Few people are naturally endowed with good presentation skills, so it is important that we constantly practice out presentation technique. In any setting, presentations are very important, and so is the way you deliver them. A single presentation could make or break a whole fortune.
The initial planning consists of familiarizing yourself with the factors surrounding the presentation. Primarily, these factors are the type of talk you are expected to give, the composition of the audience, the time allowed, and the expectations for the informational content. Being familiar with all these aspects and what they all cover will help greatly in giving your presentation.
Once you have gathered the general idea of what you wish to say, you must now focus on how to say it. Unlike other things, however, a presentation only allows one chance for you to say what you need to say. It is important that you know everything you wish to cover, and to know it well, with no ambiguity. Tips for preparation are many, and include starting way in advance, try to develop a single thesis statement for the whole presentation, avoid using lists, and many others. The most important and useful tip is to simply rehearse.
The purpose of a presentation is to offer your audience information which they can recall at a later date. This must be kept in mind at all times while you create your presentation. Small details are not only unnecessary, but will bore your audience, and they won’t be remembered anyways. It is essential to remember that quality is more important than quantity; a good, full presentation doesn’t need to be long.
A good way to organize your ideas is to come up with a simple outline of your presentation. Include all your main ideas, ordered by importance, and add all your smaller details to those main ideas, respectively. This can be an invaluable tool in writing your presentation, and can help you remember it much better.
There are five principal elements to keep in mind when actually presenting. The first is the rate, the speed of which you talk. Try to keep it slow enough for people to follow yet not too slow, as to not bore them. The second is to have a ‘hook’ introduction; something that will catch their attention from the very beginning. Try to avoid cliché phrases in your opening. The third element is transitioning between subjects. Try to make your transitions as smooth and successive as possible, so that the presentation seems more like a whole talk than just a bulleted list. Fourth, be sure to have a clear and concise conclusion that adequately recaps everything in your presentation. Last, quite simply, do not go over your time, ever. Cut out any concepts or small details you need to in order to keep your time.
Practice is the most important tool you could ever have in preparing for your presentation. There are many useful practice techniques, such as reading through the text several times before beginning. Keeping good airflow in and out of your body helps as well. Try not to procrastinate at any step in preparing your presentation. Try not to memorize phrases word-for-word as to avoid being monotonous; rather, memorize the ideas, then elaborate on them as you go.
Using notes can also be of great help while giving your presentation. However, the correct use of notes can make the difference between a great and a poor presentation. As previously stated, make sure any notes that you use revolve around the concepts of what you are presenting rather than actual text; this keeps the presentation from turning into a recital. Also, try to run through the talk several times, and each time writing comments as you go.
When the actual presentation is at hand, it is imperative to keep focused on your talk. Try to run through your presentation just once more, as soon as you can before the actual presentation. Familiarize yourself with where you will present, and always have ready any extra materials you will have, if any, to assist you in your presentation. Try to rely on your host as least as you can. If you are using any computer equipment, be sure everything is set up correctly, and you know who will be operating it and when. Occasional hand and body gestures for emphasis show that you are involved, which is a good thing, but be sure they are not a distraction.
During the actual presentation, there is another set of tips to help. First of all, as always, be sure to be taking deep breaths. State all your objectives at the beginning and end of your talk. Try to keep the same pace all the way through, as we have a natural tendency to rush through parts that we know better (remember, the audience, unlike you, is hearing all this for the first time). Also, don’t assume that the audience knows beforehand any allusions you make. If you feel something needs clarification, be sure to do so accordingly. Try to keep a conversational tone with your audience, and involve them in your presentation. Lastly, be prepared for anything; late arrivals, technology malfunction, sudden decrease in time, etc. Be ready to continue and still cover all parts of your talk, no matter what.
