Email is the #1 communication channel in today’s business world. It is used for everything from informal, internal messages to formal, external messages. For most businesses, it has replaced the company memo and has maybe even reduced the number of necessary staff meetings. We use email to send promotional and marketing messages to current and […]
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Not too long ago, I wrote an article about writing a better resume. A resume is one of three documents that make up what I call your Employment Portfolio. The portfolio is you–on paper. You send it to potential new employers when you’re looking for a new position. It includes your cover letter, resume, and references page. […]
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Some folks think PowerPoint is outdated or overused. While I might partially agree, I can say one thing for sure–it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. When I say I “partially agree,” I just mean there are tons of alternatives out there now to PowerPoint. If you’re tasked with putting together a multimedia presentation, you have […]
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Regardless of your business type, branding is one of the most important aspects of business success. Branding is what identifies a business in the eyes of the customers. When you see the “golden arches,” do you think of McDonald’s? When I say Nike, do you see the swoosh? When you see a silver or white […]
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Resumes have come a long way. Although many aspects haven’t changed, several key things have. Before we dive into the tips, though, let’s consider a resume’s purpose. What’s It For? I know what you’re thinking–I already know what a resume is for. While that’s likely true, you may not have thought about its purpose in […]
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If you’re an analytical nerd like me, you know every sentence can be dissected and labeled by its structure and included word types. For example, that first sentence’s structure was D,I: dependent clause, (comma) independent clause. The most basic sentence type is a simple sentence, or a single independent clause (I). For example: I am […]
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Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “Content is king.” Heck, I wrote a whole post about it a while back. Being familiar with the phrase doesn’t mean we know what it means, though. There are tons of companies out there offering search engine optimization (SEO) for your website. You know what they look at first? Content. […]
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Because business messages are written for the purpose of informing or persuading your audience, they should always be written for the audience. What does that mean? It means we need to know the audience when we’re drafting the message. Knowing the audience helps us choose the right words and other elements to ultimately achieve our […]
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When communicating (be it writing, talking, or any other type of message sending), we have two “voices” we can use–active and passive. At the most basic level, the difference is in how the subject is acting. Consider the following two sentences: The dog chased the rabbit. The rabbit was chased by the dog. In the […]
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I am a part-time instructor at a local technical college. In my communications class this week, we’re talking about technology as a barrier to effective listening. I think we can all agree that we can be (and often are) easily distracted by technology–be it our phone, tablet, TV, or something else. The class discussion specifically […]
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