JUST CLICK . . .

Just about everyone likes a good laugh. Making a good laugh part of the instructional process works! It needs to. In the United States (and, I presume, elsewhere), people tend to regard professionals as society’s best: the best educated, the best informed, the most trusted, the most respected. That image can be shattered by professionals who cannot write well and, partly as a consequence, make mistakes when speaking, too.

“What kind of professionals are they?” some may ask disdainfully, but with justification. “Regretful” might be the answer, especially when the professionals involved have to pay for a legal defense occasioned by use of a wrong word, an ambiguous sentence or phrase, or even something as seemingly harmless as incorrect punctuation. But even when improper language use “only” diminishes one’s standing in the community or among colleagues and friends, the loss is real and can be embarrassing. That shouldn’t happen. If you’re an English-speaking professional, write and speak your language properly.

I have worked with thousands of professionals over the years. I respect them for what they know and do, and I understand why so many wind up with poor or mediocre English-language skills. They don’t have to. YOU don’t have to. I’ll try to help you master some of the skills you need to avoid common tripwires and, in the process, give you a laugh or two, combined with at least an occasional “Aha!” And please bear in mind that, as part of your subscription, you can ask me questions. That doesn’t mean, “Can you review this 40-page report and edit it for me?” (Yes: I can do that, but no way as a freebie that complements this program!)

Make your questions as short, punchy, and specific as you can. As examples: “Should I use ‘i.e.’ or ‘e.g.’ in this sentence?” “Is it okay to end a sentence with a preposition?” “Is it ‘hone in on’ or ‘home in on’?”

Learn! And, please, have some fun in the process.

[Yes. The “please do not hesitate to ask” stuff is horribly trite. Assuming you believe it’s necessary to tell a client representative to ask questions about uncertainties, try something different, like, “I’m available to address any questions or concerns about the report’s contents. Call me on my cell at . . . .”] “Which is better in an e-mail: ‘I have enclosed . . .” or “I have attached . . . ?” [Because you cannot enclose anything in an email or attach anything to one, I prefer “I have appended . . . .” If need be, “I have embedded . . . .” or “I have ‘attached’ . . . .”] “What should I say to someone who insists that everything I write has to be in the passive voice, which I hate?” (Try, “Hell should be gone to by you.”)