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Speaking to a Distracted Audience

leadership language

Distraction is here to stay. Research shows that people distract themselves every few seconds. Whether they are daydreaming or feeling the urge to grab their phone, they are not fully in the moment. The universal presence of smartphones and tablets provides an endless supply of diversions, ranging from emails to articles to that old standby, Candy Crush. Gone are the days when, as in the Lincoln-Douglas political debates in 1858, the audience sat attentively for hours while each speaker presented his case. Now we are lucky to get someone to go 10 minutes without looking at their phone. So how can we capture the audience before they pick up their device?

Plan your speeches to anticipate audience distractibility and use these tips to increase the likelihood that your audience will pay attention.

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Cultivating Authenticity as a Speaker

eye contact with audience

Being authentic does not mean winging it or saying whatever is on your mind. It requires thought and preparation. Communications coach Nick Morgan writes in a Harvard Business Review article that since neither casual spontaneity nor traditional rehearsal leads to compelling communication, “You have to tap into the basic impulses underlying your speech. These should include four powerful aims: to be open, to connect, to be passionate, and to listen. Each of these aims informs nearly all successful presentations.”

The intention to openly connect to your audience and listen to their reactions guides authentic speaking. You can develop these foundations with the following elements of authenticity.

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10 Ways to be a Better Speechwriter

choose your words carefully

I love language and the power words have to persuade, request, inform, or entertain. In fact, I founded Worktalk Communications Consulting specifically to train people to become clear, confident writers. And of course, language skills extend to the spoken word as well. Before founding my business, I worked as a freelance writer, editor, and speechwriter. I saw people struggle to express themselves clearly, and I knew that you don’t have to be a “natural writer” or a “natural speaker” to write and speak successfully. Communication is a skill, and like all skills, it improves with practice. Moreover, applying a few basic principles can transform your writing, and thus your speeches.

Here are 10 tips to help you wield words for results.

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How Corporate Speak Obscures Realities in Business

political language

Even the most compelling email content is worthless if it’s never opened. Mastering the art of the subject line is crucial for ensuring your messages don’t end up in the dreaded Trash folder before they are read.

When deciding whether to open emails, readers look first at the sender. We all have people whose emails we will open no matter what is in their subject line. But the subject line determines whether the vast majority of emails will be opened or ignored. To get decision-makers, clients, and colleagues to actually read your messages, here are five tips for writing gripping subject lines.

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Why Your Business Emails Go Unread

business emails

Even the most compelling email content is worthless if it’s never opened. Mastering the art of the subject line is crucial for ensuring your messages don’t end up in the dreaded Trash folder before they are read.

When deciding whether to open emails, readers look first at the sender. We all have people whose emails we will open no matter what is in their subject line. But the subject line determines whether the vast majority of emails will be opened or ignored. To get decision-makers, clients, and colleagues to actually read your messages, here are five tips for writing gripping subject lines.

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Buzzwords Block Intergenerational Communication

grow a healthier workplace culture

When you use too many business buzzwords, you might make members of certain age groups feel excluded. Worse, they might not know what you’re talking about. If the purpose of communication is to convey our meaning seamlessly to our readers, corporate buzzwords are clearly not doing the job.

Using terms that other people do not understand makes them feel disconnected from you. When people feel alienated, they are less open to receiving your message. Why write in a way that obstructs the communication goals you are trying to achieve?

The solution to this communication conundrum isn’t complex, but it does require conscious effort. Here are some strategies to improve workplace communication:

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6 Ways to Manage the Authenticity Paradox

true self workplace

The managing director of a large wealth management company recently complained to me that his staff seemed unable to forge warm relationships with the firm’s clients. “They are reluctant to pick up the phone or invite the client to lunch,” he lamented. “Even their emails veer between formal and stilted or breezy and inappropriately casual.” Recognizing the need for improvement, the firm hired me to work with them, and soon, their team showed a greater awareness of practicing the language of connection.

Effective verbal or written communication is crucial for building strong relationships in the workplace. When we write at work, we aim to engage our readers and achieve a specific purpose, such as gaining approval, obtaining information, or fostering collaboration. However, if readers feel that you do not care about or understand them or that you have disregarded social norms they value, their minds may close. Then, you will fight an uphill battle to get your point across.

Here are four ways to build rapport and inspire greater loyalty and satisfaction in your readers.

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4 Ways to Build Relationships With Language

business communication

The managing director of a large wealth management company recently complained to me that his staff seemed unable to forge warm relationships with the firm’s clients. “They are reluctant to pick up the phone or invite the client to lunch,” he lamented. “Even their emails veer between formal and stilted or breezy and inappropriately casual.” Recognizing the need for improvement, the firm hired me to work with them, and soon, their team showed a greater awareness of practicing the language of connection.

