?

2008-07-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, I was managing the Food and Beverage Department in a large hotel in San Francisco. One day, the chef of the French restaurant came down with the day's menu and one of his items was a fish dish garnished with caviar, or fish eggs, that he called "Mother and Child Reunion." I vetoed the name because it sounded mildly offensive, and though he didn't agree, we came up with some other innocuous name. Today while researching for this post, I discovered that Paul Simon's song of the same name was called after a dish he encountered in a Chinese restaurant, though his dish was based on chicken and eggs. Well, now it turns out that the Chinese government mandated new names for some popular restaurant dishes in an effort not to offend tourists coming into the country for the Olympics. Would you rather have Chicken with no sexual life or Steamed Pullet? The author of the CNN article clearly thinks that the new names make it harder to appreciate the colorful Chinese culture. A little Bean Curd made by a pock marked woman anyone?

"Learning" by looking at what not to do

2008-06-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

I really like correct punctuation. It helps clarify one's meaning, and it shows care in writing. I also love humor. So The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks is my kind of web site. You can really only get full value from the posts if you read the author's amusing commentary underneath. The bonus value is that if you read a few of these, you'll find it's a pretty painless way to learn how quotations should not be used. Or should I say "painless"?

Being economical with words

2008-06-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

I started writing this post because I ran across a really interesting post in Seth Grodin's blog about using few words to convey an idea. Mr. Grodin started as a marketer but his work has covered a lot of topics, such as web design and company identity. In any event, I was going to start this post with a comment about how poetry uses words economically, so I began searching for definitions of poetry and discovered that lo! here is a topic where different sources don't really agree on the definition. "...language where rhythm is an essential part of the communicative act" is one approach, but how about "writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience" or "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"? I am curious why there is not more consensus on this definition, but I also find it ironic that poetry tends to use carefully chosen words, often pretty economically, and the definitions for poetry are pretty wordy. But back to Mr. Grodin's point: the attention of one's readers is dear, so words should be carefully chosen to honor the value of the reader's attention.

Is Writing the same thing as Communicating?

2008-05-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

It depends on who you ask, apparently. The Pew Internet and American Life project, which is a non-partisan entity that studies the effects of our connectivity on our culture, has been surveying teens about their writing habits. The written report is available here. It's a pretty interesting read. Eighty five percent of teens engage in some form of electronic communication, such as email, text messages, or comments on social networking sites. However, 60% of them don't consider this to be "writing." Yet about 2/3 of them will admit that the informal style of electronic communication has seeped into their formal writing in the form of emoticons such as ;-) or acronyms such as OMG (Oh My God) or LOL (Laugh Out Loud).

So, then, is it reasonable to think that maybe this informal writing can affect the quality of formal writing? I can only speak from my experience as a community college teacher, and I see the results in class regularly. Maybe it's an education issue, if the students don't see their scribbles on a Facebook wall as "writing." Maybe it just means that the language is evolving - wouldn't be the first time.

One reason why English is hard to learn

2008-04-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

The ten most common verbs in the English language are all irregular verbs, which means one cannot conjugate them according to the standard rules. The past tense of "be" isn't be+ed, and in fact isn't any form of "be" at all - it's "was." No wonder English language learners struggle, since many verb forms have to be memorized. This great article talks about why this is so, and where some verbs come from. Did you ever wonder why politicians "grandstanded" but never "grandstood"? It's because that verb comes from the noun grandstand and not from any verb form of stand.

The author also laments that many newer verbs that come from nouns take the boring regular form of conjugation - this would apply to the real verbs that are fairly recent additions (inputted, emailed) and the newly evolving ones (IMed, texted).

What's in a name?

2008-03-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

There's a great book review in this week's New York Times of a book about bad baby names. Who would name their kid Cheese? How about Ghoul? I once knew a mother who thought Ampersand was a beautiful word, so she named her daughter Ampersand. I don't think I'd name my child after a punctuation mark no matter how much I liked the sound. After all, I hope that my kids like and respect me, and that my actions demonstrate that I feel the same way towards my progeny. In any event, the authors of this book claim that these unconventional names aren't necessarily bad news for the child. Some people are proud of their offbeat names. Maybe the world's becoming a more forgiving place.

Dilbert this week was about a new hire named Jesus. Read his adventures starting here and then the reactions it produced here in Scott Adams' blog. I was curious to note that the most religious of his correspondents seemed to be the ones who found it amusing.

Following along behind the "Lyin' Tamer"

2008-02-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

You can come to your own conclusions about who has or has not taken performance enhancing drugs in sports. However, there is a fascinating analysis of body language in the Senate hearing today in this article. The author doesn't come to any conclusions about the testimony, but it's quite clear he thinks one witness is much more likely to be truthful than the other one.

