Business Writing Tip of the Week: Writing a Powerful Presentation – Part 4: The Strong Ending

May13 by Gail Tycer

“So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye…” may come to mind as you think about how to bid adieu to your listeners. Sadly, most of us lack the skill to reproduce the musical escape scene from the classic The Sound of Music to conclude our business presentations, and so must resort to other means.

So how do you wrap it up when the time comes to say goodbye?

First of all, it’s time to end when you’ve said what you have to say, in the time allowed. No additional material; stick with what you’ve prepared. Then, be brief and to the point. Long farewells are hard on everyone – and especially on your audience.

You’ve used one or more of the techniques suggested in the previous three blogs on writing a powerful presentation for your business audience – people to whom you will be providing instruction; or presenting information to a board or council; or representing your organization at a meeting – or maybe even making a “real” speech.

In essence, you’ve used the tried and true formula in one way or another: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and now it’s time to tell them what you told them.” Here are some ideas:

It’s probably more interesting for your business audience if you are willing to handle questions during the course of the presentation or training as they come up, rather than to make them wait to ask questions at the end, as is so frequently done. The understanding and retention level will generally increase as well.
Alert your listeners that you are about to finish. And then get to getting finished.
Reinforce the points you want your audience to remember – and especially “the takeaway” – that central message you want them to remember. If someone were to ask your listener afterwards what you said, how do you want him or her to answer? That is your central message, the takeaway.
If you want to motivate an action, repeat specifically what your listener needs to do, and exactly how to do it.
Almost there! It’s almost over: Pause. Make eye contact with everyone in your audience (remember the back and sides of the room) and express your pleasure in having had this time with them (if this is the case, and we sincerely hope it will be!) Perhaps you could mention something good that happened, or compliment them for something they did surpassingly well. Above all, you must be honest; you must be genuine. No made up fake stuff here.
Then close strong. You could use a strong, simple quotation that is “spot on”; make reference to a story you told earlier, perhaps even telling “the rest of the story,” which – best case – could even have a surprise ending; provide a call to action; or summarize what you said (“tell them what you told them”), reinforcing the takeaway.
Many other ideas will come to you as you work with your material. Think about each. Maybe even do a quick draft of that thought. Last words should last. Your conclusion should leave your audience thinking about what you said; should reinforce, and make your points crystal clear. And most of all, those enduring last words should move them.

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We appreciate your recommending a Gail Tycer business writing workshop for your workplace or a shorter presentation for an upcoming professional meeting. Thank you.

Business Writing Tip of the Week: Writing a Powerful Presentation – Part 1

Apr22 by Gail Tycer

For many, speaking – what, in front of all those people?!! – is right up there, just above having a root canal, on the list of what we would most like not to do!

Visions of standing there, totally innocent of any coherent thought, palms sweating, vision blurring, and voice unwilling to be heard beyond the tiniest of squeaks, if we even managed to coax it into cooperation at all – flash through our thoughts in dizzying display. At that moment, a dead faint seems a lovely outcome of the entire thing. As you stand there, your brain flashes on and off: “What was I thinking when I said I would do this?”

It doesn’t have to be this way.

There is a secret: Be well prepared. Have great material. Know that material thoroughly. Concentrate on your audience and on getting across to them the information they need. Information they need so they can do what? That’s the whole point: You must know, and concentrate on what they will know, or be able to do, as a result of what you choose to tell them. Your entire presentation will be built around this one critical element. If what you choose to tell them does not build, support, or enhance this critical point, leave it out.

So where to start?

1. To begin with, think about your own personal style. Being the “real you” is important. The way you prepare your material to support that “real you” is vital to your success. How do you like to present your information? Are you a memorizer? Do you feel more secure speaking from notes? Are you most comfortable reading a prepared script? Do you like to know your information thoroughly, and then present it, seemingly ad-libbing it, following a sequence your audience understands? PowerPoint can be helpful here, but please, please, please do not tell me your personal style is reading PowerPoint slides to your audience!

PowerPoint slides can be very helpful to keep you on track, and to keep your audience with you. In many types of business presentations, they are even expected, and members of your audience may feel uncomfortable with no screen to look at. But do not insult your readers by reading either those PowerPoint slides, or a prepared speech they will have a copy of.

