Tag Archives: Workplace Writing

Stop Using ASAP ASAP!

By Phil Stella | Published: November 24, 2015

If you’ve been reading my periodic articles on workplace writing and communication techniques and strategies in ‘Communicate Confidently!’, you’ve encountered one of my favorite rants – ‘Specific beats Vague’. So, whenever you have a choice between a vague word, like ‘several’ and a specific word like ‘four’, opt for the specific word. Read More »

Clean Up Your Act

By Phil Stella | Published: November 1, 2015

How often do you forward an email or reply to one? If your business is anything like mine – lots of times every day. So, it’s probably time for you to consider cleaning up your act. Your email act, that is. Read More »

Reject Redundancies!

By Phil Stella | Published: August 6, 2015

Let’s continue challenging your word use habits in workplace writing and communication. Effective word use is the same, whether the medium of communicating those words is spoken or written. And remember, the responses ‘That’s the first word I thought of’  or  ‘That’s the word I usually use’ don’t work very well with reader-centric messages. Read More »

Activate Active Voice!

By Phil Stella | Published: June 1, 2015

Based on some calls and notes from readers, some of you are seriously challenging your word use habits in routine workplace communication. Great – I was hoping that would happen. Effective word use is the same, whether the medium you use to communicate those words is an email, a phone call, a face-to-face conversation or a more formal presentation. Read More »

Verbs Beat Nouns

By Phil Stella | Published: April 4, 2015

Here’s a Quickie Rant about Making Words Matter that might challenge some of your word use habits, like the one you carried over from those 500-word essay days in high school – Noun Phrases. Read More »

Typo Theory

By Phil Stella | Published: April 1, 2015

I’ve been a professional writer my whole career. So, how embarrassing is it to have a careless typo in the very first sentence of last month’s eLetter! Even worse when an astute reader – and friend – called me on it within a few minutes of publication. Read More »

Energize Your Writing

By Phil Stella | Published: March 1, 2015

Here’s a summary of Best Practices you would hear often in one of my Workplace Writing workshops. Early on, I tell participants that I won’t ask them to change any of their word use or writing style habits. But, I will ask them to challenge those habits in light of these Best Practices. If they decide to change any of them, that’s fine. If not, that’s fine, too. Read More »

Grammar Made Easy … & Fun

By Phil Stella | Published: March 1, 2015

Are you having trouble learning grammar? Consider the topic boring and painful?

Let Weird Al help you with this great parody called ‘Word Crimes’ –

Now … grammar isn’t so painful after all, is it?

To Write … Or Not To Write? That is the Question

By Phil Stella | Published: February 1, 2015

Last month, we discussed the all-important Pre-Write phase of workplace writing: Plan What You Write. The piece encouraged you to ask four groups of questions about each document: What are your objectives? Who are your readers? What tone and style would be appropriate? What message format and structure would be best? Read More »

Pre-Write: Plan What You Write

By Phil Stella | Published: January 4, 2015

‘Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!’ This logic is never truer than when we communicate important workplace information in writing. So, to plan NOT to fail, invest the time in the Pre-Write Phase and answer these four groups of questions. Thorough and thoughtful planning will make your writing process faster and easier and increase your chances of accomplishing your objectives. Read More »