I came across an article over the weekend that left me amazed at how little we (the general public)  know about English!  I’m not perfect but I do try and common mistakes are few and far between here.  The article I found this weekend clued me into why it is so difficult!

There are OVER 615,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary!  This whopping number doesn’t even include technical or scientific terms.  The English language has over 200,000 words in common use!

Isn’t that incredible – in fact, with all the options available, incredible seems like a very weak choice!  How about – implausible, inconceivable, preposterous, outlandish or unthinkable?

Thanks to a thesaurus I came up with those.  Did you know English is the only language to have a thesaurus?

Have you ever asked a friend who is bilingual how to say a specific word from English in their other language?  How long do they really have to think about it?  Is there ever anything that is a perfect fit?

Several of my friends have said, “Well, there isn’t anything exactly like that.”  Gee, you think maybe that is because we have SO many words that catch the smallest nuances of emotion or variation within English?

Compared to German which has 184,000 common words and French which has just 100,000!?

Go back to that Oxford English Dictionary, shall we?

• It  is compiled in 20 volumes which contain 21,730 pages and weights 137 lbs.
• It contains 59 million words and 350 million characters
• It includes 2,436,500 quotations in which the Bible is the most quoted work.

You know what amazes me the most?  When you start throwing all those words togther…think about how many combinations there are!  I’m just talking about the words and how many there are!  No wonder it takes real effort on the part of someone trying to learn English to figure out the infinite number of uses for all those words and word combinations!

(And Twitter thinks I only need 140 characters!  Give me a break!)

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Sundi

In part 1 I introduced the beginning concepts from File Don’t Pile: A proven filing system for personal and professional use.  This time we are going to talk about how to make your stacks gorgeous!

Did you get your supplies?  (Here is the list again just in case: some place to store your completed files, file folders of the plain variety, labels or markers, and plain old paper.)

First, pick a stack, any stack!  (Or container, if you went that route in order to clear your desk to do client work.)  Put all the other stacks away for now and concentrate on just this one.  Returning to the office supply store example, in the electronics isle there would be printers, computers, cameras, monitors, etc.  So, go through your chosen stack and make smaller stacks, placing similar items together.

Second, decide the specifics!  Maybe one of the new stacks in front of you is not really a manageable amount.  Like at the office supply store there isn’t just computers.  There are multiple varieties of laptops, desktops and monitors in many different sizes.  The trick is to find the right level of detail for you!

Third, make your first master folder!  You also make a list for this stack.  Back at the office supply store “paper” would be on the tab of this master folder.  If you are tidy you’ll want to type up your labels and print them with a bar across the top in the color of choice.  If not, use a marker to stripe the tab across the top.  Next, make a one page list of numbers, 001 through whatever will fit on the first page, and staple it inside the master folder.

Fourth, create coordinating support folders!  Next to the numbers in the master folder, starting with 001, list all the different kinds of “Electronics” you have in your sub-stacks (laptop, desktop, monitor, etc.).  Working from the numbered sheet, create a folder for everything you’ve listed.  In other words, each kind of electronic will have its own support folder with coordinating color, number and title of what it contains.

Can you see how gloreous this is going to be?  In my next post I’ll bring the office supply store example into your office.

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Sundi

Do you use a workshop evaluation form?  This is specifically for all you trainers out there or speakers and coaches who occasionally wear a trainer’s hat.

Some clients want you to use a workshop evaluation form.  Sometime you have specific questions you need to ask to gain the exact feedback you are looking for regarding newly developed content or to accurately measure the happiness of a new client.

If none of these are the case then I have a great idea for you!

Let’s say you are doing a series over several months at a client site.  Or maybe you’ve used this same material over and over but customized it for your client’s industry (customized rather than out-of-the-box).  Either of these situations would be a perfect time to try a different tool.

A single sheet of paper labeled “The workshop would have been easier if…”

Hang it somewhere in your meeting area or put it on a table by itself away from everyone else.  Explain to your participants what the sheet is for…this will be different for all of you.  Some of you would be comfortable enough saying, “I’m using this today because I know everyone gets tired of filling out the same evaluation sheet.”  Others can just leave it open ended, “I put a partial sentence at the top of this sheet of paper and sometime today I’d like you to complete the sentence.”

Either way you introduce the tool you can make it anonymous or you can ask everyone to put their name if they are comfortable.  Try telling them they can do which ever way they are comfortable.  Also mention if the completion of the sentence needs follow up from you then they need to provide their extension, etc.

I think the results of this will be something totally different than what you receive from your standard workshop evaluation form.

Things like “The workshop would be easier if…”

…your examples of “Sensing/Thinking” individuals had been clearer.

…the meeting next door hadn’t been so loud.