Smile for the Camera!

2008-02-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

Why should appearance matter? Isn't performance more important? Perhaps these two things are more closely related than we had imagined. A pair of psychologists from Tufts University asked some undergraduates to look at black and white photographs of CEOs of major companies, and predict how successful the companies were based on the photographs of the leaders. The students didn't recognize the photos, but still predicted the most successful companies by the perceived leadership, dominance, and maturity of the executives. Interestingly enough, the perceived likability and trustworthiness of the individuals was not a predictor of company profits. The study appears in the February 2008 issue of Psychological Science.

A long day's journey into the common lexicon

2008-01-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

Where do words come from? What are some of your favorites? The journeys that bring new words into common usage can be really interesting. This time of year, there are a flurry of stories about new words. Merriam Webster's word of the year is w00t, but other candidates include Facebook, locavore (for someone who eats locally produced or prepared foods), and subprime. Here's a great book review that describes the origin of several words. Did you know the search engine Google derives its name from an unintentional misspelling? That jargon actually originally meant the chattering of birds?

Do you have a career or a job?

2007-12-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

My students this week have been discussing challenging job interview questions. One of the questions that flummoxed a few of them was whether they were motivated by salary or by job. I would hope that most people find work that is fulfilling outside of the paycheck. Here's a list of ways to think about finding what you love to do, and making that your career. There's a book by Marsha Sinetar on choosing a career titled "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow." I'm not necessarily saying you need to read the book, but the idea is sound.

Making Lemonade from Life's Lemons

2007-10-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Darren Rowse runs a great site where he talks about how to make money blogging called ProBlogger. One of the many topics he discusses regularly is driving traffic to your blog, and search engine rankings are one part of that topic. Google has always been pretty close-mouthed about how they rank sites, and occasionally they change their algorithm. Apparently, they have made some changes this week to how blogs are ranked, and ProBlogger has suffered a drop in rankings. But by blogging about the change, Darren Rowse has turned a negative into a real positive. He talks in his post about how some very positive things have come of this experience, and what he's learned about it. Read it to find out why he says Don't get depressed, get motivated. Great stuff!

Choosing Passive Voice over Active Voice

2007-10-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

What are passive and active voice?
Active voice: I am writing a blog entry.
Passive voice: This blog entry is being written by me.
Generally, active voice is easier for readers to parse and understand. However, there are some times when the passive voice is useful. Jakob Nielsen runs a great site on web usability at useit.com and he has an article this week describing how active voice can obscure the meaning of web page in a search engine listing. His example is of an article summary where his sentence starts "Yahoo finance follows all 13 design guidelines..." His studies show search engine listing are scanned by users, and sometimes only the first several words are read. So the listing has more impact when it starts "13 design guidelines are all followed by Yahoo Finance..." - read the article for a more detailed description of how using passive voice allows you to put key ideas at the beginning of headings and lead sentences.

Why the heck do we curse?

2007-10-21T20:33:00.001-07:00

What is the purpose of using a curse word? Is it to get attention? Is it to create an emphasis that politer words cannot match? Here's a fascinating article on cursing. It talks about the why curse words don't quite work the same way syntactically as other words - "swat the stupid cat" works just as well as "swat the cat, which is stupid" but "swat the f***g cat" doesn't work as "swat the cat which is f***g." It talks about the role of religion in the evolution of curse words. It talks about the various reasons one might have for swearing. And it discusses how the brain reacts to swear words. But take a few minutes and read the darned thing yourself.

Oscar Wilde meets the Blogosphere

2007-10-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

Oscar Wilde is supposed to have said The only worse thing than being talked about is not being talked about. I wonder if he would have made that claim if he had lived in a world with blogs. With blogs, there is such a thing as bad publicity. See, for example, this article about how Facebook has kicked off users for undisclosed violations of policy. Now, I don't know whether the claims in this blog post are true. What I do know is that now anyone with a complaint can find a forum for it. Is it worth the time for Facebook to track down all these complaints and address them? I found this one by reading another blog that I read because the content is interesting and eclectic, not because I was looking for content on Facebook specifically.

Do you disclose a freebie?

2007-10-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting post from a blogger who writes for travel sites, discussing how one might approach writing about a travel experience that was provided on a promotional basis. She suggests some guidelines to use while writing about a travel junket, but the most important point she makes is that you need to be honest with your readers. If you got a free night in a hotel, especially if the hotel staff knew you were a travel writer, that might make your experience different from a paying guest's. Thinking about how to communicate ethically is important for any writer.