You may want to consider providing handouts for your audience, using the handouts to support your point, and to keep your audience with you.

2. Once you have identified your own personal style, and how, and what materials you will prepare to support that style, ask yourself, “When I hear a presentation, what do I want to hear? What do I want the speaker to do, to be?

3. Think about what you want to say. Who is your audience? What is the one main point you want to make: What is the “takeaway” you want your listeners to remember? Why should this point matter to this audience? Once you’ve identified your main point, what are the subpoints you will use to support, or enhance it?

Stop right here. If you cannot answer point 3., you are not ready to select new, or modify existing, content.

Who might your audiences be in the business situation? You may be reporting at a staff meeting; explaining a new process; informing the board or council; leading a committee meeting; advising senior management; coaching an employee; or representing your organization to any of a number of groups, from citizen-involved open meetings, to senior citizens; to civic or business groups. In the business situation, it’s most likely we will just be doing our jobs, not traveling with two truckloads full of expensive multi-media equipment and a staff to set it all up!

You may already have a standard, prepared presentation, ready to pick up, and go out the door with, to deliver to every audience. And there is a lot to be said about using tested, familiar material. But have you ever had it receive an enthusiastic, appreciative response from one audience and totally bomb with another?

Why does this happen?

Because you need to adjust your tried-and-true, tested content to reflect, and to answer, the needs of your audience. Every time. Every audience. So use that prepared speech, and tailor it – perhaps only slightly, or to whatever level is necessary, to today’s audience. Show them how your content solves a problem for them. How it makes their life better, easier in some way. Showing them, with case studies, projections, testimonials and success stories is far more effective than just “telling” them. Put a picture in their minds, and I promise you they will be far more likely to try the solution you put forward.

Next week, we’ll talk about how to write the three parts of your presentation: the introduction that grabs them; the body beautiful that informs them; and the strong close that moves them.

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We appreciate your recommending a Gail Tycer business writing workshop for your workplace, or a shorter presentation on Powerful Presentations for an upcoming professional meeting. Thank you.

Business Writing Tip of the Week: Strategic Email

Apr15 by Gail Tycer

Joseph Pulitzer said:

“Put it before them briefly, so they will read it, clearly, so they will appreciate it, picturesquely, so they will remember it, and above all, accurately, so they will be guided by its light.”

That goes double for email.

Ask yourself:

What am I writing? To whom? Why?
What will happen when I am successful?
What tone is needed to get these results?
What content will get these results?

Figuring out what you want to do BEFORE you start doing it is critical for many reasons. You will virtually eliminate writer’s block; the writing will flow far better, making it infinitely more readable; your reader will have a much better chance to “get it,” thereby enhancing their impression of you as a credible professional; and when properly presented, your writing will have a greater chance of achieving what you need. When you spend a little more time up front to think, to plan, you will spend a whole lot less time writing.

In an informal medium like email, all the rules we used to work with sometimes seem to melt away. Email is so much easier, so much faster, so much better – isn’t it? It sure can be. But it needs the same thought, the same planning that business writing has always required. In the business situation the same attention to grammar, usage, and format still applies.

Unfair though it may be, your reader also still judges you, and your organization by the only things he or she may know about you. So, unless you have established, or reinforced a relationship with that reader in addition to your email correspondence, perhaps through such activities as phone calls, meetings, or working together on a project, the only things he or she knows to judge you on are (1) how well you use the language; and (2) how quickly, and how well he or she “gets” what you are trying to say.

So take a look at that piece of email.

1. Overall, is it no more than a screen to a screen-and-a-half? If you have more to say, did you prepare an attachment for the longer message, and use the main email as a “cover letter” introducing your attachment?

2. Does your first paragraph – not more than a maximum of five lines – inform the reader of exactly what you want him or her to know? Or, does it persuade him or her to take a specific action? Is there any ambiguity? After the first five lines, is your reader immediately “in the picture”? Does he or she “get it” at a glance?

3. If you have a message detailing a number of steps or processes, are the details well presented in the next paragraph or two, following a logical, well-organized pattern?

4. Have you written – or not written, as appropriate – a good, strong close? Remember that just quitting after you have said what you need to say, is also an option, and may be a very good one.

