Category Archives: Writing

E-mail – A Pandemic?

Posted by on June 27, 2011 Comments Off
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Julie Millerby Julie Miller

E-mail has become the most important information vehicle today and its usage increases hourly eclipsing other modes of communication. Of course, therein lies the rub. Because writing-and poor business writing specifically-is now on show for all to see, the pandemic of sloppy writing is proliferating at the speed of light! And the cost? Inestimable! Irate clients, passed-over promotions, and damaged reputations are a high price to pay for not taking the cure to remedy your writing ailments. The treatment? Apply these six e-mail writing tips daily. Read more »

Top 10 for 2010: The Most Requested Training Topics

Posted by on January 25, 2010 Comments Off
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by Ashley Andrus

Well, it’s the time of year for “best of” and “Top 10″ lists, so in honor of the brand new 2010, we thought we’d share a run-down of the most popular training topics our clients are planning for this upcoming year:

1. Behavioral Interviewing
There is nothing more important than hiring the right people. Hiring the right person for the right job provides tremendous organizational benefits by increasing employee productivity, reducing training time, and controlling the high cost of employee turnover—not to mention the positive impact on team morale. You’d think, with double-digit unemployment rates across the country, that it would be easy to hire right now…right? Well, maybe. Read more…

2. Business Writing
Many experts estimate that as much as 90% of human communication comes from non-verbal clues such as voice inflection and body language. In business writing, however, you have only the words to get your meaning across, so the way the writer uses those words becomes more important. Read more »

Is Your Writing Style In Sync With Your Company’s Brand?

Posted by on August 17, 2009 Comments Off
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Julie Millerby Julie Miller

The blessing and the curse of the digital revolution! Between e-mail, instant and text messaging, cell phones, Blackberries and the Internet, we are drowning in data overload. Moreover, the constant interruptions are costing the U. S. economy an estimated $558 billion annually. This staggering number does not add in the cost of poorly written e-mails that land companies and employees in hot legal trouble, destroy long-term client relationships, and ruin reputations—just review Mike Brown’s e-mails (former FEMA chief) as Hurricane Katrina raged and you will understand. Add to this mix a lack of civility and common sense and you have an explosive brew.What to do? For starters, treat e-mail writing as writing not as casual conversation. Whether words are written in the sky, sent by carrier pigeon or via the Web, words must connect with the reader. Good writing allows this to happen; poor writing does not. Currently, writing online is still, as author Patricia O’Conner writes, in its Wild West stage a free-for-all with everybody shooting from the hip and no sheriff in sight.

Therefore, I would like to establish some law and order by recommending that all companies—from multi-nationals to sole proprietors—develop e-mail protocol. Simply stated it’s “the way we do business around here” in terms of communicating via e-mail with co-workers and customers. It is a code of behavior, a set of standards as to how you will frame your words, manage your inbox, even extend your brand. Read more »

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