Going along with being prepared, be ready to answer any and all questions your audience has (they will have questions, that’s guaranteed). When asked a question, repeat the question so that the whole audience knows what it is. Take a moment to reflect on the question yourself, as to not stumble your way through the answer. Always remember to answer after the entire question has been asked. Try to postpone all questions until the end of the talk, unless it is of immediate consequence. Avoid prolonged discussions, lengthy answers, and most of all arguments. If you do not know an answer, just say so, and do not apologize. However, offer alternatives to the questioner. Lastly, always end your answer by asking the questioner if the response clarified his answer.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
3 Ways to Handle Anger Before Anger Handles You
by David Romanelli
"Feelings are much like waves. We can't stop them from coming, but we can choose which one to surf." -Jonatan Mårtensson
In the Western world, we think of strength as big muscles, heavy weights, physical power. But in the ancient Eastern cultures, strength means something entirely different. The yogis think of strength more as an ability to overcome powerful emotions such as anger and jealousy.
In the heat of the moment, a normal person (myself included) will want to lash out. In her song "White Trash Deco," country singer Cynthia Ford catches her husband cheating and responds with anger and jealousy by maxing out his credit cards to misdecorate his house. The words go like this:So don't write any checks cuz they'll just bounce backDon't use the credit cards cuz they're all at the maxBut don't worry, babe, I spent it all on youTo go along with all the cute little things you doOh, I've wanted so long just to wring your neck, ohInstead I redid your house in White Trash Deco
Is this the best way to respond to anger? Probably not. Can most of us relate to it? Hell, yeah! But if we cultivate the rare ability to overcome powerful emotions, we make better decisions. So much of life comes down to the decisions we make in intense, pivotal moments.
Here are some tips on dealing with anger so you can walk proud on your finest path through life:
1. Remember that anger and love are two sides of the same coin
If you really want love in your life, you must be willing to spend a little time with love's less comfortable relatives, anger and pain. It's common to think that with anger and pain come breakup and divorce. But the bottom line is the more you love someone, the more able they are to piss you off. So be aware: Anger and intense emotion are normal when you truly love and care. Mel McDaniel sings about this two-sided coin in "Anger and Tears":
Anger and tears, anger and tearsIs that all that's left of us after loving all these yearsAs slowly as love grows how soon it disappearsIn a house full of anger and a heart full of tears
Remember, true strength is being able to work through the anger rather than letting the anger work through you.
2. Before you lash out, look within
When you're struggling with anger, it's common to blame others for every little thing. A true sign of strength is taking responsibility for yourself. In "Startin' with Me," Jake Owen comes to a very yogic resolution to dealing with anger:
If I had a dime for half the things I did that didn't make no sense at allI'd be living a little higher on the hogIf only I'd have known That later on down the road I'd look back and not like what I seeI'd have changed a lot of thingsStartin' with me
3. Practice feeling without reacting
The 6,000-year old practice of yoga teaches that when you are in challenging situations, you make the best decisions in even the worst of situations if you just breathe and relax. Try it: Lift your arms to the sides of your body and hold them so you form a letter "T." Allow your arms to stay parallel to the ground for 2, 3, even 4 minutes. When your shoulders start to burn, notice that by breathing and relaxing, you gain more endurance. There's very little that physical strength, hustle, and effort can do you for you in this situation. As a famous Zen proverb reads: "Nothing on earth can overcome an absolutely nonresistant person."
"Feelings are much like waves. We can't stop them from coming, but we can choose which one to surf." -Jonatan Mårtensson
In the Western world, we think of strength as big muscles, heavy weights, physical power. But in the ancient Eastern cultures, strength means something entirely different. The yogis think of strength more as an ability to overcome powerful emotions such as anger and jealousy.
In the heat of the moment, a normal person (myself included) will want to lash out. In her song "White Trash Deco," country singer Cynthia Ford catches her husband cheating and responds with anger and jealousy by maxing out his credit cards to misdecorate his house. The words go like this:So don't write any checks cuz they'll just bounce backDon't use the credit cards cuz they're all at the maxBut don't worry, babe, I spent it all on youTo go along with all the cute little things you doOh, I've wanted so long just to wring your neck, ohInstead I redid your house in White Trash Deco
Is this the best way to respond to anger? Probably not. Can most of us relate to it? Hell, yeah! But if we cultivate the rare ability to overcome powerful emotions, we make better decisions. So much of life comes down to the decisions we make in intense, pivotal moments.