5. Overall, how does this piece “read”? It’s all about the reader now. Knowing what you know about your reader, put yourself firmly in his or her shoes. What questions might your reader still have, after reading this email?

And then, still looking at it from that reader’s point of view, how would you expect him or her to feel about what you have written? Neutral? Happy? Angry? Depending on how you expect that reader might feel about what you have written, what can you expect him or her to do, as a result of those feelings? And then, what, if anything, do you need to do to be ready for that response?

6. Is it possible to put your reader completely in the picture in five lines, or fewer? If so, most readers would rather read no more than five lines than they would several pages. Of course this assumes that from those five lines your readers know exactly how your message applies to them, what they need to do, and how they need to do it, if action is required of them. “Action” can mean anything from how to go out and physically do some action, to how to think about, or change the way you think about an issue or a process.

These are the steps to take to “put your reader in the picture.” This is the way to “Put it before them briefly, so they will read it, clearly, so they will appreciate it, picturesquely, so they will remember it, and above all, accurately, so they will be guided by its light.”

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We appreciate your recommending a Gail Tycer business writing workshop for your workplace, or a shorter presentation for an upcoming professional meeting. Thank you.

Business Writing and Free Samples?

Apr2 by Gail Tycer

It was one of those glorious early spring days. A day to take your kids, or maybe your grandkids, someplace they love to go. To do something you all love to do. We looked at each other, and with one voice shouted, “Lunch at Costco!”

Of course it could have been any other wholesale grocery warehouse, or for that matter, any other grocery store, but Costco is the closest to us, and they offer a gracious plenty of just what we were looking for. So what makes this grocery store so special on Saturdays? The menu.

That’s right: the menu! But…

The menu is terrific! Your choice of exquisite appetizers; magnificent main courses; beneficent beverages; and delightful desserts! There are cheeses from distant places, and handmade domestic cheese from closer by. Breads from artisan bakeries. Foods we’ve never tasted, from exotic places whose very names may be new to us. And the best part of it all? We can have all of them. We can taste each of them. Free!

They are all there in bountiful plenty: Free Samples! And if you like them, they are available. Just buy them and take them home. They are yours.

So what is so special about free samples, and what do free samples have to do with business writing?

Everything you write is a free sample.

“Free Samples” of your business writing, whether you intend it or not, for better or for worse, carry with them the potential for being your most cost-effective marketing tool. Your best, easiest-to implement customer satisfaction solution. Your strongest team-building technique. And your best way to demonstrate your professionalism, credibility, and hire-me-now employability.

Or not.

What you write on the job not only reflects on you, and your professionalism and credibility, but on your prospective employer. No wonder how you present yourself – in writing – on that job application is so important to that prospective employer.

Of course writing will be critical to who is chosen for an interview, and ultimately who gets the job.

Where else are free samples used in business writing at this very minute?

Coupling the newest technology with one of the most traditional enticements, today’s marketers have carried free samples, demonstrating their products or their capabilities, into the 21^st century – apparently, for the most part, with reasonable success. We all want to see what we’re getting before we buy. Free webinars, teleseminars, and white papers abound online and are downloadable, in case you miss the scheduled time. Newsletters, Blog sites, and videos are readily available, and you can choose to subscribe to receive these “free samples” on a regular basis.

A local plumber has thought outside the box. Speculating on the greatest inconvenience a plumber can cause the customer – making him or her either take a day off work, or hire someone to wait for the plumber to arrive – he sets a specific appointment time, and advertises a $50 discount if his plumber is 15 minutes late. A free sample of this company’s responsiveness to the customer, rather than the other way around.

These are obvious free samples. Yet the way you write every email, every hand-written note, every instruction, every in-house memo – the way you respond to every question or explanation on a day-to-day basis, both internally and externally, can inspire confidence, build trust, and make your reader want to work with you.

Or not.

For this week, let me ask you to think about these “free samples.” Think about what your business writing is saying about you, and about the organization you represent.

