As July 4th approaches, you may be ready to make some noise and celebrate what Bob Seger refers to as “the height of summer.” So maybe writing isn’t a priority over the next few days, but there are plenty of ways to add color and crackle to your writing all year long. Here are three of them: 1. Get active. Clean, clear and concise writing relies on consistent use of the active voice — an action verb […]
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We’re all editors these days. Well, at least we should be. Whenever we write — be it a business proposal, a research paper, an article, a blog post, an email, a social media comment or even a text — we should edit ourselves. But who am I kidding? Seems like self-editing has gradually become a thing of the past, just like the evening newspaper and letters written in longhand. The truth is, anything poorly written or […]
When you’re booking a hotel, making a restaurant reservation or considering which book to read next, do you check out the online reviews? My own unscientific research suggests people who write those reviews do it for one of four reasons: 1. They’re bored. 2. They want attention. 3. They have a gripe (legitimate or not) and need to vent. 4. They truly want to be helpful and let other consumers know and learn from their […]
Regardless of an individual’s religious affiliation, Pope Francis’ visit to the United States had to resonate on some level with just about everyone with even half a soul. His inclusive words and actions — whether speaking to a divided U.S. Congress, meeting with the homeless or making an unscheduled stop to bless a boy in a wheelchair — transcend Catholicism and reflect how all of humanity can join together to make the world a better place. […]
I’m a New-Year’s-resolutions kind of guy, so I would be remiss if I didn’t share these three easy ways in which you can resolve to write more effective emails, texts, social media posts and blogs in 2014: 1. Think before you type. Social media turns fleeting thoughts into digital reality. We’re practically programmed to write the first ideas that pop into our heads, but fight the urge. Give yourself a little time to think about that email […]
LinkedIn recently published its top 10 overused profile buzzwords for 2013. This is something the company began doing four years ago, and “responsible” tops the latest list. In fact, it was overused twice as much as any other word, including such overused holdovers from 2012 as “creative,” “effective” and “analytical.” (“Experimental,” “motivated,” “multinational” and “specialized” didn’t make the list this year.) Here are the top 10, in descending order: responsible strategic creative effective patient expert organizational driven innovative […]