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The psychology of word choice + rhetorical context
A couple of days ago, Gabe Doyle wrote an enlightening explanation of the psychology behind word choice. A writer has two options when deciding whether to use a word s/he has recognized as “questionable”: To satisfice by deciding the benefits of using it outweigh the costs To optimize by deciding to search for a better word…

Amateurs think standard English matters only in school
The Harvard Business Review blog network recently featured a piece by Kyle Wiens called I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why. Wiens runs two companies, and both focus on technical communication. But he makes a good argument about why what he calls “grammar” matters in any workplace. Grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language…

Sell yourself with STAR content in your résumé or LinkedIn profile
Lots of folks advocate the use of the STAR (Situation, Task, Action/Activity, Results) method for handling questions during job interviews. See this recent piece at The Guardian or this piece from Huffington Post. Utilizing the STAR Method in Your Resume & Interviews from the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida makes it clear that…

Pros know plain language is only one strategy
This week in my class, we begin discussing strategies and tactics for effective leadership communication. The TILL System builds on research in linguistic politeness, identifying four strategies as shown in the figure above. The strategies differ in the degree of clarity with which they deliver a message. Because efficiency is so highly valued in Western cultures…

The genre of business proposals: Getting readers to buy what you’re selling
So you’ve got an idea or service to promote? You’ll do much of that selling face-to-face. But you’re likely to need a written proposal in many cases. This post provides some basic guidance for writing a proposal (not a business plan, which is a specialized type of proposal) based on some relevant research. Proposals are…

What is plain language? (Part Three: Writer outcomes)
In the first two posts defining what I mean by “plain language,” I have focused on two points of the rhetorical triangle: textual elements like style and organization (Part One) and reader outcomes like comprehension and usability (Part Two). Now it’s time to tackle the third, the writer’s purpose. This is arguably the aspect of rhetorical context that…
I defiantly enjoy this post.
Wait … defiantly and definitely aren’t homophones — just another effect of the Spell Check Trap.
Ha! I have certainly been called “defiant” before. But it’s not true at this specific moment. Or in response to this specific post. Though Jack Black could be implicated here. I can’t blame spell check. Just clumsy typing on my part. (I had to re-type after the system kicked me out ’cause it didn’t like my log in ID.) Argh . . .