Is your intention clear in the first paragraph? Have you made your point quickly, clearly, concisely? If the reader read no further, would he or she “get it”?
Have you considered what this piece of business writing must accomplish? What results you need to have? Should this piece reasonably be expected to do it?
Have you considered the all-important tone you will use for this piece? Did you succeed in creating, or reinforcing an existing relationship? Is this the appropriate relationship for this issue?
Have you organized your information in a logical sequence, with one thought or point building to the next?

We appreciate your recommending a Gail Tycer business writing workshop for your workplace, or a shorter presentation for an upcoming professional meeting.

Plurals and Hyphens: Exceptional Differences

Mar11 by Gail Tycer

‘Way back in December we talked about the rules for forming plurals, which are actually pretty straightforward:

• Generally, to form a plural, add “s” to the singular word.

The most common exceptions are:

• If the word ends in a consonant (any letter other than a, e, i, o, u) plus “y,” drop the “y” and add “ies.” For example: company = companies; bakery = bakeries.

• If the word ends in a consonant plus “o,” add “es.” For example: tomato = tomatoes; potato = potatoes.

• If the word ends in “x,” “s,” “z,” “ch,” or “sh,” add “es.” For example: box = boxes; Jones = Joneses; buzz = buzzes; peach = peaches; bush = bushes; bulrush = bulrushes.

We also noted that there are words that change in the plural form: woman = women; man = men; child = children, and so on.

And there are a few words that are both singular and plural: “deer,” for one example.

Let’s add another: For abbreviations, we generally follow the same rule: Add “s” to make an abbreviation plural if you can do it without adding confusion. For example, CPU = CPUs; 1980 = 1980s.

Then we said that plural words – not plural possessive words, but plural words – never use apostrophes. To paraphrase that wonderful line from The Pirates of Penzance song: “What, never?” “No never!” “What never?” “Well, hardly ever…”

And here is an exception: Note that the following are not possessive words, but plural words, even though they have an apostrophe:

• The exception is: When needed for clarity, “ ‘s” is used to form plurals, but only for lowercase letters, or abbreviations with periods. For example: p’s and q’s; f.o.b.’s.

Changing the Subject: Now Let’s Talk About Using Hyphens

So now you’ve had a chance to assimilate last week’s tips on how and when to use hyphens and dashes – not all authorities agree on all points, and the whole discussion can become quite complicated. The dictionary is your final authority, and last week’s guidelines should help with the most common uses when you don’t have a dictionary handy.

Here comes yet another consideration: Arguably, in addition to dividing words at the end of a line, hyphens are perhaps most often used between two or more words to create a compound idea that describes the following word.

For example: a better-than-average hamburger; a first-rate pitcher. But if these words come after the word they are describing, they are very often individual words. For example: The hamburger tasted better than average. The pitcher seemed first rate.

Another, less-frequently-seen guideline for not using hyphens:

• Do not use a hyphen to link a group of words that includes “very,” or a word ending in “ly.” For example: “Everyone was there for a very specific reason.” Or, “This is an easily remembered quotation.”

In your reading this week, (1) watch for plurals correctly formed, and (2) see if you can pick up hyphens correctly used – either where they should be used, or not used where they should not be used.

Bring Gail to your workplace for an onsite workshop, coaching, or consulting. Or to work with your team to complete a writing project.

Gotta Dash – or Split? – Dashes and Hyphens

Mar4 by Gail Tycer

Yep. It’s true. Writers may, unfortunately, use a dash when they are in a rush, and don’t have, or don’t take, the time to complete a thought. In fact, one dictionary definition for “dash” is “move with haste; rush….” While the writer may suppose that the reader will complete his or her thought, or will “know what I mean,” this supposition can be dangerous territory.

The reader may very well complete the writer’s thought – with thoughts of his or her own – and totally negate whatever point the writer had hoped to make. Or maybe, and probably more likely, skip along, giving that incomplete or unsupported nascent idea no recognition or thought at all.

The dash is an interruption of your sentence’s smooth flow. That’s why it’s often used for emphasis – because its interruption causes your reader to stop and think, even for that split millisecond. But use dashes economically; too many interruptions can be confusing, and defeat your purpose for using them.

The dash can work in two areas: clarity, and style. As you saw above, not all sources agree on what the dash should look like, and not all keyboards are the same. Writing is a visual art. I prefer the space-hyphen-space (the final one above), but you may choose whichever “looks right” to you. Just remember (1) to be consistent; and (2) to avoid over-use in your writing – more like pepper than salt!

