We've been on a roll in the last few months finding ineffective wording on signs. This was in the blood center, in the area where donors get their juice and cookies.
"Please remain at the Revitalization station as long as you feel necessary."
When you start feeling superfluous, extraneous, or even unappreciated, you can leave.
Your reaction to these signs discussed in the last couple of months is a natural one, it's to laugh or snicker. The point is, you don't want anyone laughing or snickering at you.
Proofread your written messages, use spell check, have others proof your work, read your written messages out loud to yourself to make certain that they say exactly what you intend them to say, and check how your message actually looks on paper. Make it easy for your receivers to understand what the heck you're talking about, and you'll have a better chance to "Break Through the Clutter" of everyday life and make an impact with your messages.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, or bkthrucomm@aol.com.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Aren't they all?
A sign on the wall in a fast-food hamburger restaurant -
A serious tribute to Ms. Turner, turns ironic simply because of her name.
As you'll learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, review the CONTEXT of your written messages as well as the CONTENT. Unintended consequences of your message will cloud its meaning as the focus of your receiver goes off of your message and onto, in this case, the irony of it all. You're, essentially, creating interference for your own message. That will make it even tougher for your message to "Break Through the Clutter" of everyday life and make an impact on your receiver.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985 or bkthrucomm@aol.com.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Review your CONTEXT as well as your CONTENT
For written messages, it is critically important that you review the context of your message, as well as the content of it - how your message appears on paper, or your sign, or whatever medium you're using. Check it for errors, of course, but also check it for ways you may be misleading your receivers or perhaps not saying exactly what you mean to say.
A church was advertising its Sunday worship services on the sign in front of the building. People can easily assume that the services would be on Sundays. People would probably understand what the sign was intended to say. But what it read was
What do they worship on cloudy days?
This humorous and harmless example demonstrates a much more serious point for the effectiveness of your message. A common and understandable abbreviation, to you, may be misleading or confusing to your receiver. So check the context of your message, as well as the content. Read your written messages to yourself to make certain that say exactly what you want them to say. Anything you can do to make certain that your receivers will understand what you're talking about is in your best interests in order to "Break Through the Clutter" of everyday life and make an impact on them with your messages.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, or bkthrucomm@aol.com. Let us help you communicate more effectively.
A church was advertising its Sunday worship services on the sign in front of the building. People can easily assume that the services would be on Sundays. People would probably understand what the sign was intended to say. But what it read was
Sun Worship
8, 9:30 and 11am
What do they worship on cloudy days?
This humorous and harmless example demonstrates a much more serious point for the effectiveness of your message. A common and understandable abbreviation, to you, may be misleading or confusing to your receiver. So check the context of your message, as well as the content. Read your written messages to yourself to make certain that say exactly what you want them to say. Anything you can do to make certain that your receivers will understand what you're talking about is in your best interests in order to "Break Through the Clutter" of everyday life and make an impact on them with your messages.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, or bkthrucomm@aol.com. Let us help you communicate more effectively.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Do you read me?
That question's taken on a new meaning in communication. Texting, particularly with young people, has brought "clutter" levels to all-time highs. And each one of those texts is another piece of clutter that your message has to compete with and break through in order to be heard.
A study says that high school students send an average of 440 texts per week, including 110 while in school, an average of three texts PER CLASS PERIOD. You can assume that college students' texting habits are similar. As the technology becomes even more commonplace and as these young people age to become a part of the workplace, their texting habits and tendencies will come along with them.
Those texting secretly during class now will be texting secretly during meetings soon. Those texting now to cheat on tests, more than one-third of the high schoolers surveyed admitted cheating with a cell phone, might be leaking company secrets and proprietary announcements soon. Regardless, they WILL be distracted while you're trying to reach them in meetings, during sales calls, and through speeches and presentations.
That's why it's even more critical now for you to practice the keys to effective communication that you'll learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar. As the clutter (your message's competition) increases, your skill at breaking through it needs to increase.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985 or bkthrucomm@aol.com.
A study says that high school students send an average of 440 texts per week, including 110 while in school, an average of three texts PER CLASS PERIOD. You can assume that college students' texting habits are similar. As the technology becomes even more commonplace and as these young people age to become a part of the workplace, their texting habits and tendencies will come along with them.
Those texting secretly during class now will be texting secretly during meetings soon. Those texting now to cheat on tests, more than one-third of the high schoolers surveyed admitted cheating with a cell phone, might be leaking company secrets and proprietary announcements soon. Regardless, they WILL be distracted while you're trying to reach them in meetings, during sales calls, and through speeches and presentations.
That's why it's even more critical now for you to practice the keys to effective communication that you'll learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar. As the clutter (your message's competition) increases, your skill at breaking through it needs to increase.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985 or bkthrucomm@aol.com.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Verb-alization
More and more, words are being "verb-alized" today, meaning non-verbs are being used as verbs.
An "office" is a place. A "fax" is a thing, a shortened version of the word "facsimile" which is what you create when the document in your hand is printed out at the other end of the phone line. "Text" is what you're reading right now, it's a thing that you can see. "Offshore" is a place that is removed from the shore. You remember from grade school that a person, place, or thing is a noun.