Here are some tips on dealing with anger so you can walk proud on your finest path through life:
1. Remember that anger and love are two sides of the same coin
If you really want love in your life, you must be willing to spend a little time with love's less comfortable relatives, anger and pain. It's common to think that with anger and pain come breakup and divorce. But the bottom line is the more you love someone, the more able they are to piss you off. So be aware: Anger and intense emotion are normal when you truly love and care. Mel McDaniel sings about this two-sided coin in "Anger and Tears":
Anger and tears, anger and tearsIs that all that's left of us after loving all these yearsAs slowly as love grows how soon it disappearsIn a house full of anger and a heart full of tears
Remember, true strength is being able to work through the anger rather than letting the anger work through you.
2. Before you lash out, look within
When you're struggling with anger, it's common to blame others for every little thing. A true sign of strength is taking responsibility for yourself. In "Startin' with Me," Jake Owen comes to a very yogic resolution to dealing with anger:
If I had a dime for half the things I did that didn't make no sense at allI'd be living a little higher on the hogIf only I'd have known That later on down the road I'd look back and not like what I seeI'd have changed a lot of thingsStartin' with me
3. Practice feeling without reacting
The 6,000-year old practice of yoga teaches that when you are in challenging situations, you make the best decisions in even the worst of situations if you just breathe and relax. Try it: Lift your arms to the sides of your body and hold them so you form a letter "T." Allow your arms to stay parallel to the ground for 2, 3, even 4 minutes. When your shoulders start to burn, notice that by breathing and relaxing, you gain more endurance. There's very little that physical strength, hustle, and effort can do you for you in this situation. As a famous Zen proverb reads: "Nothing on earth can overcome an absolutely nonresistant person."
www.Epsilen.com
What is Epsilen?
What is Epsilen? Epsilen places social networking and ePortfolios in the center of global eLearning, creating a totally new environment for the next generation of learners and professionals. Current Epsilen users describe Epsilen as an academic "MySpace" or "FaceBook," connecting peers to share knowledge and exchange objects. Epsilen is a comprehensive software package that provides wide-ranging tools and services that students and professionals need for their day-to-day learning, teaching, networking, and collaboration. The Epsilen suite includes ePortfolios, Learning Matrix, a Global Learning System (GLS), Group Collaboration, Object Sharing and repository, Blogs, WIKI, Messaging, Resume, Social and Professional Networking, and much more...How does Epsilen work?Epsilen members’ collections (files, courses, etc.) and data are securely stored in a remote central database accessible from school, home, work, or anywhere via the Internet. An Epsilen member has total control for sharing his personal portfolio and collections with schoolmates, teachers, or potential employers, as well as social and professional groups. Additionally, each Epsilen member has a personal Web site (ePortfolio) with a lifelong Web address (URL). Upon sign-in, an Epsilen member may access any of a number of internal application software packages and tools. Within the Epsilen Environment is an ePortfolio management software package where members can create and maintain personal ePortfolios and Web sites, where teachers can use the Global Learning System (GLS) to deliver course content online so students receive complementary learning material and can interact with classmates outside the classroom, and where members can use the extensive resume and career builder software to create resumes or curriculum vitae (CV) and produce career portfolios. Finally, the networking software built into the Epsilen Environment can intuitively connect students, faculty, and professionals according to their academic, professional, and social communities.Picture a mature Epsilen environment where a faculty member can automatically determine how many professors from other schools throughout the world are teaching the same course or are sharing relevant learning objects. This may initiate new opportunities for the research and professional community within the same interest group. Imagine an online environment where students can participate in various global learning groups beyond those just within their campus, and envision those students dynamically learning about potential job opportunities matched with their academic and career interests as they share their ePortfolios for job placement throughout the world.Other Epsilen Benefit$The Epsilen design is also based on a new economic model that offers a cost-effective solution for school administrators seeking to reduce the increasing costs of IT services. Using the Epsilen hosted model, schools are no longer required to maintain local computer servers to host software nor retain numerous technical experts for day-to-day technical support. Indeed, Epsilen offers many tools within one package -- a package that substantially cuts the combined cost of software otherwise obtained separately from various vendors. Using the Epsilen hybrid open source model, Epsilen can interface with the campus Student Information System databases for dynamic creation and maintenance of member accounts, ePortfolios, and course accounts. Major software tools available within the Epsilen Environment As illustrated in Figure 1, the software packages within the Epsilen Environment include:
A complete ePortfolio management system to support creation of various personal and institutional ePortfolio sites, including student learning ePortfolios, faculty ePortfolios, career ePortfolios, and alumni and professional ePortfolios.