Now: As for the hyphen. Here’s where we have some definite grammar rules, along with some indefinite authoritative differences of opinion.

The dash and the hyphen each have a different job. The dash is often used to “split” or separate, or to emphasize large pieces of a sentence. The hyphen is more of a connector, or disconnector of individual words, or word parts.

Most students learn that when a word must be broken at the end of a line, a hyphen goes at the end of the nearest syllable, or “word bit.” We probably learned that some words are always hyphenated, some never, and with some, it depends. “Look it up,” we may have been told. Here are a few guidelines to make it a bit easier, and if you’re not sure… Well, you know: “Look it up!”

You will want to use hyphens:

• When two words come before the word they are describing, and one or the other is not a stand-alone word, e.g.,

My red-haired sister and I went swimming.

Don’t miss this last-chance opportunity.

• But generally not when those words come after, e.g.,

My sister has red hair.

This opportunity provides your last chance.

• And not when each of the two words is a stand-alone word, e.g.

Augusta was a cranky old lady.

He is a pleasant young man.

• For some terms describing members of a family, e.g.,

mother-in-law; son-in-law

• For fractions, e.g.,

two-thirds; three-quarters

• When the dictionary always spells it with a hyphen

• When using self or quasi, e.g.,

self-awareness; quasi-legal

You must use a hyphen:

• With ex (meaning former), e.g.,

ex-president; ex-representative

• When you add a beginning or an ending to a word that is capitalized, e.g.,

Whitman-like; anti-American

All in the family:

• Use hyphens for ex-spouse; sister-in-law; and great-uncle.

• Do not use a hyphen for stepdaughter; half sister; or grandfather

These are the most common hyphenated and non-hyphenated words. But then there are those other, less-common words, the exceptions, and the surprises, where you cross your fingers, open the dictionary, and hope you get it right!

Bring Gail to your workplace for an onsite workshop, coaching, or consulting. Or to work with your team to complete a writing project.

How Do You Spell That?

Feb26 by Gail Tycer

Have you ever been working on something, and suddenly looked up, wondering how that word should be spelled? Or whether you’re using the right word, spelled in the right way?

It has come as somewhat of a shock to many of us to learn that “words” we have always thought were words, indeed are not. Not words at all. For one example, “alright,” which, according to my big American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, is “Non-Standard,” and should be spelled all right – two words.

I love what this dictionary has to say in its usage note: “…the spelling of alright has never been accepted as a standard variant…the writer who chooses to risk that spelling had best be confident that readers will acknowledge it as a token of willful unconventionality rather than as a mark of ignorance.”

As I’ve already unabashedly admitted to you, I love reading the dictionary, as my dad used to say, “just for fun.” I’ve been wondering about the following words, looked them up, and thought you might be interested in what I found out:

Anytime

Sometime(s)

Oft-times

Anyway

However

Anyhow

Take a look: Which of these is one word? Two words? How should they be used, and when?

Anytime: Anytime (one word) means at any time (three words), and you can use it either way with confidence.

Sometime(s): Sometime(s) is a bit more complicated. Sometime (one word) indicates some indefinite time in the future, as in, “We’ll have to get together sometime.” But what if you really mean it? “We’ll have to get together some time after the first of the year,” (two words) indicating a definite point in the future.

Sometimes, on the other hand, means “now and then,” or “occasionally,” or “from time to time.”

Oft-times: Another good one for the dictionary lover! The first part, “oft,” means “often,” and comes from the Middle English, which comes from the Old English. (See what you can learn from the dictionary!) The modern, most-often-used word is oftentimes (one word) and means repeatedly, or frequently.

Oft-, when used today, is generally used in combination with another word, e.g., oft-times, oft-expressed, or oft-repeated, and oft-times is used by writers, and by academics as a tool of a more formal, or an academic tone. Note that a hyphen follows “oft-.”

Anyway(s): Anyway is one word, meaning in any way (two words) or manner; in any case; or nevertheless.

Anyways is “Non-Standard,” or not an accepted word.