Yet for years now, when you office at home, people can fax things to you, or text you. Each of those nouns has become a verb in common usage. This morning's paper had new one, "offshoring". It goes along with "outsourcing" and it's apparently when you outsource overseas. But no definition was given.
As you learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, for effective communication, you need to use only words, terms and phrases that mean something to the other person. So be aware of your level of verb-alization. Adding "-ing" to a word does not necessarily mean that you can use it as a verb and that your audience will understand it that way. For instance, you wouldn't scream at a telemarketer, "Not now, I'm dinnering!"
As our use of language continues to evolve with advances in technology and in society ("He Blackberried me with the details."), keep your audience in mind when composing your message. Whether a word or phrase makes sense to you isn't nearly as important as whether it makes sense to them. Often, you're more successful when you stick to the basics instead of trying to use the latest terminology.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.
An "office" is a place. A "fax" is a thing, a shortened version of the word "facsimile" which is what you create when the document in your hand is printed out at the other end of the phone line. "Text" is what you're reading right now, it's a thing that you can see. "Offshore" is a place that is removed from the shore. You remember from grade school that a person, place, or thing is a noun.
Yet for years now, when you office at home, people can fax things to you, or text you. Each of those nouns has become a verb in common usage. This morning's paper had new one, "offshoring". It goes along with "outsourcing" and it's apparently when you outsource overseas. But no definition was given.
As you learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, for effective communication, you need to use only words, terms and phrases that mean something to the other person. So be aware of your level of verb-alization. Adding "-ing" to a word does not necessarily mean that you can use it as a verb and that your audience will understand it that way. For instance, you wouldn't scream at a telemarketer, "Not now, I'm dinnering!"
As our use of language continues to evolve with advances in technology and in society ("He Blackberried me with the details."), keep your audience in mind when composing your message. Whether a word or phrase makes sense to you isn't nearly as important as whether it makes sense to them. Often, you're more successful when you stick to the basics instead of trying to use the latest terminology.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Too wordy?
A business owner asked if the pages of his web site were "too wordy". He thought they were, but his ad agency told him that he needed to explain his services in great detail to his potential clients. He felt trapped between what his "experts" were telling him and what his gut was telling him.
It's always tough to know how much info is too little and how much is too much. You can have as little as three seconds today to make an impact on people. Due to the "clutter" of everyday life, people just don't have the time to really digest your message. The best solution is to tell just the basics of what you offer. Grab their attention. And then, as they get interested in you and your message, tell them your story and fill in the details.
In order to actually reach people today, you need to utilize what we call, in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, "Economy of Words". Edit, edit, edit. Attention spans and the volume of all of the other messages in today's world demand it. And as people get more and more used to services like Twitter, with a 140 character limit, they will be less and less likely to sit through a lot of information from you.
Call or E-mail today to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.
It's always tough to know how much info is too little and how much is too much. You can have as little as three seconds today to make an impact on people. Due to the "clutter" of everyday life, people just don't have the time to really digest your message. The best solution is to tell just the basics of what you offer. Grab their attention. And then, as they get interested in you and your message, tell them your story and fill in the details.
In order to actually reach people today, you need to utilize what we call, in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, "Economy of Words". Edit, edit, edit. Attention spans and the volume of all of the other messages in today's world demand it. And as people get more and more used to services like Twitter, with a 140 character limit, they will be less and less likely to sit through a lot of information from you.
Call or E-mail today to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Double Trouble
A safety hazard also teaches you about the difficulties of communicating in today's world -
Yesterday, a young man driving a fancy convertible, top down, was swerving all over his lane. Why? His right hand was up to his ear, holding his phone, away from the wind noise on his left side, forcing him to reach his left hand past the steering wheel to shift gears on the right side of the steering column. Every time he shifted, he practically changed lanes.
Dangerous and foolish, yes. But it's mentioned here because that might have been you on the other end of that phone. Or, it might have been your incredibly important, to you at least, message he was listening to from his voicemail.
The environment in which your receiver gets your message is completely out of your control. Distractions, clutter, and your receiver's personal filters all affect your message. That's why it's so critical for you to do everything that IS under your control to make your message efficient and effective. And that's what you learn to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar.
Look around you. Everyday you see how difficult your receivers make it for you to be heard. It's time for you to equip yourself to fight back.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.
And, watch out for the guy in the red convertible.
Yesterday, a young man driving a fancy convertible, top down, was swerving all over his lane. Why? His right hand was up to his ear, holding his phone, away from the wind noise on his left side, forcing him to reach his left hand past the steering wheel to shift gears on the right side of the steering column. Every time he shifted, he practically changed lanes.
Dangerous and foolish, yes. But it's mentioned here because that might have been you on the other end of that phone. Or, it might have been your incredibly important, to you at least, message he was listening to from his voicemail.
The environment in which your receiver gets your message is completely out of your control. Distractions, clutter, and your receiver's personal filters all affect your message. That's why it's so critical for you to do everything that IS under your control to make your message efficient and effective. And that's what you learn to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar.
Look around you. Everyday you see how difficult your receivers make it for you to be heard. It's time for you to equip yourself to fight back.
Call or E-mail today to schedule your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.
And, watch out for the guy in the red convertible.
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