Nicholas H's Note Taking Tips

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I myself have had the obligation of writing notes for both myself and others. At some points I would find myself looking over my notes asking myself "what the heck does that say" or "what does this mean." I'm sure you have also come to this conclusion at some point. Here are some helpful tips and suggestions to help avoid this from happening again to both you and I.

• Be prepared and make sure you have all the materials you will need to take well written notes
• Pay close attention. Try to listen to the presenter and avoid any possible distractions. If you are in a classroom setting sitting away from friends always helps in avoiding distractions.
• Establish the way in which your notes will be taken. Make sure it is something easy for you to understand and write.
• Use abbreviations to make sure you don't miss any key points. For example, you can abbreviate people by using "ppl."
• Review and edit your notes after you are done. If need be you might want to compare your notes with someone who sat next to you.

Hopefully these tips will prove to be helpful for you in your future note taking instances.

References
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/academic/notes-tips.htm

Brennan H's Ideas on How to Write a Great Thank You Letter

Writing a thank you letter is a very professional way of responding to situation that you have encountered in the past. This could be from a prior interview, a meeting you just had, or even as simple as sending your grandma a thank you letter for your birthday gift. I have never been one to write many thank you letters in my days, but I know it is a professional think to do, especially since I want to work in upper management.

A thank you letter is basically what it says it is. It is a letter you write someone to thank them for something they did. When I want to write a thank you letter I usually know what I am going to say to them right away. I am not one to sit and brainstorm for five minutes I like to free write my ideas and revise them. I would recommended if you do not like to free write, that you should free write because it makes your letter sound less boring and more creative.

Remember, when writing a thank you letter always be clear on what you want to thank them about. If you are thanking a manager for having you come in for an interview, than thank them for giving you the time to get to meet you. Also make sure that you check for grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes. I am not very good at checking my papers all the way through because my grammar is not very good. If you have the same problem as I do, than have a friend look over your work.

Here is a short You tube video clip on how to write a thank you letter. I hope this helps you in wriitng more professionally.

Adam V's Designing Technical Documents in Web-based Format

Designing technical documents in web-based format is something that I was not to familiar with before I started this blog post. This was a tricky topic, so I will do my best.

What is Technical Documentation?
Technical documentation means documentation with regard to a product. In terms that you may understand, it means documents and information that are passed on to the public by the person or company that wrote it. Examples of this include software manuals, installation manuals, servicing instructions, user instructions, and operating instructions. They are the papers that come with a product, for example, they are the papers on how to operate something like a lawn mower. This means that we probably use technical documents before but without noticing it.

No Technical Documentation?
If you ever lose the technical documentations that came with the product there is something you can do without going back to the store where you got your product. Most companies put their technical documents in a web-based format on their website for all their products. This is convenient because, you can just go to the website, search your product, and the desired technical documentations appear on your screen. I had to do this the other week, when my television all of a sudden started to turn off. I went online to the company and within minutes, I was viewing the technical documents on how to fix the problem I had.

Tips for Designing Technical Documents
When designing technical documents, you want to make the information simple. You do not want to put fancy words, because this will confuse your reader. Also, make it very easy to navigate through your technical documents, this is great for customer satisfaction. Using programs such as Adobe, are very helpful when creating the technical documents.

Video Example

Here is a six minute video on youtube that is very helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-PUmFdeJlI

Reference: http://www.transcom.de/transcom/en/technische-dokumentation.htm

Jason Fullen Writing reference letters

Writing reference letters

Writing a reference letter is very important because this where your teacher or past employers talk good about your writing and about your skills and knowledge.

Greeting

When writing a reference letter you should always use a proper salutation to the person your writing too. This is to make sure that your good word for this person means something.

Paragraphs to come

In the body paragraphs you would want to explain the connection between you and the person your writing the reference letter for. Also, you would want to explain why you are qualified to write this letter and talk about your line of work. Next, you would want to talk good about the person. Talk about his traits and his skills and talk about his knowledge. Talk about why this person is qualified for the job. And then finish with a proper conclusion.

