When was the last time you sent someone a handwritten note? Can’t remember? I thought so. When we can type at lightning speed and send messages in a nanosecond, who needs handwriting? As it turns out, we all do. Handwriting shows people we care about them, makes us think more carefully about what we write, […]
show you care: write by hand Read More »
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.
5 Ways to Cut Through the Noise and Write to Distracted Readers Read More »
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.
Inclusive Communication Builds Both People and Profits Read More »
Subject lines often determine how much weight the reader gives to an email. In the case of the 1986 fatal Space Shuttle Challenger crash, an engineer’s subject line might have made a difference.
Can a Subject Line Save Lives? Read More »
In the March/April 2019 issue of Harvard Business Review, psychologist Marcus Buckingham and his colleague Ashley Goodall present compelling arguments in favor of changing the way managers offer feedback. They reveal that telling employees what we think of their performance lacks credibility in the eyes of the employee: The feedback is only your subjective opinion
Why Feedback Fails Read More »