…we had more breaks in the afternoon instead of the morning – I’m a morning person!

…the print on the “Keys to Conflict Resolution” handout hadn’t been so small.

…I’d gotten the materials in advance.

Clearly some things people add will be out of your control – not necessarily though if you are glancing at the sheet the entire day and can have the room temperature adjusted.  If it is a two-day workshop then maybe you can change around the breaks a little for the second day.  If you are using an off-site location rather than your client’s office you most definitely can make a trip to the front desk about the noise level!

The other items from the list can be adjusted the next time through the subject matter if you deem it necessary.

The point is…you only have one sheet to review rather than a bunch of evaluation forms!  Now, who wouldn’t love that for the plane ride home?

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Sundi

This series is based on a book I read many years ago about filing.  Not an over stimulating topic for sure, but one which all of us can appreciate on some level.  (Live there or visit often enough to survive, which ever works for you!)

The book is File Don’t Pile: A proven filing system for personal and professional use and the author knew enough to keep it to a pamphlet-sized read – you can do it in one night if you push yourself a little.

The book contains the easiest system I’ve ever used and it is very streamlined for people who don’t like to file!  The best part about the system is that you NEVER have to alphabetize a thing.  I’m going to share with you the basics…enough to get you started but not enough to bore you.  As for any fantastic end result we have to do some prep work so let’s get to it…

First, get ready to organize!  You have to make some space. Empty containers are a good idea too.  Containers make your organizing efforts portable (read as “get it off your desk so you can see your computer!”).  Prepare yourself to thin down!  Chances are good you want to thin things out as you go along…at least it would be really nice if you did!

[Hint] How to decide what to thin down: if you can get it again from the original source, aren’t sure why you kept it to begin with, or the information is out of date, trash it. F or safety’s sake, go with your gut.  If it feels funny to throwing it away then keep it.  (See “misc” below.)

Second, establish categories!  Decide on preliminary categories to use.  For example, isles of an office supply store: paper, writing instruments, filing supplies, binding supplies, calendars, office equipment, electronics, etc.  Be sure to think big picture!

Third, mark the space!  If you are using containers then label them now with the categories you’ve established so far.  If not, then decide where you will stack what.  Have trash bags handy and, if it makes you feel better, ONE container or stack labeled “misc.”  This is for the items that you think you need to keep but you don’t know why.  Keep some empty containers handy so in part two you can use them on the fly.

Fourth, grab a pile of stuff!  Get started sorting into your destinations.

[Hint]  I know this part sucks!  If you stop you’ll have a project stuck in two, maybe three, different stages and that makes it worse!  If you need moral support then send me an email and tell me how bad it sucks so I can tell you I know and you’ll love yourself for it when you are done.  Or get some support through the comments.  The key is to work on it the best way for YOU…if you are a weekend project kind of person then dive in but if your not, pace yourself with a pile a night or work on it only 15 minutes a day.

For Part 2 you are going to need some things.  Run to the office supply store and pick up the following: a place to store your completed files, file folders of the plain variety (vs. colors), labels or markers and plain old paper.

Next time we’ll cover how to make those organized piles of stuff absolutely gorgeous.  In filing terms, of course.

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Sundi

Taking a tour of Hell

The devil smiled.  He was happily leading a guided tour through the Halls of Hades.  He led the group into an area and pointed out a fire-and-brimstone exhibit.  Next he took them into a room where billions of clocks hung on the walls.  The devil cleared his throat and explained to the group in an important tone of voice that every person on Earth was represented by one of the clocks.  “Each time a person does something nasty, their clock ticks backward by one minute,” he explained.

One of the tour participants raised his hand and said, “I happen to know an IRS agent whose name is Max Tax. Do you have his clock?”

The devil grinned widely at the question and said, “Oh, his is in the back room. We use it as a fan.”

Who doesn’t want to deliver a talk to an audience hanging on their every word?

Chances are good the group has seen your bio.

Chances are good you created that bio because whoever is promoting you requested it. 

Just as important, there is a lot to be said for a great introduction, right?  This doesn’t have to be left to the luck of the draw!  It is a strong possibility you are a coach too so use your skills to get exactly what you want – listeners on the edge of their seats!

Do your best to have a conversation with the person who is responsible for introducing you.  If you can’t accomplish this because your schedules don’t mesh then have your assistant do it for you and get feedback on how the call went.  Here are the topics someone from your organization should cover peronally with your introducer…

The basics.  How to correctly pronounce your name is good information…unless your name is something like Joe Brown this could be critical!  Get the introducer to pronounce it back to you and then spell it for them.  If you are going to incorporate a title now would be the time to cover this too.