However: One word, meaning in whatever manner or way (However it happened, it will work to our advantage.); or to what extent or degree (They went, however reluctantly, anyway.)

However can also be used to strengthen the word how (However did they do it?), or to mean nevertheless (It’s expensive; however, it’s well worth it!), or to mean “on the other hand.” (It was essential; however, it took hours!)

Anyhow: A great, uncomplicated one word, meaning in whatever way; or carelessly, haphazardly; or in any case; or nevertheless.

Whenever you think of a word you are not exactly sure of, write it down. When you have a minute, look it up – as dad said, “just for fun.”

Bring Gail to your workplace for an onsite workshop, coaching, or consulting. Or to work with your team to complete a writing project.

Guest Tip of the Week: Helpful Microsoft Word Tips

Feb5 by Gail Tycer

By Alan Taylor

Microsoft Word has become a very mature and powerful document editing application from its humble beginnings in 1983. This 30 year lifespan has created a powerhouse application with features many of us never discover (or, in some cases, ever need).

If you use Microsoft Word on a regular basis, the following tips may help you become more of a “Power User.” Some of these tips help cut down time spent manipulating text while others illuminate features that can help with your writing and document collaboration and production.

What I’ve found while helping Word users navigate features is that many already know of these functions but rarely use them simply because they’re not “ingrained.” If you were to practice the following tips 10 times each, you might just start using these features regularly. And believe me, once you start using these tips, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start using them way back! Quick tip: These functions work across most of the Microsoft Office suite including Excel and PowerPoint.

Keyboard shortcuts: By using the Control (ctrl) key on a Windows keyboard, you can save a great amount of time by avoiding all of the mouse movement involved with executing each function. Use these shortcuts by first pressing the “ctrl” key and then simultaneously pressing:
- S = Save the document (if you’ve not saved it yet, a “Save As” dialogue box will appear)
- C = Copy selected text to the clipboard
- V= Paste selected text from the clipboard to the cursor’s location (if text is highlighted during this function, it will be replaced with the pasted text).
- I = Italics – make selected text italicized.
- B = Bold – make selected text bold.
- Z = Undo last action. If you really don’t like what you’ve done, you can undo last action many times.
- P = Print – opens the print dialogue box
- A = Selects entire document
- Shift+> – Make text larger. Press “ctrl” AND “shift” AND “>” simultaneously to get this one.
- Shift+< – Make text smaller.

When in doubt, right click – If you’re at a point editing or formatting a document and don’t know how to perform a function, try right-clicking. The menu that appears is a “contextual menu” meaning that the commands shown are tailored to what Word thinks you might want to do. For instance, if you select a few words of text and right click, the menu shows the popular functions that you can perform on a selected piece of text (copy, paste, font selection etc).

Use Track Changes when asking for input from others. If you collaborate on documents with others who proof, edit, contribute to or otherwise change your document (especially multiple people), “Track Changes” is for you. Track Changes is available from the “Review” menu item. Once you turn it on and send the document to others, all of that subsequent work is highlighted. In order to incorporate it permanently into the document, you have to “accept changes” from the same “Review” menu item (once the document is sent back to you). This is a life-saver in being able to see exactly what changes were made in a document.

Compare two documents. Along the same lines as track changes, if you have two documents that should be the same yet are different somehow, “Compare” (found in the “Review” menu item again) is the perfect tool for finding those differences. The Compare function also includes a “Combine” feature that can combine changes from multiple authors into a single document.

Alan Taylor is this week’s guest blogger. His first Word Processing program was called WordStar, which was loaded into a computer using floppy disks. Alan has been involved with technology from leading a 20-person IT department for a Fortune-500 company in Silicon Valley to running his own consulting business, Alpine Technical Group, which focuses on web presence including website design, SEO/SEM, social and online marketing.

We appreciate your recommending a Gail Tycer business writing workshop for your workplace, or a shorter presentation for an upcoming professional meeting.

Tip of the Week: Those Four-Letter Words

Jan28 by Gail Tycer

Noun. Verb.

For many, these two words may have been the most troublesome four-letter words of their entire academic careers.

A noun, we are informed by our friends at Webster’s, is “a word used as a name of a person, quality, or thing….” Perhaps our teachers said that a noun is the name of a person, place, or thing. Some authorities add events or concepts to the list.