Personal connection with reference letters

For this class and many more classes we always got practice in writing reference letters about our traits and skills but i never wrote it for someone else because i don't have a good enough position to help any out yet. The way i learned to write reference letters is talk good about the person and yourself so the people looking at the letter can pick you out of the crowd for the job.

Example Reference letter

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/referenceletters/a/sampleref2.htm

Chelsie Maddox - How To Write "Personal"

A great example of a “Personal” Business Writing I can give you is this blog. “Personal Writing” is simply a form of informal writing. Personal writing in business isn’t as informal as the everyday texting and instant messaging you and I do; however, in personal writing, shorter, simpler sentences are used unlike those in formal writings. To give you another idea what your “Personal” writing should be like, think back to those research paper you had to write in high school and college. Boy how I hated those things! I remember my teachers and professors constantly reminding the class, contractions were not acceptable. I have good news for you though, in this type of writing they are! You as many don’t(s), won’t(s), I’m(s), and can’t(s) as you want. Writing personal letters or emails is kind of like having a real conversation with someone, except it is in written words. Personal writing portrays your personality so don’t forget to be nice and polite. Also, remember not to talk too much about yourself and make sure that whatever it is you are writing about interests your reader. If you can remember these few tips I have given you, you will do just fine writing your next “Personal” letter.

Carolina M' How Useful is your Instant Messaging?

There are many different companies that offer instant messaging, such as MSN, AOL, Yahoo, and many more. Many people use the instant messenger for personal use; I include myself in that category because I use it to communicate with family members and friends that are far from where I am.

Then there are other circumstances for the use of the instant messenger, such as the business side. Companies now use this type of communication to talk to colleges in other countries, by doing this type of communication, the coompanies are saving money and helping the environment. The video that I found on YouTube talks about how a company uses this new technology to communicate with potential buyers or people that work in their company. Futhermore, Jim Vaselopulos talks about how e-mails are important and now instant messaging is following the pattern. In my opinion, the instant messaging is so much better that the e-mails, just for the simple reason that instant messaging is like the name says it, is instant while the e-mails are you just sending a message and then waiting for the other person to answer it.

Quote

YouTube - Enterprise Instant Messaging: Fuels efficiency and growth

I will love to work in a company that uses these kinds of media to communicate with other people and have a conference meeting through an instant messaging, I think that technology is now playing a big role in the business world and that is going to continue improving for better. It would be great if all the companies implement this communication. therefore, they can save more money and help the environment.

Luke C's Determining what the Reader Needs to Know

My full topic for this week is "Writing completely: Tips on how to Determine What the Reader Needs/Wants to Know." Although the subject is geared toward writing, the same content applies for giving presentations and speeches. Giving effective presentations is integral to being successful in almost any field.

There are two related things you first need consider before beginning to compose a piece of communication, no matter what the form it takes. The first thing to consider is what do you want the overarching and lasting message of the communication to be. Keeping this in mind throughout the writing process is very important, especially when you are making final revisions. Keeping to the point and leaving out distracting details will determine if the audience retains the message you are trying to get across.

The second part of what needs to be considered before you begin writing is identifying who your audience is and how they will react to the content. This will determine the tone and type of language that should be used in the communication. For instance you need to use a different type of tone when delivering negative feedback to a single employee than when you are delivering a motivational presentation to an entire team.

Sticking to a central theme and always keeping the audience in mind will ensure written communication is actually read retained as well as help keeping an audience engaged during a speech or presentation!

I am including a video of a speech given by Jim Valvano after he accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the 1993 ESPY awards. Jim died of cancer only eight weeks after delivering this speech. His purpose in the speech is to encourage people to enjoy and treasure every minute of their lives. I know it is long but you will not regret watching it!

