The phone rings or an email arrives (or a Twitter direct message appears) from a journalist, asking for your opinion on a particular topic. What should you do? a) Panic b) Answer their questions c) ??? Journalists are half sleuth/half expert communicator: they are paid to find out what is [More]
Have you noticed that each magazine, newspaper, and TV news show has its own style? They do so because style builds brand equity with their target audience. But look underneath the glitz of style, these pros have structured each story almost exactly the same. Or in other words, every episode [More]
Have you ever listened to a webinar or in a Zoom presentation, and found your mind wandering? Or perhaps you let the webinar play on while taking care of other more important activities on your computer? And what if that incredibly dull presenter... is actually be you? And that the [More]
In grade one, we were told no cheating. In grade six or seven, we learned about plagiarism. By high school, we learned about citations, attribution, and the importance of quoting the source. But in today's digital world, have these rules changed? Sadly, there seems to be a range of experience [More]
Have you ever spent time staring at your blank screen, wondering what your next blog post should be about, then staring at the clock, stressing about the looming deadline. While it's tempting to think of this problem as writer's block, it is really a question of process gone wrong. (Or [More]
Have you ever been in a situation where someone has used a word that seemed wrong? Or maybe out-of-place, suboptimal, or or ill-considered? Each of these three words means something slightly different, and each tugs a slightly different emotional chord, although in this case, they are all negative. The words [More]
If you have spent any time on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok (and now, sadly, LinkedIn), you may have been the victim of over-sharing. You are subjected to pointless, and often narcissistic postings, often from people and organizations that should know better. While the impact on you is wasted time, the [More]
Each summer for the last three years, my wife and I have stayed at the same hotel while visiting the Montreal Jazz Festival. Each time Ali was at the desk checking us in with a smile. Each time asking us a question or two. Not only did he know his [More]
Have you ever gone to a website, and for whatever reason, felt the need to actually contact the organization? You may have a product or service question, or you may have a technical issue that needs resolution. Or perhaps a billing error that needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, many organizations [More]
Are your blog posts really that effective? Do they grab the reader, and convince them to read on? And is there a magic bullet that can immediately make this so? Too often, a blog post is an outgrowth of "stream of consciousness" thinking, and rarely hits the mark. Adding strategy [More]
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