Stop using this phrase…ASAP!

February 24, 2011

Filed under: Writing Tips, The Power of Persuasion, Effective Communication — @ 10:01 am

Did you ever ask someone to do something “ASAP” and then not get what you want, when you wanted it? Here’s why that happened:

The phrase ASAP lets people choose their own deadline. It means “as soon as possible,” which – in their world – might be now, tomorrow, next Wednesday, or never. Everyone has their own to-do list and method of prioritization, so the vague direction of ASAP puts the power in the recipient’s hands to judge the level of urgency.

And this is a no-no for getting people to do what we want.

YOU keep the power, or else your own to-do list will always be at the mercy of other people’s timelines. This doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible in your deadline…but if you don’t give one as a starting point, how will the person know where it fits in their to-do list?

There was a time when ASAP implied “immediately,” but those days are over. We’ve abused the phrase too much for it to have any real meaning (see how we’ve also done this with the phrase “thanks”).

So, if you want to greatly increase the chance that your deadline will be met, be clear in your request and state the specific day/time you would like to see results.

Want to comment on this post? Do it…right now, immediately, without delay, before doing anything else, this instant.

The plight of the exclamation point.

November 15, 2010

Filed under: Writing Tips, The Power of Persuasion — @ 2:08 pm

Poor exclamation point. It is unmercifully abused.

As punctuation goes, the exclamation point is quite powerful. It conveys elevated emotion that transforms a sentence from a simple statement into a passionate communication. Case in point:

I am so happy.
I am so happy!
I am so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or how about:

I am so angry.
I am so angry!
I am so angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The very presence of the “!” puctuates the passion behind the feeling…so why do we sometimes feel like a solitary exclamation point is insufficient? And is this an acceptable solution to communicating the emotion behind our feelings in writing?

Professionally speaking…no. In business communication, multiple exclamation points can come across to the reader as juvenile and a bit lazy. Their presence says “I have not taken the time to select the rich, meaningful words that will accurately convey my emotions, so I’ll just add a whole bunch of exclamation points to compensate for the lack of feeling.”

If we are “happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”…are we not ecstatic, thrilled, or elated? And if we are “angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”…are we not incensed, livid, furious, or enraged? Seriously. Some of those words are so powerful, they don’t even require one exclamation point to communicate the strength of their sentiment. In fact, that quiet, subtle strength can often be far more influential than adding a dozen exclamation points.

There is certainly a time and place for multiple exclamation points. Believe me, I’m the first one to type “Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” to a Redpoint colleague who’s just informed me that one of our clients is going to be featured in the New York Times. It’s the perfect way to communicate my spontaneous unbridled joy. But if I got that news from the editor of the New York Times directly? No way. It definitely would be something more like “I’m delighted you found (client) of interest,” or “(client) is thrilled that you are interested.”

So, when writing professionally, take a moment to choose more powerful words and give that poor little piece of punctuation a break. It served us well when we were in junior high, but now that we’re all grown up, it’s time for us to be responsible in how we use it.

Death to homophones.

August 5, 2010

Filed under: Writing Tips — @ 12:06 pm

If I get one more invitation offering a “sneak peak” at something, I might just cry. It pains me to see such a blatant spelling error that clearly made it past several pairs of eyes – from copy drafter to client to printer! – without being caught.

Come back to junior high school with me for a moment. Remember learning about homophones?…words that sound exactly alike, but are not necessarily spelled alike, and have distinctly different meanings?

They are the mortal enemy of spell check.

Peek/peak…their/there/they’re…bear/bare…pair/pare…faze/phase… and one of my faves that people always mix up… principle/principal. There are hundreds of these pesky homophones in the English language, and the only way to prevent them from hijacking your otherwise-perfectly-spell-checked writing is to know the difference and proof your work.

Here’s an extensive list you can use as a cheat sheet. http://www.all-about-spelling.com/list-of-homophones.html

Now go fourth and get your words write.

Less words…more meaning.

July 31, 2010

Filed under: Writing Tips, The Power of Persuasion — @ 11:52 am

I recently drove past a billboard on I-95 in New England which advertised an area bank. This is all it said:

183 Years. 0 Bailouts.

How utterly brilliant. With those “four” words, the reader’s takeaway is…this bank is sound, fiscally responsible, trustworthy, stable, and (most importantly) my money will be safe there. Moreover, without saying a single actual disparaging word against its competitors, it clearly states: they suck, and we’re better than them.

Audiences have short attention spans, so when seeking to persuade them, you can use fewer words by employing meaningful ones that enrich your statements beyond their actual face value.

This strategy works with all communication types, but of course, it’s particularly vital with billboards. Look at that entire paragraph of imagery that got planted in my mind with just a 2-second glance, stolen while whizzing by on a (blissfully) traffic-free interstate. Granted, I was doing the speed limit (40 years. 0 Speeding Tickets.) but it would have worked even if I had been driving past at 100 miles an hour.

Of course, then the need for the bailout would have been mine.

Save yourself from looking silly in just 5 minutes.

July 27, 2010

Filed under: Writing Tips — @ 12:53 am

Yesterday, I received a cover letter from a job applicant which quietly featured this sentence as the opening to its third paragraph:

Another couple sentences on what makes you stand out and valid for the position based on facts and experience.

Indeed. Those sentences would have been quite useful at just that juncture in the letter. But the transparent – and clearly inadvertant – stage direction sadly negated their benefit.

With less than 5 minutes of proofreading, this woman might have scored an interview with me…one skim of this letter would have caught that preposterous mistake. And had she done so, I’m sure her heart would have skipped a beat and she would have said to herself, “Good god. Can you imagine if I had sent THAT??”

Alas, she did not proof the letter. And now her poor judgment is forever immortalized here, after we had a good chuckle over it in the office. Well…we sort of chuckled, as we sheepishly remembered preventable mistakes we’ve each made in the past.

No one is perfect, and mistakes will be made. But when communicating in writing, you have the power to prevent them by resisting that almost-primal impulse to hit “send” the moment you finish putting your thoughts to paper.

Ideally, you can focus your attention elsewhere after finishing a draft of something — even if it’s only a 4 or 5 line email! — and then come back to it with fresh eyes. You will be amazed at the silly mistakes you can catch that way.

My motto: better to have your heart skip a beat at the thought of ALMOST looking ridiculous, than to feel the kick in the gut that comes from actually LOOKING ridiculous.