Using Graphics and Software in Writing

Let’s phase it. Having a document that is full of words and contains no visuals is pretty boring to read. If I was reading it, it would put me to sleep. Face it, visual aides are vital to any document that has a purpose. If you want to get your boss to approve an idea that you think will boost production, than add a graph into the document you want them to read. There is a variety of visual graphic to use in your document. When trying to decide which one to use, remember these two points:

• How will this graphic improve my document
• Is the graphic I chose given being to what I am trying to say

Once you have decided that your paper will look better with a graphic than you must decide what kind of graphic to use. When writing there are a variety of graphics to choose from.

1) Icons

2) Graphs

3) Bar Graphs

4) Line Graphs

5) Pictographs

6) Charts

7) Pie Charts

8) Tables

9) Flow Charts

10) Line Drawings

If these choices are not right for the type of document you are writing, you can always add an image. There are four types of images you can add to your document.

1) Photographs

2) Screenshots

3) Video

4) Animation

All of these graphics can be added on to your document by using software based
programs at your disposal. The most popular program used today is Microsoft Word. Word is excellent in producing written documents and adding graphics onto them. If you wish to make a graph or table, Microsoft Excel would be the best program to use. This program uses spreadsheets to input data and produce any sort of graph you wish to use. Using Microsoft Picture It, and Windows Movie Maker will help you to add Photos to your document and embed videos on to your computer written document.

Nicholas H's Persuasive Writing Tips

Persuasive writing is one of the most common forms of writing. Whether we are trying to persuade someone to buy something, do something, or simply share our viewpoints we are constantly trying to persuade. "What can you bring to our university?" This might ring a bell for a time you had to use persuasive writing. Here are some tips to use or improve your persuasive writing.

• Determine who your audience is, when writing persuasively you want to be sure you have a "fair" chance of persuading your audience.
• Determine your attitude or approach you are going to take in your persuasion methods.
• Be knowledgeable as to what you are trying to persuade, this will build your credibility. Be sure to also have resources to back your information.
• Understand the other sides viewpoints, also be able to bring well thought counter-arguments to the debate. You can't be persuasive if your don't know the other sides thoughts.
• Use real life examples and quotes to help make your point. You want your audience to be able to relate to whatever you choose to use.

Above are just a few tips to help guide you through the process of persuasive writing. Below is a clip that will also offer a few suggestions to get you on correct path.

Resources

http://www.bestessaytips.com/persuasive_essay.php

Jason Fullen Tips on how to analyze your audience

Tips on how to analyze your audience

Profile your audience
The most important tip on analyzing your audience is try to give an estimate of your audience so you have a good understanding on how long and how correct you need to be. In larger scaled audiences you need to be more formal because everyone may not know what you are talking about. In smaller groups it is okay to be informal because usually you know everyone.

Plan for audience reaction
When your working with any kind of audience it is always good to plan on their response so you have a understanding of their reaction to your work. Depending on your message if it is positive or negative can really affect the reaction of your audience so be prepared to handle any kind of action.

Follow up and Questions

After your audience gets back to you they may have a question or want you to respond back. Just answer the question they ask respectfully and correct and you shouldn't have any problems.




References
http://ezinearticles.com/?Analyze-Your-Audience-Before-Developing-Your-Message&id=1064480

Luke C's Document Collaboration using Wikis

To start off, I found this excellent video on youtube that talks about what a wiki is!



Like the video says, collaboration is the key! I think when most people hear the word wiki, they simply think of the website Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia in the world. It has been created by countless users and it is a great example of a what a wiki can accomplish. Like described in the video, wikis can have very practical applications in personal and business use. Wikis are great for planning things like vacations, reunions, and events.

Wikis also have a very important place in business. An example would be the wiki that I use everyday as an employee in a large retail corporation. The wiki that is located on my company's intranet is very large and diverse. The main reason I use it is to print off weekly promotion signs and also custom signs are posted by employees like myself from stores across the country. The wiki is also a great place to find training material to share with employees. For instance, I attended a training in Phoenix a few months back. When I returned from the trip, all of the training material was posted on the wiki so that all employees could access it and the learning was not limited to the one thousand people who attended.

