Blog
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...
read more
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
read more
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.
read more
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.
read more
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 more
How Managers can Provide Effective Feedback
Feedback might be a manager’s best tool for building stronger, more collaborative teams. Presenting specific, useful feedback in a way that is supportive and encouraging demonstrates caring and inspires trust.
read more
Gathering Quality Information Requires Good Questions
Business professionals need to gather information every day, and that requires that they ask many questions. They don’t think of it as interviewing, but careful consideration should be given to the questions, just as a journalist does. Good questions elicit the best information: clear, specific details.
read more
Keep Difficult Conversations in Balance
Uncomfortable conversations often get derailed because the core issue is lost in emotions: anger, embarrassment, resentment. Managers should not avoid having difficult conversations, because that can lead to further problems. But if both people try to understand each other’s perspective and if both agree on an outcome that helps each person, the discussion is less likely to become toxic.
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
Add Punch to Your Writing with Sentence Variety, Rhythm, and Emphasis
Jobs become boring when the daily routine is repetitive, and so does writing when you read short, choppy sentences with …