Footprints in cyberspace

Colleges and employers, both current and prospective employers, can and do check an applicant's digital footprints to help determine who might not be a good fit for their school or business. Tweets, photos and postings on social media sites, blog rantings, search results and more, can give screeners a clear picture of an applicant's behaviors and activities. Too often, it's not a very flattering picture.

In your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, you learn that focusing your message on the other person(s) is one of the most important things you can do to communicate effectively. As a part of that, you learn to think about your audience - what they're doing, thinking, and feeling, what they'll do just before getting your message, what they'll do just after getting your message, and in what environment they will receive your message. You learn how to differentiate between different audiences and how to tailor different messages to those different audiences.

Those are the skills you also need to apply to creating your Internet presence. Some like to call it the "Grandma" test - if you wouldn't want your Grandma to see it or read it, don't post it. Consider who will see your posts and photos, who might see them at a later date, and decide what is and isn't appropriate for each potential audience. Gear each posting and photo toward the appropriate audience and only the appropriate audience. If your friends will think you look great with your tongue out and a drink in your hand, great. Show them that. But keep in mind that you might not want everyone to see that particular pose.

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. Help them get the skills they need to communicate effectively, and safely, in today's world. You'll be a hero for doing it.

Think, before you send

Unthinking people do foolish things all the time. But today's technology too often lets you take your faux pas "to 11", to use the line from "This is Spinal Tap".

In the U. K., a job seeker E-mailed a note and his resume to 4,000 head-hunting firms. He's "Unthinking Person #1" in this story. They each got the same note. The E-mail had the names of all recipients visible. Each recipient could tell that no effort was put into the job search.

"Unthinking Person #2" is the head-hunter who took exception to being included in the mass E-mail. He wrote an expletive-filled reply that included "it's nice to know you are taking this seriously and taking the time to make us all feel special and unique", and told the applicant that he was too stupid to get a job in banking. Further, he attacked his competitors at head-hunting firms, calling some of them obscene names. Then, he hit "Reply All".

As you can imagine, both #1 and #2 are looking for work now.

In your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, you learn the importance of striving for Zero Defects in your messages. You learn that proof-reading is critically important. You learn to check your emotions when creating your messages. And, you learn to put the focus of your message on the other person, understanding what he or she is thinking, feeling, and doing when receiving your message. This story shows two individuals who would have benefited from putting that knowledge to use. Don't let this happen to you.

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. You'll be a hero for doing it.

Watt a grate book

A book released last month is all about typos. Hopefully, it doesn't contain any. Two guys took a two-and-a-half month clockwise journey around the U.S. hunting for typos. They weren't disappointed. 437 errors were found on public signs. Some were misspellings, some were wrong forms of a word (they're, there, their), some were simple mistakes. 437 on display for public consumption.

In your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, you learn the importance of Striving for Zero Defects. Everybody makes mistakes. The only people who don't make mistakes are dead people. The key is to keep your mistakes from ever seeing the light of day.

First of all, mistakes send a message about you, and, it's not a good one. More importantly, mistakes become distractions. The focus of your receiver goes off of your message and onto the mistake. You're essentially creating interference for your own message.

And, mistakes can cause confusion. Anything you can do to make it easier for your receiver to understand what you're talking about is in your best interests. So, use a spell check program. Have others proof your work before it ever sees the light of day. Whatever it takes to reach Zero Defects.

This isn't about being picky or anal retentive. It's about taking pride in your message and making it the best it can be so that it is as effective as it can be. And that's what you learn how to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar.

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. You'll be a hero for doing it.

Redundant, or repeating yourself?

A radio commercial for a weight loss program encouraged listeners to "make today the start of a new beginning".

This is a fun line in so many ways - a beginning is new, or else it would be a continuation; a start is a beginning, not a middle, and a beginning is a start, not a finish.

Redundancies aside, it's a great example of how people can "clutter up" their own messages. Gotten a phone message that starts with the classic, "Sorry I haven't called before this, I've been meaning to call, but things have been really hectic lately and it seemed like every time I was going to call, something else came up and I couldn't. Then, when I'd remember to call, it was too late, so...I'm calling now to ..." and then ends with "Beep"? They used up all of their recording time.

Avoid creating interference for your own messages and making it harder for them to "Break Through the Clutter" of everyday of life to actually reach people in today's world. Proofreading, editing, practicing, and striving for Zero Defects are all ways you give your messages their best chance to "Break Through the Clutter".

In your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar you'll learn how to frame your messages for effectiveness and how to avoid the pitfalls that can clutter up your own communication.

Call or E-mail today to schedule a seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, or bkthrucomm@aol.com. It'll be the dawning of the first beginning of the new day of you starting to communicate much more effectively. Honest.

"When feeling superfluous, leave."

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.

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.

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

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.

Either way works for me...but, spell check doesn't

Major league baseball teams allow you to make a contribution to their charitable funds and then have a message or greeting displayed on the scoreboard during a game. It's a great way to wish someone a Happy Birthday or Anniversary, propose marriage, or even welcome someone home. Perhaps this person being welcomed really is a "Brain". Perhaps this person's name is actually "Brian".

Regardless, the point here is that spell check won't catch your error when you type an actual word, just not the word you intended to type. For written communication, it is always critical to proofread your message. Read it out loud to yourself and listen to what you have actually written. Mistakes DO become distractions. The focus of the people who planned and paid for this message on the scoreboard went off of the message and onto the typo. Their special moment for Brian instead become a joke. It doesn't take long to proofread your message and it's pretty easy to do.

It's not like it's Brian surgery.

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.