I hope everyone has a better understanding of the practicality of using a wiki!

Chelsie Maddox - Resume and Cover Letter Writing

Resumes
Where do I begin?

First of all, it is important to remember that a resume is the key tool used when trying to get a job interview. Don’t worry too much though, there aren’t too many rules used to write an effective resume. Actually there are really only three rules you need to remember. The first rule is of course; your resume should be well organized. Remember, no one likes to read a paper that is all jumbled around. Chances are an unorganized resume is just going to get tossed to the side and never even completely read or reviewed. Rule number two: detail, detail, detail! It is also important that your resume includes specific detail. Last but certainly not least, rule number three. This rule is included in almost anything we write. Can you guess what it is? If you guessed error free, you’re correct! Be sure to exclude ANY errors from your resume. Just as a mention earlier about an unorganized resume, “As Stephanie Hinson suggests, errors in a resume are the easiest reason to eliminate a candidate.” (Technical Communications 409) So just remember these three simple rules when writing your resume and you’ll do just fine!
There are a few other things you might want to know about resume writing. Like, there are different types of resumes. Let me tell you what they are and give a brief description of each.

 Chronological Resumes-summarize your experience and training in the order in which it occurred. (Begins with the most recent and goes backwards in time)
 Skill Resumes-emphasizes the experience and skills that qualify you for a position.
 Entry-level Resumes-used when applying for your first job. (highlights who you are as a person)

One last question you may have is “What exactly am I suppose to include in my resume?” Well, here is a list to give you an idea. Each of the types of resumes above share these features.

 Contact information
 Career Objective
 Education
 Experience
 Honors and Awards
 Activities References

Cover Letters
You may be wondering what a cover letter is. Well, a cover letter basically tells an employer about you. I guess you could say it is used to get the employers attention. You attract the employer by telling of your good qualities such as experience and high qualifications. It might be good for you to know that it is easiest to write your cover letter after you have finished your resume. This way it is easy to pin point the most important points. Don’t forget it is also important that a cover letter be well organized and error free; just as your resume!



References

Technical Communications in the Twenty-First Century
Dobrin - Keller - Weisser

Carolina M's Professionals who do Technical Writing

What is technical writing? Technical writing is a formal writer that uses technology and explains the technology to technical and nontechnical audiences.

This type of writing is common in most of the electronics that you buy and need to build or put together all the parts, I am the person that always puts those papers aside and put the parts together without writing, but other people find these technical instructions very important to succeed in the product that they are building.

Five Tips for Technical Writers

1. Get more mileage out of your headings

This should be a phase that clearly summarizes every section.

2. Use present tense

By doing this, it would bring more clarity to the paper

3. Identify the actors in your sentences

This is one of the most relevant to technical writing

4. Follow a task-based approach

Break down into parts, so you can go step by step without a mass of detail.

5. Thinking is writing too

Get away from your keyboard, this will help you to gater more ideas.

I think that these tips not only help on technical writing but also on professional writing, these tips are great when it comes to writing a paper. Also, I never knew that the people that wrote all of those step by step manuals needed to know so much about technical writing.

YouTube - Business Writing for Engineers and Technical Professionals

As you have seen in the video, not only english majors are the only ones that need to know technical writing. This person talks about the field of engineering which I thought before that you only needed to know formulas and be good in math, but the reality is that even engineers need to know how to write a report or a proposal.

Reference

Williams, Joseph M., Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, University of Chicago Press, 1990

Adam Vaniska's Professional Writing Conferences

Overview
There are Professional Writing conferences all over our country that take place almost every month. In this post, I am going to talk about a writing conference that took place in Chicago, this past May called the Chicago Business Writing Conference Program and as well as general writing conferences.

How long and where are writing Conferences?
A professional writing conference generally last two to three days depending on what is being discussed. The one in Chicago lasts two days. Writing conferences are usually held at the hotels’ ballrooms.

