Grammar Repair Shop: Comma or semicolon: which one to use?
Several readers recently asked us about the use of semicolons versus commas in a complex sentence.
Category: Communication
Project confidence when you speak
Boost your persuasive powers by exuding poise when you speak. Use these five tactics:
Specific subject lines guard your messages from deletion
Generic e-mail subjects aren’t just inefficient and confusing; they put your message at risk.
Choose the best communication tool
Just because e-mail is handy doesn’t make it efficient. Indeed, three out of four people delete an e-mail before they finish reading it, a recent survey found.
Easy ways to personalize form letters
Standardized replies save you time but can cost you good will. Create templates and common paragraphs that you can pop into an e-mail or letter, then easily personalize. Use these shortcuts:
Write confidential information, don’t say it
What to do when passing confidental information.
Grammar Repair Shop: Quotation marks, inside and out
Problem: When quoted material comes at the end of a sentence, the pileup of punctuation causes con-fusion. Lesson: American style calls for always placing periods inside the quotation marks. (In contrast, the placement under British style depends upon whether the punctuation applies to the sentence or the quoted material.) Example: Then, he said, “Please finish […]
Correspondence by the numbers
The wide availability of document templates makes it possible to create a range of business documents without thinking about the proper format. Test your knowledge of the current standards for correspondence with this quiz. 1. On the first page of a business letter, start typing ___. 2. On a standard-size letter, set the side margins […]
Specify who and when.
How to arrange a long distance call.
Don’t set presentations in stone
Writing and memorizing a well-researched presentation guarantees … well-polished boredom. Build flexibility into your delivery to better connect with your audience. Use these four tactics for deviating from your script.