In general, there are three categories of nouns that name things: common, proper, or collective. Common nouns name people places and things. Examples might be, for people, “teacher,” or “physicist”; for places, “garden,” or “classroom”; for a thing, “computer,” or ” leash.”

Proper nouns are generally names of specific people, places, or things and are capitalized. Collective nouns refer to a single unit made up of various components – for example, “family,” or “majority.” If you are referring to a collective noun as a single entity, use a singular verb, e.g., “The family is….” If you are discussing members of the group acting individually, use a plural verb, e.g., “The majority were….”

There is of course always that quirky little thing about nouns. For example, is Harry a small businessman? Or is he a small business man? Oh well.

Let’s move on to the weightlifters of the English language: verbs. Verbs do the heavy lifting in a sentence. Without a verb, you cannot make a sentence. You may choose a verb that shows action, or one that does not. Perhaps your teacher said, “A verb is a word that shows either action, or state of being.”

Verbs can make a sentence come to life! Let’s choose wisely. For example, how many ways can you think of to say “went”? For starters, how about jogged, walked, ran, shuffled, stumbled, drove, flew, limped, cantered, hopped, climbed, perambulated? Does each one put a different picture in your mind?

Next time you sit down to read an exciting piece of fiction, notice the strong verbs, and how they move the story along, create excitement, and keep you reading – long after bedtime! Look for them, and notice how your favorite writer uses them.

If you’re a word lover too, think of an action word – a verb (there’s that four-letter word again!) and let your mind wander. How many ways can you think of to say that word, or express that meaning?

Finally, how about those “other” four-letter words: Think about the tone of your email or other business communication. Consider waiting a bit before emailing a “sensitive” message. Generally it’s best to avoid “venting,” vulgarity, or profanity in the business situation. Neither is business email the place for sarcasm, hostility, cynicism, or whining.

To get your Tip every week, please subscribe. We appreciate your recommending a Gail Tycer business writing workshop for your workplace, or a shorter presentation for an upcoming professional meeting.

Tip of the Week: The Power of the Written Word

Jan21 by Gail Tycer

“There is a weird power in a spoken word.… And a word carries

far – very far….” Lord Jim (1900) Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

“… Work is carried out through knowledge; and see,… the words

endure through writing…” The teaching for Merikare c. 2135-2040 B.C.

“Words have a longer life than deeds.” Nemean Odes, Heraclitus

c. 540-480 B.C.

I had a wonderful mother-in-law, and if you have one too, you know what a major blessing this can be. Jessie and I got along very well, and in fact there was really only one issue we ever had: Jessie was addicted to the tabloids – you know, those little newspapers you buy at the supermarket checkout stand? Not that this was a bad thing, but Jessie believed. She believed every word that was ever written in those publications.

Jesse was a schoolteacher, a librarian, read at least 20 publications every week, and at one point had read every book in her small branch library. When I asked her, “Jessie, you are an intelligent, educated woman. Why do you believe every word written in those tabloids?” She explained, simply:

“They wouldn’t write it down if it weren’t true.”

For at least 2000 years, mankind has struggled to describe the power of the written word. And Jessie got it in nine words.

The written word has a weight – a power – that the spoken word cannot match. And to this day, with all of our sophisticated electronic communication media, the written word – online or on paper – is still more credible. This becomes a major issue, not only for adults in the workforce, but especially for young people. Discernment is essential.

Referring to Emerson’s quote, “There is no knowledge that is not power” my favorite teenage friend noted that perhaps this statement could be re-stated to read, “There is no knowledge that cannot be used to gain power,” and that “the burden of knowledge comes from the choice of how to use it….

“Knowledge itself is not what moves worlds, changes nations, or brings civilizations to ruin. People do that, using whatever is at their disposal, and the greatest resource of all is knowledge. The spread of it, the use of it, and the concealing of it is what drives history.”

Producing the written word is a serious responsibility. Readers will believe what you write. So say it honestly, clearly, and accurately. As Joseph Pulitzer said:

“Put it before them briefly, so they will read it; clearly, so they will appreciate it; picturesquely, so they will remember it, and above all, accurately, so they will be guided by its light.”