The Start
Typically, every writing conference will begin with some sort of meal. It all depends, some start with a luncheon, a continental breakfast, or a dinner. The Chicago Business Writing Conference Program started with a continental breakfast. During these dining times, registration occurs with the conference attendees. Having food there helps boost the attendees’ morale and gets them ready for an exciting two or three days of learning how to write professionally. This is also when networking occurs between the attendees.

What Happens?
Every Writing Conference will have one full day of activities and lectures. Activities are called Breakout Sessions at writing conferences, this gives attendees the chance to practice what they are learning while receiving help from the presenter and assistants. Attendees can select which sessions they would like to attend.

The Presenters
The presenters are usually world-renowned and are very good at what they do. The presenters are usually college professors, doctors, company managers, entrepreneurs and authors. At the Chicago Business Writing Conference Program, they had John Sturtevant who helped co-developed a business curriculum at Harvard Business School. The conference also had Steve Crescenzo, who was rated the number one speaker twice at the IABC’s World Conference. Having professional presenters come to the conference help distinguish the particular writing conference and it helps add credibility to the conference.

Topics
There is a variety of topics that the different conferences go over. Each writing conference usually has a particular theme that it goes over. The Chicago Business Writing Conference Program went in depth about the business side in professional writing.
Going to a professional writing conference can only be a good thing for you in your career.

Many people who go to these conferences, take away different skills that they never had before when it comes to professional writing.

references:

http://www.iabc.com/bw/program_Chicago.htm

Luke C's Ethical Issues In Professional Writing

The topic of ethical issues in professional writing is an important and expansive one. I will go over some information presented in the class textbook as well as draw upon personal experience in the business world.

One ethical concern is the format of the documents that you plan to produce. This topic is prevalent in scholastic writing as well as professional writing. Different fields such as medicine, science, management and government all have commonly accepted formats for which documents should follow. This is much like how certain classes require a student to use MLA or APA style.

Plagiarism is another ethical concern that presents itself in school and professional environments. Plagiarism is taking another person’s ideas and passing them off as your own. When using another person’s work is necessary, it is paramount to use quotations and cite it properly. There are all most always certainly stiff consequences for plagiarism in both school and business.

Ethical Issues can result from a writer not taking into account the perspective that which his or her audience will view their work. It is important to be professional at all times and be clear and concise. I have an example from my personal experience that exemplifies this sentiment.

I became a supervisor of 8 employees at a large electronics retailer at the age of 19. My team ranged in age from 21-32 years old. About a month into my position I sent out a weekly email that went over business and behavioral results and expectations. A few days later an employee (A 26 year old former manager) approached me to express concern over comment in the email directed toward him. I am a very sarcastic and joking person by nature, and without even realizing it I made a comment in the email that concerned the employee. I was horrified and expressed my regret to the employee. To this day we have a very strong and honest business relationship and learned a very important lesson that has stayed with me throughout my career.

This situation shows how important it is to read your writing with a third party point of view. Being able to effectively communicate ideas to people with a range of personalities is the key to becoming a good leader. The way you say things to friends and family is not always the way you should communicate with employees! Please Post any similar stories or tips!

Brennan H's Editing and Revison Tips

Revision and editing are two of the most important elements in the writing cycle. For me this part of the cycle gives me a hard time. Having good spelling, grammar, and correct format is essential to writing professionally. Once you have mastered this part of the cycle than you will be a master of writing. Revision and editing to most people are considered the same thing, but in reality they are different

Revsion is the processes of changing the design and content of a document. This means to make corrections to the layout of your document.