Avoid cliches.  The only event where “we are gathered here today/tonight” should be said is at a wedding.  Seriously.  And if someone needs no introduction then why is someone telling me this?

Be concise.  When simply stated your introduction needs to only contain why you are uniquely qualified to address the topics you’ll be covering!

Avoid lists.  If your introducer goes into a list of accomplishments the intro is too long – you’ve already started to loose some of your listeners!  Besides, most of this will be found in your bio previously supplied to them!

Don’t be embarassed.  The only thing worse than an intro that isn’t good is an intro that over-builds you.

Save the name.  Of course it only makes sense for this to be the last, most important information shared…wait for it…even more…Insert Your Name Here!  (And the crowd goes wild!)

If you need inspiration then check out YouTube for some great introductions!

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Sundi

Remember back in high school when they taught the general guidelines of letter writing?  There were rules about how many returns went between the sections, about the margins, about the greeting and the closing – Lord, they even told you where to put the date!  Was that on the right or left?

After all these years some things don’t change.  We have moved into a new mode of communication and there are plenty of general rules to go along with it.  Since I’m past high school, even college, I can’t really say how well the rules are communicated.  I can say though that it doesn’t make them any less important.

7 Ideas to Improve Email Communications

1. No more than one scroll.  Please.  Seriously.  This means the recipient reads the screen to the bottom and rolls the mouse wheel ONCE.  If the end of the email isn’t in site you just lost a bunch of readers.  Hey, I like to talk!  I have some trouble following this rule.  I’m also one of the people who won’t be patient enough for your point.  Double-edged sword, I know.
2. Bullet points are your friend.  That saying…white space sells…isn’t necessarily about making money.
3. Add punch to the subject line.  Are you more likely to open an email titled “Monday meeting agenda items” or “Topics”?
4. State you are on a wireless device, if that is the case.  Concise answers can be interpretted as rude.  Wireless devices and concise answers like to hang together.  If you have a wireless device and send emails from it frequently, what you gain for answering quickly you loose for being perceived as rude.
5. Check beyond the red squiggle.  Auto check doesn’t catch everything.  Spelling errors are distracting.  Do you want your message to be lost because your reader only sees your errors?  Or even worse, you actually loose your reader!
6. Try an open-ended mix.  Closing your email with open-ended questions – ones that require more than a Yes or No – will typically generate a response from your reader.  Give it a try!  Two way communication is far better than one way.
7. Unfortunately, you aren’t the one-and-only!  Even if you are married to the recipient of your email I promise you the love of your life gets emails from other people.  Shocking, I know.  Since this is the case be considerate of other people’s in-box.

 If my memory serves me correctly there were WAAAAY more than 7 rules to letter writting when I was in high school.  What would you like to add to my list of ideas?

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Sundi

I have this business idea which has been needling me for months now.  Every time it comes to mind I want to yell “Hot Diggity!”  I even went so far as to check the domain name.  No, it isn’t Hot Diggity.

Still, the idea just sits there.

If your first question isn’t “Why?” then I want to know what else you are thinking about!

My business idea has to do with proofreading.  I haven’t really developed it yet and so it sits.  I have too many unanswered questions about how it would actually work, if it would be profitable and if anyone really wants it…the usual itty biz questions.  Those of you who are habitual domain purchasers probably get this!  I just don’t happen to be the owner of a few fist-fulls of domain names.  So, my business idea sits there…all alone…in the quiet corners of my mind – until I feel the urge to shout, “Hot Diggity!”

Ramble no more

Sorry, I’m an extrovert and can’t help it sometimes.  I’ll try to focus now.

In light of my secret business idea I thought I’d write a post about proofreading your stuff.  More specifically YOU proof reading YOUR stuff.  Websites and newsletters with frequent errors drive me CRAZY!  Call it my personal bull dozer - it just pushes me over the edge.  For anyone who has received an email from me pointing out errors of your ways, I’m (not) really sorry.

That being said here you go…

4 Steps to proofreading your own stuff:

Read your work out load.  Pay attention to the flow of your words, or lack there of!  Is your meaning clear?  Is it concise?  Is the sequence logical?

Reread to check for spelling and grammar.  Also check punctuation and duplicate words.

 Scan your work for proper names.  Everything you don’t use in everyday language should be verified…names, geographic locations, technical lingo.  Because sometimes comma location and extra zeros make all the difference, recheck your numbers.

One last time.  Make your corrections, take a break and then reread it one last time.  (Um, yes, that said take a break.  As in doing something else for a little while.  Preferably not something which involves detailed work!)

I just realized how great this is!  Now, instead of an email to unsuspecting small business owners I can just send a link to my blog post!  Hot Diggity!

Nibbling away -

Sundi