An easy-to-use Global Learning System (GLS) that provides course authoring and course Web site creation for some or all campus courses. Epsilen GLS can be used to complement a lecture-based course or to offer an online distance learning course.
Professional networking for interaction and collaboration with academic and professional peers across the global community, just as Facebook (facebook.com) similarly and successfully offers social networking and entertainment among college students.
A lifelong repository space where student and faculty members can create and store learning and professional outcomes in electronic format (academic papers, creative arts, etc.). Students may wish to share their collection with potential employers while faculty members may want to have it reviewed and rated by peers for tenure or promotion needs.
An internal email system with unique and smart functionality. More and more students are switching from their campus email accounts to commercial email accounts such as Gmail and Hotmail, and with Epsilen they will soon learn the importance and desirability of upgraded services that the cost-effective internal Epsilen email system offers, such as automatically blocking junk or spam email messages.
A personal intelligent agent, called Pomegranate Agent, which Epsilen provides to each user. The Pomegranate agent is another internal built-in software component within the Epsilen Environment that makes it smart and intuitive, with capabilities to think, to reason, to act and react intelligently according to a member’s personal interests and past performance. You can think of Epsilen with its Pomegranate Agent as your own personal administrative assistant helping you with your day-to-day business activities. Epsilen HistoryEpsilen is the result of six years of research and development activities at the CyberLab, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. Epsilen is being proposed as a new model and software framework for the next generation of lifelong learners and professionals. Free beta accounts are available at www.Epsilen.com. Limited institutional licensing is available to colleges and universities through the Indiana University Office of Technology transfer before expected commercialization of Epsilen Inc. in 2007. For more information, please contact Professor Ali Jafari, Epsilen PI and Architect (email: jafari@iupui.edu; phone: 317.274.4565; ePortfolio: http://jafari.iupui.Epsilen.com). Epsilen is a copyrighted product and registered trademark, Trustees of Indiana University, 2000-2007. For more information, please visit www.Epsilen.com.
What is Epsilen? Epsilen places social networking and ePortfolios in the center of global eLearning, creating a totally new environment for the next generation of learners and professionals. Current Epsilen users describe Epsilen as an academic "MySpace" or "FaceBook," connecting peers to share knowledge and exchange objects. Epsilen is a comprehensive software package that provides wide-ranging tools and services that students and professionals need for their day-to-day learning, teaching, networking, and collaboration. The Epsilen suite includes ePortfolios, Learning Matrix, a Global Learning System (GLS), Group Collaboration, Object Sharing and repository, Blogs, WIKI, Messaging, Resume, Social and Professional Networking, and much more...How does Epsilen work?Epsilen members’ collections (files, courses, etc.) and data are securely stored in a remote central database accessible from school, home, work, or anywhere via the Internet. An Epsilen member has total control for sharing his personal portfolio and collections with schoolmates, teachers, or potential employers, as well as social and professional groups. Additionally, each Epsilen member has a personal Web site (ePortfolio) with a lifelong Web address (URL). Upon sign-in, an Epsilen member may access any of a number of internal application software packages and tools. Within the Epsilen Environment is an ePortfolio management software package where members can create and maintain personal ePortfolios and Web sites, where teachers can use the Global Learning System (GLS) to deliver course content online so students receive complementary learning material and can interact with classmates outside the classroom, and where members can use the extensive resume and career builder software to create resumes or curriculum vitae (CV) and produce career portfolios. Finally, the networking software built into the Epsilen Environment can intuitively connect students, faculty, and professionals according to their academic, professional, and social communities.Picture a mature Epsilen environment where a faculty member can automatically determine how many professors from other schools throughout the world are teaching the same course or are sharing relevant learning objects. This may initiate new opportunities for the research and professional community within the same interest group. Imagine an online environment where students can participate in various global learning groups beyond those just within their campus, and envision those students dynamically learning about potential job opportunities matched with their academic