Affect is a good, strong verb that’s been shoved aside by one best kept to talk about wisdom teeth.
In each of the sentences below, impact means to affect, a word far more pleasing to the senses than one that has in its definitions bad effect, hit something, great force,... (Read More)
I got an email with a special offer to help me manage my money. “Learn how to take control of your financial life! A live webinar, instructional videos, and one-on-one coaching are just the tip of the iceberg! Let me know if you have any questions!”
And then came another... (Read More)
The business world is drunk on the word leverage, particularly as a verb. Here’s a shot of what I’ve read recently but not fully understood.
• The company is going to leverage its savings across diverse markets.
• Our program leverages the behaviors of its users.
•... (Read More)
“I think the grammar was all screwed up in that sentence, so let me start again.”
That’s our president talking to David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.
I suspect President Obama... (Read More)
“I want to go upstream as much as possible and take the premium dollar at the source,” a hospital executive said in a news article about hospitals starting their own health insurance plans.
Go upstream? What does that mean? I looked up the reference and learned it has to do with... (Read More)
Ashley Callahan, Coca-Cola’s manager for digital communications and social media, asks that question. If the answer is yes, the content in question is one step closer to getting posted.
Surprise catches your attention, which makes it a good device to slip into all types of business content.
... (Read More)Everyone loves a good story, which is why storytelling has become such an effective marketing and communications tool for business. But companies often speak and write in a way that keeps them—and their audiences—at a distance. They’ll introduce sentences with “there is” or “there are”—“There is a lack of clarity,”... (Read More)
When Roseanne Cash had polyps on her vocal chords, her doctors ordered steroids and four months of vocal rest. “I was like a hurricane in a phone booth,” the singer told The New York Times. Even if you’ve never experienced the jazzed-up side effects of steroids, bam, you get the... (Read More)