Using a Dead Language to Describe Modern Life

2007-10-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

Latin is widely considered a dead language. Yet, its supporters are alive and well. There is a Latin version of Wikipedia, written by students and scholars of Latin. But how do you use a dead language to talk about modern culture? This fascinating article from the Wall Street Journal talks about how to use a dead language to describe our thoroughly modern world. What would the Latin word for computer be? Read the article and found out about the debate.

The difference between a beehive hairdo and dreadlocks

2007-09-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

Think about your appearance, and how much someone could conclude about you based on your haircut. What would a buzz cut or crew cut say about your appearance? How about dreadlocks? How about a beehive hairdo?

Anyone can control certain things about his or her appearance, such as a haircut or a facial expression. Similarly, one can decide what appearance a business can present through news releases and media interviews, as well as any communication outside the business. This article talks about how you can decide what face your business presents to the outside world and makes the critical point that if you don't tell your own story, someone else will get to tell it for you, and you may not like the results.

Constructive Criticism of your Boss

2007-09-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

This article from the Jamaican Observer makes a persuasive case for why good communication skills at the very top of an organization are really important. The author explains what some of the negative consequences of bad communication might look like, and writes persuasively about the benefits of good communication. However, it doesn't address how you tell your boss that he or she isn't dressed properly, or could benefit from a little instruction in public speaking. Admittedly, this is not a job for the faint hearted.

Living large and online

2007-09-07T19:29:00.001-07:00

I am old enough that I really try to maintain my privacy. Perhaps that makes me a Luddite, but I own up to it, anyway. Here's a great article about controlling your online presence, for people who live in a more online public world. If you have a Facebook account or a MySpace account, perhaps you would consider her suggestions as a guideline.

The reason the BBC seems so much more British than the CNN

2007-08-26T22:05:00.001-07:00

Have you ever heard of a style guide? Style guides spell out the details of a particular organization or publication's writing style. The BBC has a published style guide that is actually really enjoyable to read. For example, the section on parts of speech is called "The bits that matter -- parts of speech." There is a lovely section called "Americanisms" that castigates Americans for their tendency to turn nouns into verbs: euthanize, authored, and miniaturized are offered as examples of this dubious trend. Now, perhaps I am alone in thinking this makes interesting reading, but have a look and see if the description of how to write in the "Basics" section doesn't make you smile.

A turn of phrase

2007-08-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have been giving this blog short shrift this week while I prepare for a new semester, but I did find this great site that offers explanations and origins for a bunch of phrases and idioms. In business writing, it's generally a good idea not to use idioms, because they can confuse others, particularly if you are attempting to communicate with people of another culture. You really need to knuckle down, or work hard, to remove any trace of cultural bias in your communications.

It's not about the money

2007-08-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

A study by LeadershipIQ shows that CEOs don't get fired for poor financial performance - there are a host of reasons cited, but that isn't one of them. The top reason listed is that the CEO mismanaged a transition, and specifically didn't communicate to the managers and employees of the company why a change was necessary. The second reason listed is that the CEO ignored customers. A good communicator has to listen as well as speak. Have a look at the list, and note that communication is at the root of four of the top five reasons cited.

Just Do It

2007-07-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

If you ever visited my communications class, you would know I am a big fan of practice. One cannot get better at communicating, whether that communication is oral, written, with one person, or with a group, without practice. Here's an interesting blog post that talks about writers' block: there are a bunch of reasons/excuses for why these posters have not been writing. At least one of them should sound familiar to you. I find it encouraging to think that I am not the only one who has ever felt I had nothing original to say. There are also some useful suggestions about ways to challenge and train yourself to be a better writer. Maybe you would like to follow the sixth suggestion and add a comment below right now...

Reading body language

2007-06-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

Lots of communication isn't in words. This article on Wikihow is a nice summary of non-verbal signals you may see in Rochambeau, or Rock-Paper-Scissors game. It's also worth considering how gestures can vary in different cultures. Here's a useful, albeit long, article on body language in Asian countries. Now, the real trick is seeing if you can spot your own body language, as your gestures seem natural to you.

Lack of agreement on global warming?

2007-05-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

Doesn't it sometimes seem as if global warming is the crisis of the moment? How can the uneducated person be sure it is really a serious crisis and not another overblown media crisis like Y2K? Why can't the finest scientific minds agree on whether there is global warming and how serious it might be? This article suggests some reasons why peer review is not infallible. Sometimes skepticism is healthy, but you are left to figure out how much.

What's your work image?

