Me and my calendar
I am obsessed with my calendar because I have an extreme case of FOMO. When a notice arrives or a request comes in for me to attend something. My immediate reaction is to go to my calendar – I check whether I am available, put the date on the calendar and file the...
Inviolable rules for productive meetings for conveners and attendees
Some people spend their entire workday in meetings. These people barely have the time for a bathroom break and eat their lunches while attending. At the end of the day, they are tired and often still face a pile of “work” that needs doing. If this describes you or if...
It’s time to thank your “masters”
It is an honour for me to have been given the designation Master Communicator (MC) by my Canadian peers in the International Association of Business Communicators. Last year, I served as the chair of the selection committee and this year – my last for a bit – I have...
The Alan Alda I didn’t know about – the communicator.
My favourite subjects are communications, science and math so when I heard about a new book from Alan Alda, I had to check it out. Alan Alda knows about those subjects? He certainly does and the book, “If I understood you, would I have this look on my face?” is a...
Why we lie
I don’t subscribe to National Geographic although after reading a friend’s copy of the June 2017 issue, I may. The feature article is an in-depth treatise about lying and why we do it. So, what were my key takeaways as a communicator? Lying is a very human thing to...
The velvet hammer
One of the skills I seem to have developed is writing “velvet hammer” prose. By that I mean writing letters, announcements, greetings, directions, etc. that are simultaneously kind (the velvet) and direct (the hammer). Lawyers love to use hammers. In my experience,...
Free speech
Last month Ellen Degeneres celebrated the 20th anniversary of her coming out on national TV. It was a big deal then and deserves being marked as an important milestone. On her anniversary show, she talked about the importance of being able to be her authentic self...
My top 10 tips for writing emails.
I spend a lot of time writing and responding to emails. According to many accounts, email is a dying medium. For me, that jury is still out deliberating – they are probably with the paperless office jury. So, while we await the verdict, here are my top 10 tips for...
Basically…
There are words and phrases that irritate me when I hear them in speech. Words like ah, uhm, eh, you know, so, whatever, fine – I could go on. But the one that has me ready to wretch is “basically”. When I listen to an interview, I often hear the interviewee...
Lessons Corporate Communicators should learn from Elite Sports about engagement
I love sporting competitions. I have attended many world-level events in figure skating and curling. Elite sporting events are an opportunity to see the world’s best athletes demonstrate their sport. They are also an opportunity for the sporting organization to...
Measure for success
Communicators are typically not excited by data. In fact, most of the ones I know will be ready to turn heel and head for the hills screaming if you ask them to get involved in databases. However, this is the age of data mining and communicators, like other...
Speechwriting – an audience-centric exercise
Trump is president. The Conservatives are searching for a leader. I just attended a conference. So I’ve done some watching and listening this past little while. I have been engaged by a few speakers while others have been regrettably dull and only speaking to...
Awards, awards, awards
Well, the Golden Globes have started off another awards season and countless other award shows will follow – it is time for me to declare that I am not a fan of awards. I will never get to “thank the Academy” but I am involved in judging several professional awards...
A communicator’s guide to working with SMEs (Subject Matter Experts)
Communications people generally work with Subject Matter Experts or SMEs to produce content. Often the subject on which SMEs are expert is their life’s work. So when the communications person walks in with the objective of preparing content for general consumption,...
My writing rant
I need to start this post by saying that I am not a writer. It’s a position I have maintained over many years as a communicator. I will admit to having a good command of English and that I am able to produce well written copy to fit an occasion or a strategy....
Marking moments with thanks
When planning projects, we set the objectives, schedule the work and mark the essential milestones. Once things get rolling, we often forget to celebrate the “moments” or events along that motivate others and make the effort worth working for. Identify the...
The lost art of listening
Unfortunately, the art of nonverbal communication is often lost on those who only listen with their ears – you know, the ones in meetings, conferences and meals who have the green glow of their smartphone shining in their faces. Even if these people are Tweeting about what they are hearing, my guess is that they still miss a lot.