Turning those ‘meetings’ into ‘doings’
You won’t find many people who love meetings. That might be because attendees often feel like meetings are a waste of time. At Marilyn Halsall’s workplace, “action minutes” are part of the remedy.
Category: Communication
Tap into these free cell-phone services
Your cell phone could be doing a lot more for you, says David Pogue, technology expert for The New York Times. Here’s Pogue’s rundown of the “most exciting” services awaiting your cell phone.
Grammar Repair Shop: Strengthen sentences by axing ‘there is’
Steer clear of this sentence structure when writing: “There’s coffee and bagels in the conference room.”
Grammar Repair Shop: Contraction infractions
Common mistakes when using contractions.
Sidestep these 5 temptations of e-mail
You’ve probably noticed how email can bring out the worst in people. Don’t let it tempt you to misuse it. Steer clear of these five common temptations:
Grammar Repair Shop: If only this phrase would ‘go missing’
Problem: I’ve been hearing and reading the phrase “went missing” lately. It’s frequently in the media and sounds terrible! Is this phrase grammatically correct? — Joyce Prosser, Administrative Assistant, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, N.H. The phrase is grammatically correct, at least according to British diction-aries, and most people do un- derstand what it means. But […]
Nailing the art of the personal note
Who hasn’t started writing a thank-you or condolence note, only to encounter "the big um" after the first sentence? "The big um is when you get your first couple of words out and wonder, ‘What’s next?’" says Angela Ensminger, co-author of On a Personal Note: A Guide to Writing Notes with Style. "That blank paper is very intimidating." Great personal notes come from taking these five steps:
Grammar Repair Shop: ‘Which’ or ‘that’?
A reader asks: “Is there a hard-and-fast rule regarding ‘that’ and ‘which?’” One way to figure out when to use “that” versus “which”: Take a look at the whole sentence, and then decide whether the word will introduce an essential or nonessential clause. “That” introduces clauses that are essential to understanding the sentence’s meaning, while […]
Grammar Repair Shop: Is it just ‘me’?
One reader asks: “Please clarify the use of the word ‘I’ when using a pronoun with another name, such as: ‘These are the vacation schedules for Joan and I.’ Do you use I or me?” Whenever you’re unsure of which pronoun to use in a situation like this and don’t have time to dig into […]
Grammar Repair Shop: Passive resistance
People tend to overuse the passive voice because they think it’s more professional. In truth, readers prefer active sentences for their more direct and engaging tone. How can you spot a passive sentence? Three telltale signs: 1. Something happens to the subject of the sentence. Example: “The report was written last week.” 2. It contains […]