and career interests as they share their ePortfolios for job placement throughout the world.Other Epsilen Benefit$The Epsilen design is also based on a new economic model that offers a cost-effective solution for school administrators seeking to reduce the increasing costs of IT services. Using the Epsilen hosted model, schools are no longer required to maintain local computer servers to host software nor retain numerous technical experts for day-to-day technical support. Indeed, Epsilen offers many tools within one package -- a package that substantially cuts the combined cost of software otherwise obtained separately from various vendors. Using the Epsilen hybrid open source model, Epsilen can interface with the campus Student Information System databases for dynamic creation and maintenance of member accounts, ePortfolios, and course accounts. Major software tools available within the Epsilen Environment As illustrated in Figure 1, the software packages within the Epsilen Environment include:
A complete ePortfolio management system to support creation of various personal and institutional ePortfolio sites, including student learning ePortfolios, faculty ePortfolios, career ePortfolios, and alumni and professional ePortfolios.
An easy-to-use Global Learning System (GLS) that provides course authoring and course Web site creation for some or all campus courses. Epsilen GLS can be used to complement a lecture-based course or to offer an online distance learning course.
Professional networking for interaction and collaboration with academic and professional peers across the global community, just as Facebook (facebook.com) similarly and successfully offers social networking and entertainment among college students.
A lifelong repository space where student and faculty members can create and store learning and professional outcomes in electronic format (academic papers, creative arts, etc.). Students may wish to share their collection with potential employers while faculty members may want to have it reviewed and rated by peers for tenure or promotion needs.
An internal email system with unique and smart functionality. More and more students are switching from their campus email accounts to commercial email accounts such as Gmail and Hotmail, and with Epsilen they will soon learn the importance and desirability of upgraded services that the cost-effective internal Epsilen email system offers, such as automatically blocking junk or spam email messages.
A personal intelligent agent, called Pomegranate Agent, which Epsilen provides to each user. The Pomegranate agent is another internal built-in software component within the Epsilen Environment that makes it smart and intuitive, with capabilities to think, to reason, to act and react intelligently according to a member’s personal interests and past performance. You can think of Epsilen with its Pomegranate Agent as your own personal administrative assistant helping you with your day-to-day business activities. Epsilen HistoryEpsilen is the result of six years of research and development activities at the CyberLab, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. Epsilen is being proposed as a new model and software framework for the next generation of lifelong learners and professionals. Free beta accounts are available at www.Epsilen.com. Limited institutional licensing is available to colleges and universities through the Indiana University Office of Technology transfer before expected commercialization of Epsilen Inc. in 2007. For more information, please contact Professor Ali Jafari, Epsilen PI and Architect (email: jafari@iupui.edu; phone: 317.274.4565; ePortfolio: http://jafari.iupui.Epsilen.com). Epsilen is a copyrighted product and registered trademark, Trustees of Indiana University, 2000-2007. For more information, please visit www.Epsilen.com.
Adapter Draws Power from In-Flight Audio Jacks
Those airplane power adapters you can buy for your gadgets are useless without an actual power outlet for your seat—and unless you're in first or business class, you probably won't get one. Enter Inflight Power and its clever new adapter, which lets you draw juice from the headphone jack on your armrest. Pretty cool.The actual adapter ($35-$50, depending on the model) doesn't look like much—it's just a little box with a USB port and a short power cord. Simply plug the cord into your seat's audio jack, turn the dial to an in-flight channel with consistently loud sound (rock music works nicely, according to Inflight Power), crank the volume, and plug in your MP3 player or handheld (adapters are available for iPods, BlackBerrys, Morotola phones, or most any pocket device with a mini USB port for charging). It doesn't look like the Inflight Power adapters will work for laptops, but at least you'll be able to watch an entire season of "Lost" on your next long-haul flight without skipping a beat.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
by Jody Gilbert
Takeaway: Sending a less-than-perfect e-mail to a friend is one thing; mistakes aren't really a problem. But if you want to craft an error-free message that reflects your professionalism, be on the lookout for these common grammatical slip-ups.
