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A Simple Thank You can Motivate Others
A simple "thank-you" can go a long way. It is more than a polite gesture; it makes the other person feel more valued and competent. We tend to think of gratitude as an emotion that affects the receiver: The person's face lights up because you were pleased with she did...
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Commas are No Small Matter
Many people think that whether to put a comma before “and” in a series is a trivial issue, but two judges disagreed. For decades, people have bickered about the need for a comma before "and" in a series of three or more things. Some people insist on it, and others...
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Being Persuasive: Asking for Less can Lead to More
Too often, people ask for approval of their entire request, regardless of what it is. Asking for less the first time makes the request easier for someone to approve it, and if she approved it once, she is more likely to approve a subsequent request later.
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Choosing a Point of View: Be Consistent
People often begin reading a message and suddenly pause, uncertain who is speaking. Is this written from the writer's perspective, or someone else's, perhaps the company's? The issue is point of view, a literary term that applies to any type of writing: email, formal...
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How to Get Multiple Questions Answered in an Email
Writers often ask three questions in an email and then wonder why the reply contains an answer to only one. To the writer, the
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Should You Write the Way You Talk? To a Degree.
Writers should have a simplified, conversational tone, but not at the risk of wordiness. People are often told to “write the way you talk,” but everyday speech is terribly inefficient, and the emphasis in business is on tight writing. Look for extra words in sentences that contribute nothing to the meaning.
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Use a Dash for Emphasis, a Hyphen for Clarity
People often confuse dashes and hyphens. Dashes are used for three reasons, most commonly to mark off information that you want to stress. Hyphens commonly join two or three words that are used together to form one adjective, modifying an adjoining word.
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Use Vivid Language to Persuade People to Accept Your Idea
Asking an audience to do something or to agree with your viewpoint is more persuasive when you use vivid language and description that enables people to visualize the impact on them and others.
read moreBy Ken O’Quinn
As a contributing author in this book on leadership, Ken offers insights and tips for managing difficult conversations, providing effective feedback, and being authentic. Order here.
Perfect Phrases for Business Letters (McGraw-Hill)
Provides the right words and phrases for any situation - quickly. The book was reprinted in Japanese because of high-volume sales there.
TD at Work — Business Writing for Managers
The Association for Talent Development invited Ken to write this 22-page booklet for the TD at Work series.
Current Blog Post
A Simple Thank You can Motivate Others
A simple “thank-you” can go a long way. It is more than a polite gesture; it makes the other person …