Editing is the process of changing your document to meet requirements of correctness. This means that editing is the process of correcting things like grammar, and spelling

There are some guidelines that I think are very important to the editing and revising portion of writing. I belive if people know what to look for when they revise and edited a paper, then they will be able to correct their papers more effectvly. Some key questions I think that you should ask yourself when revising a paper is,
• Does my paper make sense
• Does my address my audience
• Is my information presented in to show importance

One thing that I struggle with when writing a paper is trying to set up my paper in a way to make it make sense. Papers are meant to be read! Always remember that. If it does not make sense to you, then it probably does not make sense to everyone else. Do not make your paper to lengthy. Remember to much information and words can be just as bad as having too little.
After you revise your paper, you must edit your paper. When editing your paer always look to make sure these things are correct.
 Formatting
 Grammar
 Spelling
 Punctuation
 Capitalization
 Typography

Most people have problems with grammar, and punctuation. Making sure each sentence is grammatically correct, and making sure you have a period at the end of each sentenceis very important. I’m not saying to ignore every other editing factor, and focus on grammar and punctuation, but I believe punctuation and correct grammar are key factors in to making a document look and sound professional.

On an end note, I have a really good piece of advice. Always have someone double check your work. Remember, four eyes are better than two.

Nicholas H's Manual Writing

Reading manuals can be daunting at times. I myself have found this to be true first hand. Whether it was an operating, service, or parts manual I have found myself looking for answers. Manual writing can obviously be made a lot easier and more helpful for the reader. If you ever find yourself in the position to write a manual here are some easy and helpful tips, these should help someone else avoid the confusion of manuals.

ESTABLISH FORMAT

Determine what type of manual you will be writing. Will you be writing a service, operating, or parts manual? After establishing your format look to other sources for help. Look over past manuals that pertain to your field to develop ideas.

CREATE PROCEDURES AND PLANS

Develop an outline as to what exactly will be presented in your manual. Form and create any procedures or plans that you will be inserting in your manual.

USE GRAPHICS

If allowable use graphics in your manual. It can sometimes be easier to comprehend things that use visuals. Be sure that the graphics used are implemented in a way which conveys the main purpose easily.

DRAFT AND REVIEW

Create a draft of your proposed manual. After creating your draft follow your own steps to ensure clarity and overall accuracy of your manual. Allowing an outsider to go through your manual is also highly recommended.

These are just a few tips to manual writing, below is a youtube clip that also offers more tips.

References

http://www.helium.com/items/710994-tips-on-writing-manuals-and-procedures

Adam Vaniska's Writing Effective Meeting Minutes

What to do before the meeting?
Before starting the meeting, make sure you are not participating as a main contributor for the meeting. It would be extremely difficult to do both if you are playing a major role while trying to write effective meeting minutes.

There are five topics that you must cover when recording effective meeting minutes.
1. Write down the time and date of the meeting
2. Make sure you write down the purpose of the meeting
3. Record the main speaker of the meeting
4. Jot down any assigned action items
5. The most important thing you need to write down is to make sure you write any kind of important decisions that were made during the meeting

These five things should be labeled and spaced out on your paper before the meeting starts. This will allow you to fill out each topic as the meeting progresses.

Talk to the host of the meeting before it is held and find out as much information you can about the meeting. Asking for a list of attendees is also very important.

What do I do while the meeting is in progress?
While the meeting is in progress, do not write every word that comes out of the speaker’s mouth. This is unnecessary and too much work. Write down the stuff that would fill out your outline because that is the most important information. If you have any questions or concerns during the meeting about what is going on, do not be afraid to ask the main speaker.

The Meeting is finished, what do I do now?
Review everything that you just wrote on your paper, and if you have any questions go to the main speaker and address them so you can have them answered. When finished with the meeting, type your notes and make them as efficient as possible. When you have the meeting minutes all typed up, run it by your main speaker to see if there are any errors. When the main speaker approves it, send it out to the attendees right away for their information.

By following these tips, you will be writing effective meeting minutes in no time!

References:
http://www.effectivemeetings.com/meetingbasics/minutes.asp

Jason Fullen Informal Reports

Informal reports are common in the workplace they help with organizing and commutation between each other. Informal reports can appear in many different forms and in different situations.