Effective verbal or written communication is crucial for building strong relationships in the workplace. When we write at work, we aim to engage our readers and achieve a specific purpose, such as gaining approval, obtaining information, or fostering collaboration. However, if readers feel that you do not care about or understand them or that you have disregarded social norms they value, their minds may close. Then, you will fight an uphill battle to get your point across.

Here are four ways to build rapport and inspire greater loyalty and satisfaction in your readers.

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4 Tips for Better Writing With AI

ai not replaced humans

Although artificial intelligence seems to generate original prose, it cannot think, create, or make logical leaps. These programs can churn out novel combinations of words and phrases based on patterns it has learned from existing text, but they are fundamentally derivative, extrapolating from what has been written before. Thus, it inherently lacks human creativity, empathy, and nuanced understanding. This is good news: It means that humans are not expendable (yet).

The main source of the over-reliance on AI programs is the misconception that the program can produce a viable final draft. It cannot. It can create a serviceable first draft that you can edit, but the heavy lifting belongs in human hands. Here’s how to get the most out of your use of AI-assisted writing programs.

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The Art of Conciseness: 5 Ways to Master Brevity

less is more

In today’s whirlwind business environment, concise communication is crucial. With emails, reports, and memos flooding inboxes daily, the ability to streamline your business writing can ensure that you are the person whose messages are read and understood. Conciseness saves time for the reader, although it might require the writer to apply more little grey cells. As 18th-century British lexicographer Samuel Johnson wrote, “Easy reading is hard writing.” Here are some strategies to help you master the art of brevity in your business writing.

First, embrace the principle that less is more. Instead of padding your sentences with unnecessary words or phrases, aim to be brief. Words like “just,” “very,” and “most” are often unnecessary, as are many adjectives and adverbs. Shorter emails and documents are easier to read and require less time and effort from the reader. In an age of endless inputs, it pays to streamline the reader’s experience.

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The Language Of Leadership

nonverbal communication

Think about some of the most successful leaders you’ve known—perhaps a boss, a teacher, a Club President, or a committee chair. Chances are they share some common traits. As you develop your leadership skills, it’s helpful to reflect on leaders whom you have most respected, and try to verbalize what made them so impactful.

During my many years working as a consultant for business communications, I’ve found three characteristics that nearly all strong leaders share: a sense of integrity, the ability to respond to feedback, and strong communication skills.

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5 Tips for getting your emails opened

email subject line

How long do you generally spend reading a business email?

When I pose this question to Worktalk Email Effectiveness program participants, responses run from five seconds to one minute. This is sobering. Remember that long email you struggled to compose? Odds are that it was skimmed for a few seconds before the reader moved on to the next priority.

Given the fleeting opportunity to engage your readers to open your emails, you must take advantage of the subject line. This is the first path to persuading readers to open your email and give it their time.

Here are five tips from the Worktalk Email training that will help you write subject lines that do the job.

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The Power of Positivity

positive alternative

As a born editor, I have always been naturally critical. Maybe being critical is just being human, but I think some of us have the gift of noticing every last flaw in every last thing…a bit more than others.

But when I was dating my husband more than thirteen years ago, something he said changed my life forever.

We were discussing raising children, and he said, “I learned that instead of telling a child that he can’t do something, you should tell him what he can do.” In other words – even in a situation where you have to deny something to a child, there’s usually a positive action that you can focus on.

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How to Take Your Business Writing From “Average” to “Great”

corporate writing consultant

Writing errors often arise even before a person sets pen to paper. While planning is the most critical part of the writing process, unfortunately, many individuals have not been equipped with a quick, effective system for preparing to write.

What can you do to get better at business writing?

This simple three-question framework, which I call the three P’s will help you jump-start your writing process — whether you’re tackling an email, a formal document, social post, or another form of written communication. Before diving in, ask yourself these questions:

– What is the purpose of this document?
– Who (person) is going to read it? What are that person’s emotional trigger points and questions that might have an impact on my message?
– What, in one or two sentences, is my point?

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3 Ways to Improve Your Business’s Writing

Improve Your Business Writing

Studies indicate that corporations lose upwards of $400 billion annually because of poor writing. That’s over $1 billion daily. This staggering figure points to the losses in sales, productivity, staff, morale, and branding that are directly connected to unclear or careless writing.

As a business leader, you might think that coaching your team in writing skills is outside your core responsibilities. However, investing time and energy to develop this vital skill in your workforce will pay off in the long run.

Here’s what you can do to improve writing in your organization.

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How to Write Emails That Get Responses

the right subject line

You work hard to write the perfect email to a prospective customer. You hit the send button full of hope that you will get a positive response. Then, the waiting begins. A day goes by. Then another. Then another. Crickets. It is frustrating when our recipients do not respond to our emails.

