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Need a dopamine fix to get through your work week?
I meant to post this Monday morning — when many in the workplace could use a happiness boost! (That’s what dopamine does for your brain.) You may think positive psychology is mostly platitudes. But...
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The genre of research articles: Methods sections
After something of a hiatus from Pros Write, I’m (finally) continuing the series on writing the different sections that make up a research article (RA). I’m tackling the Methods section here. (See...
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Pros Write celebrating first-year anniversary
Purpose is unchanged. But the blog has a new look and organization. Feedback is welcome! Filed under: Other Stuff Continue reading »
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It’s about COMMUNICATION, stupid!
My first new post in a while. And I’m ranting — albeit somewhat quietly. This time I’m reacting to a newly published research article about assessing student writing within MOOCs. Balfour, the author,...
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Writing and cheese
“Carefully defined writing activities” in a learning situation have an even less direct relationship to “writing” than “pasturized process cheese food” has to “cheese.” This wonderful quote comes from...
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Typography in the news
Check out today’s US Navy ends dependence on capitalised communications from BBC News. Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London, told the BBC, The US Navy...
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Code-switching in written language
We naturally adapt our language based on our social surroundings: we choose different words to describe the same thing when addressing our pals in a pub, our professor at a pub, our professor in class,...
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Looking for help with the slides for your presentation?
Rule #1 from 7 Lessons from the World’s Most Captivating Presenters: Start with paper, not PowerPoint I couldn’t agree more. I’ve mentioned my colleague, Jean-luc Doumont, when offering help to those...
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Confused about punctuation in bullet lists?
A while back, the folks at Write in New Zealand talked about punctuating bullet lists. The post caught my attention because their practice is refreshingly straightforward. If the stem sentence and the...
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Friday fun with the architectural alphabet
Need a little meditation to get through the rest of the workweek? This 5-minute video displays the architectural alphabet created by Antonio Basoli. I found this at Futility Closet thanks to a link at...
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Want satisfied workplace readers? Give them an efficient reading experience
Efficiency. One of the greatest challenges for amateur workplace writers, who have not yet wrapped their heads around the fact that their colleagues do not read like teachers do. I’ve made the point...
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Lawyer creatively defends client from legalese
If I need a lawyer, I’m gonna call up Mr. Kaplitt. Here’s a letter he wrote for a client who received a “cease and desist” letter written in indecipherable legalese. Huffington Post posted a short...
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Why new grads don’t get the job
My colleague, Saul Carliner, shared this slide deck from Mark O-Toole about why new grads don’t get hired. See if you can locate one of the eleven reasons that isn’t caused by (or couldn’t be fixed...
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What does that smiley face mean? And should you use it?
There’s been buzz about the use of emoticons like the smiley face or wink in the workplace. A New York Times article in 2011. Huffington Post took on the topic in a 2011 article and again in this 2012...
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Plain language in the news
Check out Huffington Post‘s “The new illiteracy — obfuscation — hinders progress.” The author mentions some top notch plain language efforts like the Center for Plain Language and PLAIN. But he assumes...
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To better understand . . . Or to understand better?
Has anyone given you grief over splitting an infinitive in your writing? If so, they would claim “to better understand” is wrong because the adverb better appears between to and the verb understand....
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A simple way to test your reader’s response before document delivery
I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. Nothing signals your status as a pro workplace writer as much as testing an important document with representative readers before you deliver it. But reader...
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Why your document can’t be fast, cheap, and good
Matthew Stibbe, a marketing writer, inspired this post with his Fast, good or cheap? Choose two. Anyone who manages the process for creating a product can use this mantra to describe their constraints....
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Use The Rule of Thirds To Help Your PowerPoint
Reblogged from make a powerful point: "Ripe. Oaky. Spicy." They're the kind of words that were used to describe white wine in a famous French experiment. That's odd, because they're the kind of words...
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What does it mean for plain language when employees equal “costs”?
No time to explore this in detail today, but Henry Blodget, editor of Business Insider, is getting a lot of attention for his article “This one tweet reveals what’s wrong with American Business.” The...
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