by Jody Bruner
Each of the words below is either negative or overly formal. They’re easy to eliminate, and doing so will give your final document a warmer, more upbeat tone.
by Linda Dunlop
Hitting the glass ceiling, climbing the corporate ladder, addressing the elephant in the room. I never thought much about idioms until I started teaching Business English to international students. Read more →
by Linda Dunlop
You’ve just spent the day in back-to-back virtual meetings troubleshooting next steps on an important project. It’s all in a day’s work, right? But by evening, you find yourself stretched out horizontally on the couch, drained of all energy. Sound familiar? Read more →
by Rachel Eidan
We can all be more effective communicators by using our ears more than our mouths. Be honest, how much have you ever learned listening to yourself talk?
We often think that good communicators are good speakers; however, the most powerful communicators have excellent listening skills. Of course, there are some tips of effective communication that extend beyond simply listening, although this element is absolutely crucial. Many people take the skill of listening for granted. You have ears, so you listen all the time, right? But you need to ask yourself how well you listen. Read more →
by Leigh Geraghty
Whether you need to refuse a customer’s insurance claim or decline an employee’s request for vacation, delivering bad news is one of our toughest writing challenges. How do you deliver a clear message, without damaging your business relationship?
If you’re faced with delivering a bad news message, an indirect approach can help to ease your reader into the bad news.
Follow these 5 simple steps to write a difficult message using the indirect approach: Read more →
by Lesley Nevills
Do you struggle to find the right words when you need to communicate persuasively or influence others within or outside your organization? If so, join the club. Lots of people find persuading others challenging, especially when the conversation is strategic and you anticipate pushback. Having the skills to gain buy-in for your ideas or approval for a solution you are recommending is critical to your success in business. These skills will also build your confidence and can help raise your profile in the workplace.
Here are some tips to help you win people over and get them to support your ideas. Read more →
by Amanda Bergen
In this digital age, video is king. It promises a more engaged audience and faster, more effective delivery of your message. But are you and your team making the best use of video capabilities when you turn on your webcams? Surveys and statistics show that most employees are allergic to their webcams, but if they use video conferencing effectively when communicating virtually, they can increase engagement, build trust, and speed up decision making. It’s not enough to know how to turn the webcam on—you also need to develop a new skill set to present yourself, and your ideas, in the best possible way. After all, if it came naturally we would all be vying for the anchor desk on Good Morning America.
by Leigh Geraghty
When asked about their business writing challenges, many of our workshop participants say they have trouble with the tone of their message. Tone is how you describe the emotional quality of writing. It reflects the writer’s attitude towards the reader, and affects how the reader will respond. Writers tend to put a lot of effort into sounding competent and professional, but aren’t always sure how to create a positive tone.
Three choices for tone
When it comes to tone, you have three choices: positive, negative or neutral.
by Leigh Geraghty
If you ever have to sell a product or service to internal or external prospects, you will find yourself at sales meetings or having to give presentations. I’ve learned that to be successful at selling, you need to “shut up and listen.” An effective sales meeting or presentation should be a dialogue or conversation, and in the spirit of dialogue, you should talk less than half of the time. You need to get your prospects talking, listen to what they have to say, and then respond in a way that shows you were listening. Read more →