These days, we tend to communicate via the keyboard as much as we do verbally. Often, we're in a hurry, quickly dashing off e-mails with typos, grammatical shortcuts (I'm being kind here), and that breezy, e.e. cummings, no-caps look. It's expected. It's no big deal. But other times, we try to invest a little care, avoiding mistakes so that there's no confusion about what we're saying and so that we look professional and reasonably bright.
In general, we can slip up in a verbal conversation and get away with it. A colleague may be thinking, Did she just say "irregardless"?, but the words flow on, and our worst transgressions are carried away and with luck, forgotten.
That's not the case with written communications. When we commit a grammatical crime in e-mails, discussion posts, reports, memos, and other professional documents, there's no going back. We've just officially gone on record as being careless or clueless. And here's the worst thing. It's not necessary to be an editor or a language whiz or a spelling bee triathlete to spot such mistakes. They have a way of doing a little wiggle dance on the screen and then reaching out to grab the reader by the throat.
So here we are in the era of Word's red-underline "wrong spelling, dumb ass" feature and Outlook's Always Check Spelling Before Sending option, and still the mistakes proliferate. Catching typos is easy (although not everyone does it). It's the other stuff -- correctly spelled but incorrectly wielded -- that sneaks through and makes us look stupid. Here's a quick review of some of the big ones.
#1: Loose for lose
No: I always loose the product key.
Yes: I always lose the product key.
#2: It's for its (or god forbid, its')
No: Download the HTA, along with it's readme file.
Yes: Download the HTA, along with its readme file.
No: The laptop is overheating and its making that funny noise again.
Yes: The laptop is overheating and it's making that funny noise again.
#3: They're for their for there
No: The managers are in they're weekly planning meeting.
Yes: The managers are in their weekly planning meeting.
No: The techs have to check there cell phones at the door, and their not happy about it.
Yes: The techs have to check their cell phones at the door, and they're not happy about it.
#4: i.e. for e.g.
No: Use an anti-spyware program (i.e., Ad-Aware).
Yes: Use an anti-spyware program (e.g., Ad-Aware).
Note: The term i.e. means "that is"; e.g. means "for example." And a comma follows both of them.
#5: Effect for affect
No: The outage shouldn't effect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't have any effect on users.
Yes: We will effect several changes during the downtime.
Note: Impact is not a verb. Purists, at least, beg you to use affect instead:
No: The outage shouldn't impact any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage should have no impact on users during work hours.
#6: You're for your
No: Remember to defrag you're machine on a regular basis.
Yes: Remember to defrag your machine on a regular basis.
No: Your right about the changes.
Yes: You're right about the changes.
#7: Different than for different from
No: This setup is different than the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is different from the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is better than the one at the main office.
#8 Lay for lie
No: I got dizzy and had to lay down.
Yes: I got dizzy and had to lie down.
Yes: Just lay those books over there.
#9: Then for than
No: The accounting department had more problems then we did.
Yes: The accounting department had more problems than we did.
Note: Here's a sub-peeve. When a sentence construction begins with If, you don't need a then. Then is implicit, so it's superfluous and wordy:
No: If you can't get Windows to boot, then you'll need to call Ted.
Yes: If you can't get Windows to boot, you'll need to call Ted.
#10: Could of, would of for could have, would have
No: I could of installed that app by mistake.
Yes: I could have installed that app by mistake.
No: I would of sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Yes: I would have sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Bonus peeve
I'll just throw one more thing out here: My current burning pet peeve. At some point, who knows when, it became common practice to say that something is "hit and miss." Nuh-UH. It can't be both, right? It either hits or it misses... "Hit OR miss." Granted, it's a small thing, a Boolean-obsessive sort of thing. But it's nonetheless vexing because it's so illogical. Okay, that's mine. If you've got a peeve of your own, share it in the discussion (or post a comment and tell me to get over it).