First, the bad news: If your recipients do not want to respond, they won’t. They will probably ignore your email if they are uninterested in your offering. We cannot control other people’s behavior.

However, you can get a reply if you have strong credibility and a compelling subject line. If your subject line and content resonate with a recipient’s emotions, you can even overcome the resistance to entertaining a message from an unknown sender. So, there is hope.

If you want your recipient to respond to your email, three things have to happen.

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3 Essential Writing Tasks That AI-Assisted Writing Programs Cannot Do for You

maintaining logical flow

Many people seem to believe that they no longer need to learn to write because the AI genie has popped out of the bottle and is granting their every wish about drafting their documents. I smile when I hear this because I’ve seen what AI can and cannot do. It can generate a serviceable first draft, yet you cannot rely on its veracity. AI sometimes fabricates statistics and citations. Its tone swings from obscure to trite. It repeats itself. It is wondrous in its ability to clean up bad writing but not so adept at preventing bad writing in the first place. To manage AI’s output, you need to know how to write.

Artificial intelligence programs are like devoted servants. You give them a prompt and they dutifully polish it and send it back. However, they don’t think. Here are three essential writing functions that artificial intelligence cannot do–and that you must do yourself.

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Use Reflective Writing to Distill the Lessons of the Past Year

your year-end review

Year-end is an ideal time to reflect on what we have learned and achieved during the past year. In addition to your quantitative review of profits, conversions, and sales trends, take time to reflect on your professional and personal life.

Consider where your business has been and your vision for the new year. Writing reflectively – a form of journaling – enables you to pause, ponder, and process the work of the past year as part of your year-end review. Reflective writing involves critically analyzing or exploring an experience you’ve had, noting how it affected you, and what you plan to do with your new knowledge.

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7 Ways to Avoid Stress-Induced Brain Freeze

brain fog world events

In times of extreme stress, the sense of blanking out is common. We all have limited reserves of cognitive focus, and when too much is going on behind the scenes, our minds do not function as they ordinarily would. “Your past, your body, and your personal traumas, and who you are set the stage for how you will respond to events in the Middle East, Ukraine, or other trouble spots in the world,” says Jacques Jospitre Jr., co-founder of SohoMD, a nationwide network of biological psychiatry providers.

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Want to Gain Respect? Write Respectfully

Phrases to avoid in business emails

We’ve all been on the receiving end of emails that make us feel condescended to or disrespected, and it’s never a pleasant experience. What’s unfortunate is that the writers of such emails may not have intended any harm. They might have thought they were being direct and straightforward, or perhaps they were in a hurry and didn’t consider the impact of their words and punctuation choices. They might have even thought they were being respectful.

To prevent being the source of someone else’s online suffering, we must be careful with our language choices. Writing messages with a demeaning or passive-aggressive subtext is counterproductive to achieving success.

To retain the goodwill of your readers, steer clear of these phrases:

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5 Ways to Cut Through the Noise and Write to Distracted Readers

Write to Distracted Readers

Interruptions plague today’s business readers more than ever before. Between notifications, emails, text messages, voicemails, and physical interruptions, most people find it challenging to sit down and read through a written message. Research indicates that our brains carom off in another direction about every 44 to 50 seconds when we are engaged with a screen.

Yet as business writers, we want our readers to read through our messages and comprehend them. An important project may depend on everyone reading a report. A major sale may hinge on the prospect reading our proposal.

To defeat digital distraction, we need to understand it and work around it when we write.

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Take Your Leadership Beyond Words Through Body Language and Nonverbal Communication

body language workplace

As somatic coach Thomas Rosenberg points out, the congruence between a leader’s actions and words reflects their level of authenticity and trustworthiness. Rosenberg explains that somatics holds that we are what we practice (how we sit, stand, walk, breathe, carry tension, the language we use with ourselves and others) and the way we hold our bodies in everyday activities.

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Einstein’s Advice to Writers: “As Simple as possible but no simpler”

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” This quote is attributed to Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists in history, yet it relates to business communication as much as science. When we strike a balance between simplicity and accuracy, we reach the golden mean where we communicate successfully. In a

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How ChatGPT Can Rescue You From Writer’s Block

overcome writer's block

Feel free to use generative A.I. for what it’s good for — brainstorming, rough drafting, and proofreading — but keep your hand on the tiller at all times. This technology can rescue you from writer’s block, but it will not save your neck if you give it insufficient or inadequate prompts and check all the facts it provides. In a way, that’s good news: If your input is still necessary, the robots have not yet taken over the world.