The purpose
To inform
To explain
To analyze
To persuade
To recommend
Written internal and external audiences
Internal Audiences such as coworkers and supervisors
External Audience such as clients and customers

Different types of Informal Reports
Memos
Letters
E-mails
Presentations

Progress Reports
Progress reports communicate with supervisor and managers to see the stages of completion of there company.
Updates audiences on status of an ongoing project.
Recognize past performance

Lab Reports
Demonstrates the writers understanding and comprehension of data.
Explains the significance of data.
Great deal of information.

Example of a Lab Report Results section



References
Chapter 21 of text book

Carolina M' Job Interview Tips

The tips that I just gave on the voki are short, but they work, these tips were given by two of my managers and myself. Both of my managers are hard to please, but they are good, one of them told me that eye contact was one of the best tips because it gives that kind of impression that you are sure of your answers, also giving an answer with details and not just a "yes" or a "no" for an answer. I think this is one of the best ones, if you do not know an answer to a question, then do not make one, it is better to tell them that you do not know the answer than lie; I have been in many group interviews with my manager, and I can tell you guys that lying are not going to give you the position. Before you go to the interview make sure you read about the company for some background, by doing that not only you are more prepare but also shows them that you are very interested in the company, this has helped me in the past when they ask me about the company, and I have an educated answer for them.
I hope these help for your next job interview, trust me some of these tips have helped me in the past, and I hope that the ones that I just learn with my manager can get me to the next level in the company that I am working for at this moment.

Chelsie Maddox- Writing Courteously

Writing courteously simply means, “getting your point across with civility”, as the online version of Business Etiquette for Dummies states. There are a few, simple, very easy to remember ways to be a courteous writer. Let me briefly explain each tip to remember for you.


READ
Reading is a good source of knowledge. It is important to read in order to not give your reader a false belief.

EDIT
No one likes to edit because they don’t like to change something they wrote. However, it is very important part of being a courteous writer. Just like no one likes to edit their writings, no one likes to read material full of spelling and grammatical errors.

BE GRACEFUL
It is important to make a good impression about yourself in your writing. Even if you do not have nice things to say about who you are writing to or about, you should be graceful about what you say. Three ways to do this are:

1. Never swear in business correspondence
2. Never call people names in business correspondence
3. Never make off-color remarks in business correspondence



These last two tips have already been mentioned in the editing section above; but they are important ones to remember.



AVOID SPELLING ERRORS

Avoid spelling errors is important because they are very noticeable to your readers. If someone is taking the time to read your work, you should take the time and return the favor of being courteous and eliminate these kinds of mistakes. After all, with today’s technology it is simple to check for spelling errors.

GRAMMATICAL ERRORS
Grammatical errors goes along the same line as spelling errors. They are noticeable to your reader and show a sense of poor education and a lack of courtesy. Don’t forget to check for these!



Hopefully now you get the sense of what it is to be a courteous writer! Just remember, be graceful and edit your work.




References
www.dummies.com

Brennan H's Guide to Writing Formal Reports

Formal reports are very common in the work place. Most associates know about these kind of reports, but have never categorized them as a formal report. You want to be able to recognize any formal report in the work place, especially if you are in management. The three main kinds of formal reports in the work place are recommendation reports, feasible reports, and evaluation reports.

Recommendation reports are reports that are basically based around a decision, like, “should this wall be placed here, or will it look better over there”.

Feasible reports are based on if a projector situation is workable and is not out of any limitation the company has. Evaluation reports

Evaluation reports are basically written on an observation of something, or based around someone’s opinion. An example of this would be a six month performance review for hired associates.

Like most written works, formal reports have a guideline to follow. There are four basic guidelines to follow when writing a perfect formal report.

Conducted Your Research

Make sure all research is done before writing your report. That even means that all your sources are correctly addressed and nothing that is being used it plagiarized. Research can be conducted on the computer or even in a book. Interviews and surveys are also reliable sources of research for reports.

