Monthly Archives: June 2007

Winding down a busy week

Don’t you find that keeping up with blogs and blogging goes out the window when things are busy? I finally have a few minutes to catch up after a “drop everything and do this NOW” project this week that I just completed. This was something I had to quote on, and when I gave a [...]

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Spending too much time on social networking

Everyone is getting into it — creating those gathering places for communicators to meet online and trolling for new members. So I’ve been spending way too much time getting set up on MyRagan, Melcrum’s Communicators’ Network and LinkedIn. (Yes, I know I am late to the game, especially with LinkedIn.) Then there’s checking up on [...]

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Creative quoting

My preferred method of getting a comment from someone to include in an article for an employee publication is to actually talk to the person and get the comment straight from him/her. (I know, what a concept!) As with writing a speech for another person, it’s hard to capture the person’s manner of speaking unless [...]

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Words that didn’t quite do the job

I ran across a couple of instances this week where the writer chose words that didn’t quite hit the mark, in my opinion: “Church for people who like church” (seen on a notice board outside a church). It appears to be out there as a selling feature, but if you already like church, that’s not [...]

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The evolution of words isn’t always pretty

When it comes to writing that you want people to read and understand, simple and familiar is good. Many executives don’t see it that way, though; they want to “utilize” this and “optimize” that until you want to scream. My rule of thumb is that if you wouldn’t use the word in casual conversation with [...]

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Pass the compliments, please

A compliment is a small thing, often casually given, but don’t underestimate the lift it can give the recipient. It’s been a stressful week (which explains the lack of posts), and in such situations a fine remedy is to collapse in a comfy chair with a glass of red wine at the end of the [...]

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An enjoyable networking experience

Many people are intimidated by the thought of networking. They feel they need to have a properly rehearsed elevator speech summing up what they do, and a pocketful of business cards that must be handed out. They expect to sell their company or their business, or maybe their boss expects that to justify paying for [...]

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