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Does Every Email Need a Subject Line? Yes, Every Reader Appreciates a Heads-Up About the Content of Your Email

hook reader's attention

Your subject line is your opportunity to hook the reader’s attention. If you are a marketer, you are forcefully aware of the subject line’s power. According to HubSpot Research, 65 percent of surveyed marketers say that subject lines have the greatest impact on open rates. For morale’s sake, for courtesy’s sake, and for the practical benefits that come from including a subject line in every email — not just the ones whose open rates we are measuring — it pays to always include a subject line.

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Inclusive Communication Builds Both People and Profits

We live in an age of great sensitivity to language–some might even say hyper-sensitivity. While being too “politically correct” might cause some people to roll their eyes, you ignore individual sensitivities at your peril. Words referring to gender, race, creed, sexual orientation, physical ability, mental health, gender identity, and the like have the potential to make some people feel excluded–and that is the last thing we should want to do. No one can write a list of words you can and cannot use because each audience has its own sensitivities. Nevertheless, here are a few principles to remember.

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Aristotle’s Advice for Marketers

business communications

Aristotle taught his students the art of persuasion. Today’s business people use persuasion daily. Managers must persuade employees to follow through on projects, entrepreneurs convince investors to fund their start-ups and sales professionals persuade prospects to buy. In short, the ability to persuade is a core element of business success.

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Idioms Gone Wild

An idiom is a phrase that fluent speakers generally understand and that would not make sense if you looked at its component parts. For example, what does it mean to say, “It’s raining cats and dogs”? We’re not feeling fur fall from the sky, but we know what the phrase means. Most of us use idioms all

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Who Cares About Grammar Errors?

Who Cares About Grammar Errors? During Worktalk’s business writing trainings, people often ask me whether grammar errors still matter in the age of text and Twitter. I tell them that grammar still counts, even with the advent of emojis. Grammatical writing is vital because it contributes to clear writing, and clear writing helps us get

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7 Commonly Misused Word Pairs

Sets of words that sound similar often confuse writers. My book, Get to the Point, 2nd edition, contains an extensive (or was it intensive?) list of these words. Several Writamins subscribers have requested that we review a few classics. Affect versus Effect AFFECT (verb or noun) in its verbal usage means to act on; to

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Lying Low or Laying Low?

A friend recently told me that she was laying low until after New Year’s. Alarm bells went off in my head as I wondered, “Doesn’t she mean she is lying low?” Many of us are perplexed about the difference between lying low and laying low. The problem arises from a deeper confusion about the difference between lie and lay. In my book on

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How Long Should Your Emails Be?

[4-minute read] When I was in my 20s, I worked for a Japanese import/export company in San Pedro, California. My boss was the son of the founder, a solid, successful Japanese-American businessman. One day, he asked me to write a report on the sales prospects for an item they were planning to import. I asked,

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Managing the Inner Critic

[4-minute read] Do you edit as you write? If so, your writing process might go something like this:  Dear JohnA little voice in your head pipes up, “You can’t call him John! Call him Mr. Cuddy!”Another voice inside says, “OMG! You’re right! I need to change that!” So you change it to Dear Mr. Cuddy and continue, It

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Do Emojis Belong in Business Writing?

Hi! It’s nice to see you. 😃 What do you think I meant by that happy face?  Lacking the precision and nuance of language, emojis are wide open to interpretation. Along with the inherent informality that comes from inserting cartoonish faces in your emails, this fact raises questions about whether emojis are appropriate in business documents.

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Woulda Coulda Shoulda

“I coulda been a contender!” While this plaintive cry worked well for Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront”, it falls flat in business writing. Careful writers cringe when they see sentences like If I would of known they were good prospects, I would of tried harder. I should of known he was a rascal. I could

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If Lincoln Had Used Grammarly

5-minute read] If Abraham Lincoln had used Grammarly when he wrote the Gettysburg Address, he might have doubted himself. Running his text through the grammar checker, he would have received suggestions like: Rewrite the sentence Choose a different word Rephrase sentence Choose a synonym Would Grammarly’s ideas have yielded a tighter, more concise document? Probably.

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Acronyms and Apostrophes

Monthly Writmains: Acronyms and Apostrophes

[4-minute read] Several Writamins readers have asked me how to use apostrophes with acronyms. An acronym is a word made up of the initial first letters of a group of words. For example, NATO, OPEC, and other pronounceable first initials are acronyms. Initialisms are words that are made up of the initials of core words; they differ from acronyms in

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Get to the Point

Work Talk Writamins: Get To The Point

Eight seconds. That’s about how long you have until your reader decides whether to keep reading or flip forward to the next message. If you’re still reading this Writamin, I’m in luck! Given the deluge of messages your readers are bombarded with and their tenuous attention span, the only way you can be sure to

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Don’t Hedge

Words such as rather, pretty, very, and little are the leeches that infest the body of prose, sucking the blood of words. We should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one and we are pretty sure to violate it

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