2007-05-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

You may not agree with everything Penelope Trunk writes in her blog Brazen Careerist, but it is interesting in any event. For example, she thinks you should consider bringing cupcakes to work. Why? Because if you are well liked at work, it will make your work easier. She even suggests that you forgo the Krispy Kremes and bake your own offering. The point is that your work image should show compassion, caring, and humanity, and bringing in homemade treats is one way to convey that. It's probably easier than doing a blood drive or collecting for a charity.

Shame on them for not consulting a dictionary?

2007-05-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

OK, so you are a legislator and you have been trying to get a bill passed for 20 years with no luck. So rather than using a commonly known word, you use a less well known word that means the same thing, slip your content into a related bill, and it passes. Is this ethical? Are the legislators who didn't read and check the content to blame? The committee chair in question has been stripped of his position, but the bill will probably be signed by the governor, sanctioning midwifery in Missouri for the first time.

Look at me, look at me!

2007-05-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

Slideshare.net ran a contest for great presentations. The winners were announced today. There were both adjudicated winners and popular vote winners, and you can see them all at that site. All use lots of variety in image types and fonts, plus short bits of text. All tell stories of various kinds. Watch some and see what you think. The Slideshare site is set up to share presentations. Use it for inspiration (but don't borrow without credit!) when you are creating your next presentation.

How to Avoid Turning into "Ketchup Trousers"

2007-05-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a great cautionary article from Fortune Magazine about the perils of email, and how to avoid some of them. There are several unfortunate tales in the article, including one about an executive who demanded his secretary pay his small dry cleaning bill because she spilled ketchup on his pants. She forwarded the email, and he got a new nickname. Remember that your email is out of your control once you hit the "send" button, and don't put anything in email that you would not be comfortable wearing on a sandwich board. The article also talks about how new software can analyze volumes of email looking not just for obvious key words like "insider trading" but also less obvious signs of a problem, like late night mail, purposefully ambiguous wording ("that thing we talked about"), and signs of anxiousness.

How to work a job fair and other related information

2007-04-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

For years I have enjoyed reading Andreas Ramos's web site and newsletter, but I was on his site today looking for something unrelated to this post, when I found these two really great resources. One is an article on how to work a job fair. It's a great article because it helps you see what the recruiter you visit is going to do with your resume when you walk away from the booth, which helps you prepare. The second resource on that same site is a list of job search sites. There are over 100 sites listed there, sorted by purpose.

By the way, if you have plenty of free time, look around that site for other interesting stuff. There is a very funny cat user's manual written from the perspective of someone who has read a lot of technical documentation and a personal account of the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as other interesting tidbits.

Why am I writing this?

2007-04-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

There's a great article on Jakob Nielsen's site about using numbers when writing for web pages. Regardless of the rules of grammar, this usability expert says you need to use numerals when writing for the web, because readers scan web pages and numerals pop out. His studies show that users eyes stop at numerals when they are scanning text, because these numbers represent hard facts, such as statistics or product specifications. What's the lesson here? As usual, it's important to understand the purpose of your writing, because having a clear sense of purpose will help you write better. I also like his very succinct one sentence summary at the start of the article.

Did you hear what I said?

2007-03-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, two interesting articles about communication between doctors and patients on the same day. First up, a study that shows that doctors and their patients who smoke have a serious disconnect about what happens in the patient's visit to the doctor's office. Though 66% of doctors say they've discussed various methods of quitting with their smoking patients, only 33% of the smokers say they've gotten this advice. It's particularly important because studies have shown that getting this advice from a health professional increases the smoker's likelihood of success when he or she tries to quit. Seems like both doctors and patients need to practice active listening skills. Second, an article showing that miscommunications between doctors and patients can cause harm to the patients, including death. Part of the problem seems to be related to medical jargon, and part is cultural differences. So, choose your doctor carefully...good communication may be just as important as good medical knowledge.

Helpful albeit sarcastic job search advice

2007-03-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

OK, perhaps this HR professional has had to read a few too many resumes. This post is his or her revenge for all the bad resumes that have crossed the desk in the last few weeks or months. It's a great "what not to do" list to consult while you are working on your own resume. It makes for amusing reading, if you don't mind the tone.

Sample:
Objective: To obtain full-time or part-time permanent employment with a stable business."

Very tailored to our company. I hear McDonald's is hiring, too.

Management by Walking Around

2007-03-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

I once worked with a personnel director who seemed to spend a lot of time walking around the large company where we both worked. He had friends at every level of the organization, and he seemed to know what was going on all over the company. At the time, I had some idea that he was not just a friendly person, but it took me several years to appreciate that he was working in all of these casual conversations. The style is called Management by Walking Around and this article gives a nice summary of how to accomplish it. By the way, he was one of the best personnel directors I've ever worked with.