Page: 1
by Jody Gilbert
Takeaway: Sending a less-than-perfect e-mail to a friend is one thing; mistakes aren't really a problem. But if you want to craft an error-free message that reflects your professionalism, be on the lookout for these common grammatical slip-ups.
These days, we tend to communicate via the keyboard as much as we do verbally. Often, we're in a hurry, quickly dashing off e-mails with typos, grammatical shortcuts (I'm being kind here), and that breezy, e.e. cummings, no-caps look. It's expected. It's no big deal. But other times, we try to invest a little care, avoiding mistakes so that there's no confusion about what we're saying and so that we look professional and reasonably bright.
In general, we can slip up in a verbal conversation and get away with it. A colleague may be thinking, Did she just say "irregardless"?, but the words flow on, and our worst transgressions are carried away and with luck, forgotten.
That's not the case with written communications. When we commit a grammatical crime in e-mails, discussion posts, reports, memos, and other professional documents, there's no going back. We've just officially gone on record as being careless or clueless. And here's the worst thing. It's not necessary to be an editor or a language whiz or a spelling bee triathlete to spot such mistakes. They have a way of doing a little wiggle dance on the screen and then reaching out to grab the reader by the throat.
So here we are in the era of Word's red-underline "wrong spelling, dumb ass" feature and Outlook's Always Check Spelling Before Sending option, and still the mistakes proliferate. Catching typos is easy (although not everyone does it). It's the other stuff -- correctly spelled but incorrectly wielded -- that sneaks through and makes us look stupid. Here's a quick review of some of the big ones.
#1: Loose for lose
No: I always loose the product key.
Yes: I always lose the product key.
#2: It's for its (or god forbid, its')
No: Download the HTA, along with it's readme file.
Yes: Download the HTA, along with its readme file.
No: The laptop is overheating and its making that funny noise again.
Yes: The laptop is overheating and it's making that funny noise again.
#3: They're for their for there
No: The managers are in they're weekly planning meeting.
Yes: The managers are in their weekly planning meeting.
No: The techs have to check there cell phones at the door, and their not happy about it.
Yes: The techs have to check their cell phones at the door, and they're not happy about it.
#4: i.e. for e.g.
No: Use an anti-spyware program (i.e., Ad-Aware).
Yes: Use an anti-spyware program (e.g., Ad-Aware).
Note: The term i.e. means "that is"; e.g. means "for example." And a comma follows both of them.
#5: Effect for affect
No: The outage shouldn't effect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't have any effect on users.
Yes: We will effect several changes during the downtime.
Note: Impact is not a verb. Purists, at least, beg you to use affect instead:
No: The outage shouldn't impact any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage should have no impact on users during work hours.
#6: You're for your
No: Remember to defrag you're machine on a regular basis.
Yes: Remember to defrag your machine on a regular basis.
No: Your right about the changes.
Yes: You're right about the changes.
#7: Different than for different from
No: This setup is different than the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is different from the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is better than the one at the main office.
#8 Lay for lie
No: I got dizzy and had to lay down.
Yes: I got dizzy and had to lie down.
Yes: Just lay those books over there.
#9: Then for than
No: The accounting department had more problems then we did.
Yes: The accounting department had more problems than we did.
Note: Here's a sub-peeve. When a sentence construction begins with If, you don't need a then. Then is implicit, so it's superfluous and wordy:
No: If you can't get Windows to boot, then you'll need to call Ted.
Yes: If you can't get Windows to boot, you'll need to call Ted.
#10: Could of, would of for could have, would have
No: I could of installed that app by mistake.
Yes: I could have installed that app by mistake.
No: I would of sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Yes: I would have sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Bonus peeve
I'll just throw one more thing out here: My current burning pet peeve. At some point, who knows when, it became common practice to say that something is "hit and miss." Nuh-UH. It can't be both, right? It either hits or it misses... "Hit OR miss." Granted, it's a small thing, a Boolean-obsessive sort of thing. But it's nonetheless vexing because it's so illogical. Okay, that's mine. If you've got a peeve of your own, share it in the discussion (or post a comment and tell me to get over it).
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