Visuals are Important

Including visuals in a formal report is what defines it as formal. Providing graphs, charts, and even pictures will help a report flow professionally. Make sure not to over do a report with to many visuals. Too many visuals will make a report look unprofessional.

Draft, Write, and Revise

Make sure everything that is supposed to be in the report is clearly drafted. Formal reports can be lengthy, so plan some time doing it. Make sure all grammatical errors and spelling is correct before proceeding to the final draft. Often formal reports go to high up employees so make it sound professional.

Pass out the final copy

When distributing a formal report is a good idea to hand deliver the report. Another good way to distribute a report is to mail it out to the person that requested the report. Emails are also a good way to hand out a report. Make sure when you email it that the email is correctly label for the person who will be receiving the final copy

Ref:

Dobrin, Sidney, Christopher Keller and Christian Weisser. Technical Communication. Upper Saddle River : Prentice Hall, 2008.

Luke C's Article Review

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston of Syntax Training contributes to a monthly journal that gives professional writing advice. The main article from the October/November journal is titled "Better Writing at Work: Don't let a Wayward Verb Weaken Your Writing." The article discusses very basic verb usage that many writers may not think about when composing business correspondence.

1. Verb Agreement with a subject.

- The cost of benefits continue to rise.

- The cost of benefits continues to rise.

2. Verbs that carry unnecessary words that can bog down a sentence.

- The Senator will be giving a speech on Monday.

- The Senator will give a speech on Monday.

3. Choosing certain weak verbs can bring additional words that can clutter a sentence.

- I am getting through the lessons with much difficulty

- I struggle with the lessons.

4. The usage of action verbs can wake up your sentences.

- Your work is inspiring to your students.

- Your work inspires your students.

5. Using active verbs when it may seem only passive verbs are available.

- As can be seen from the attached schedule, there are no room for delays.

- As the attached schedule shows, there is no room for delays.

6. Choose a verb that not only communicates past action, but is open to the future.

- We enjoyed having you has a client.

- We have enjoyed having you as a client. (Could be a future client as well)

Although these are very basic verb rules, they are very critical to the writing you produce while at work. It is always important to brush up on the basics!

Reference:

Gaertner-Johnson, Lynn. "Don't let a Wayward Verb Weaken Your Writing."

Better Writing at Work. Syntax Training, Oct.-Nov. 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.

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Nicholas H's Creating and Delivering Effective Presentations

Giving an effective presentation is a very important skill. Whether it is being used in the workplace or in a school setting the ability to give an effective presentation is necessary. An effective presentation is brought upon through good planning and preparation. This begins with the creation and planning of the overall objective of the presentation. Below are some tips that will not only help in the creation process of presentations, but also in the delivery of an effective presentation.

Creating the Presentation

• Determine Purpose and Audience: What are you writing about? Also, whom are you giving this presentation to? Audience demographics should be taken into consideration when planning a presentation.
• Keep Information Concise: Try to keep slides and overwhelming information to a minimum. Be direct and clear with your information.
• Visuals: Use visuals to help convey the overall purpose of the presentation. Be sure visuals are clear.
• Be Consistent: Keep all slides or visuals consistent to avoid any possible distractions.
• Check Spelling and Grammar: Spelling or grammar errors can diminish the credibility of the presenter, be sure to look over your presentation.

Delivering the Presentation

• Be Prepared: Practice your speech beforehand to help ensure a successful presentation.
• Be Confident: Know your material and project confidence throughout your speech.
• Speak to the Audience, Not to your slides: Avoid speaking to your slides and not the audience. This is very common in presentations and can be unknown to the presenter.
• Pace yourself: Know your time limits; avoid talking to fast or to slow.
• Be Interactive: Interact with the audience to ensure you have their attention.
• Prepare for Unexpected: Always have back-up plans. You never know when the unexpected will occur. Always save your presentation on an alternate source.

References

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/p/bus_delivery.htm

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA102078641033.aspx