Candidates for the trash bin

2007-02-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

Company Mission Statement:We exist to dramatically leverage existing resource-leveling technology as well as to proactively supply parallel materials. Does that sound a bit suspicious? What business is this company engaged in? Well, the mission statement I have given you is a bit of a red herring. It comes from the Dilbert mission statement generator. What I find interesting about this tool is that it lists a collection of adverbs, verbs, adjectives, and nouns that can be randomly combined to generate plausible "mission statements," presumably words that find their way too frequently into business documents today. What I think the list actually does is help you to consider what words you should only use with some consideration.

Media 2.0

2007-02-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

[By the way, are you tired yet of everything new being called "2.0"? I am, such as Web 2.0, which by the way has 82 million pages on Google. And here I am using the "2.0" moniker, so I am as guilty as anyone.] In any event, Robert Scoble used to be the official Microsoft blogger, but now he's moved on to other venues. In this post he talks about how social media such as blogs is different from traditional media. For example, you can mix the content, and add text, photos, video, or sound clips. Additionally, it has an immediacy that "old media" lacks - you can comment on the content, you can see how many other people have commented, you can add information if the content of the post becomes dated, you can add widgets like polls and advertisements.

I sometimes wonder if bloggers are too enamored of their own selves and the blogosphere, though. Will newspapers go away any time soon? I certainly hope books stick around. However, the influence of new forms of media will certainly change the way people can communicate with each other.

The Resume as advertisement

2007-02-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

I just read a great post on the San Francisco Women of the Web blog about writing resumes. Two key things to remember: first, it's not your whole life story, just the tool to get you an interview, and second, make sure your resume talks about what great things you have done instead of just telling about the company you worked for, or the job you had. This second point has been the key to every great resume I've ever seen - tell about how you redesigned the marketing brochure, or how you improved the customer satisfaction rating. Most hiring professionals can imagine what tech support jobs include, but they don't know your response time was better than other people working there, or whatever. Think of what contributions you made that you are particularly proud of, find a way to quantify them, and make sure they are the focus of your resume.

Blogging and Politics, a brave new world

2007-02-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

So, John Edwards, Democratic presidential candidate, hired two bloggers for his campaign. Then it became obvious that they had been outspoken and perhaps crude in their choice of words in some blog posts they had made before they worked for him. This post in Thomas Scoble's blog outlines the original issue and makes some comments on Edwards' situation now. He also suggests some things to think about when blogging for work. Would it be better to make only neutral comments, or does that make a blogger boring? How much does an employer need to know about your past before considering hiring you, and how does your past web presence affect your new job? Is only the opinion of the blogging community important to bloggers? As blogging matures, there will be lots of related questions to consider.

What does a memorable ad look like?

2007-02-05T22:05:00.000-08:00

So, what was your favorite Super Bowl ad? I was listening to a discussion on the radio today between the news anchor and Stanford Professor Chip Heath, author of Made to Stick, which is about making ideas (and products) memorable, about what ads worked the best. Prof. Heath made several really important points. For an ad to be successful, it has to be not only memorable, but also good at selling the product. He thought the two best were the one showing the performance of the Toyota truck, because it demonstrated in a very concrete way what the truck could do, and the one for the dog whose fortune was changed by the addition of "spots" that made it look like a Dalmatian, because it told a story. I can remember a funny ad with a gorilla in it, but I can't remember what product it was promoting. I guess that suggests it didn't really do its job, eh?

Why don't we understand each other?

2007-02-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

Great article on why the communications are so often misunderstood. Two key points: first, your ownership of a communication will affect how you understand it, and second, you have to use the language of your intended audience if you want to be understood. What is meant by ownership? Well, what stake do you have in the message? For example, if you are in the market for a new cell phone, you will be more interested in cell phone advertisements and reviews. And what about "language"? This is not just English versus French or Italian. Think about how clear your meaning would be to your intended audience. Just because a concept is blindingly obvious to you, don't assume your audience will see it so clearly. If your message is technical, this is especially important.

How can I tell a great speaker?

2007-01-23T17:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I am guessing we might not all agree on what makes a great speaker. But I doubt anyone would vote against Majora Carter, speaking here at Technology Entertainment Design's conference in February 2006. After you've seen the talk, or maybe before, read Guy Kawasaki's deconstruction of the talk that describes why he thinks she's so effective. One way to learn is by using the example of other effective speakers. I think she's pretty inspiring.

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