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1. Organizing a Presentation: The Body
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Last time we talked about ways to engage your audience with an effective introduction. Your next step is to share your information in the body of your presentation. To prepare the body of your message, organize your main points and support details in an outline. The type of presentation you are givi
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public date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:00:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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2. Organizing a Presentation: The Introduction
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Last time we talked about planning a presentation. The next step is to organize all the information you gathered. A presentation generally has three main parts: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Today, we will discuss the introduction. The introduction is your setup. Use it to present
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public date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:42:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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3. Planning a Presentation
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At some point in your career, you may be asked to make a presentation to a group. You may need to demonstrate a product, make a financial report, or explain of a new procedure. Don't panicāprepare. Here are some tips to help you plan your presentation. First, decide on the purpose of your presenta
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public date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 12:00:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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4. Text Messaging as a Business Tool
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Last time, we talked about the ease of using email for business correspondence, but email is not the only fast way to communicate. More and more, text messaging is gaining popularity. Text messaging combines the convenience of email with the speed of a phone call, becoming a useful tool in its own r
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public date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:00:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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5. Using Email Effectively
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In this month's Writing eTips, we discuss the formal letter and its appropriate use. But there are many times when email is preferable to a written letter, especially when you need a quick response. Email is also an effective way to maintain company involvement through electronic newsletters and upd
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public date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 16:03:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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6. Capital Confusion
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Capital letters are generally used for proper nouns and the beginnings of sentences, but it is necessary to use capitalization in a number of other specific instances. Here are a few that often cause confusion. Use capitals in parentheticals. If a sentence is enclosed in parentheses, it should be
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public date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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7. Basic Tips for Business Correspondence
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Business correspondence doesn't have to be a brain-buster. In fact, with just a few basic tips, you will find the chore becoming easier as your writing improves. First, decide exactly what you want the letter (or memo or email or proposal) to accomplish. Who will read the piece, what will you say, a
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public date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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8. Using Quotation Marks
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Last time, we talked about using italics in your writing to mark special words or phrases. Today, let's talk about quotation marks. Of course, quotation marks are used to enclose direct quotationsāthe exact words used by someone other than the writer. However, there are a few other times quotation m
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public date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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9. Using Italics
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In printed documents, italics are letters that slant to the right. They have a number of uses. Use italics for the titles of large works such as newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, books, films, TV series, legal cases, and music albums, as well as for names of ships, aircraft, and other vessels. In
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public date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:50:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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10. Using the Slash
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There are two types of slash on your keyboard. The backslash, which slants from upper left to lower right, is used primarily in computer languages. The more common forward slash, which shares a key with the question mark and slants from lower left to upper right, has several important functions in w
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public date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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11. Using Brackets Correctly
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One of the least used, and least understood, marks of punctuation is the bracket. Used in pairs, brackets look like squared parentheses, and are often mistakenly employed in place of them. But brackets do have separate, specific functions. As a rule, brackets are used to indicate a writer's commen
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public date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:01:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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12. Using the Dash
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Perhaps one of the most misunderstood punctuation marks is the dash. To many people, its use is a mystery. But employed properly, the dash can add clarity and depth to your writing. To begin, it's important to recognize the difference between a hyphen and a dash (sometimes called an em-dash, becau
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public date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:52:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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13. Using Clear Language
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Clear language sells. It's as simple as that. Whether you're selling a product or an idea, you want your reader to get the point quickly. Here are a few ways to ensure a clear message. Avoid slang. Business writing should be professional, and slang "just don't cut it," so cut it out. Slang is oft
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public date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:38:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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14. Using Creative Comparisons
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Comparisons can liven up your writing, making your ideas clearer and more compelling. A good comparison can: Make a concept familiar and attractive. The movement of air from our cooling system is as gentle and quiet as a breeze through an open window. Move flat and dull to appealing and intere
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public date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 17:41:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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15. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
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Last time we talked about subject-verb agreement, but thatās not where grammar agreement ends! Another troublesome area is pronoun-antecedent agreement, so letās make it simple: Pronouns must agree with their antecedentsāthe nouns they refer toāin gender and in number. Gender is pretty straightforwa
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public date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:27:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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16. Subject-Verb Agreement
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Sometimes writers make the mistake of mismatching their verbs and subjects. Subjects and verbs must agree in number. In other words, they must both be either singular…or plural. Here are four situations in which subject-verb agreement errors are likely to occur. When the subject and verb a
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public date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 15:41:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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17. Writing Numbers
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Numbers present a special problem in writing because sometimes they should be spelled out, and other times they should be written as numerals. Here are just a few ways to correctly write numbers. As a general rule, spell out numbers from one to nine and use numerals for numbers 10 and over. Howe
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public date: Wed, 21 May 2008 16:12:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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18. Using Hyphens
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The short hyphen can go a long way to create clarity in your writing. However, while there are several instances in which a hyphen is needed, there are some times in which it is not. First, use a hyphen to create a compound adjective that comes before the noun. For example, in the sentence…
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public date: Thu, 8 May 2008 16:51:00 GMT - (3 MB Type: MPEG)
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19. Fixing Choppy Sentences
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Good writing achieves a rhythm by using a variety of sentence patterns and lengths. If all of your sentences are the same length, your writing will be choppy or jarring. Here are some tips for avoiding or correcting this problem. One suggestion is to combine short sentences into longer ones. For ex
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public date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:06:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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20. Ferreting Out Fragments
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The standard definition of a sentence is "a group of words containing a subject and a predicate and expressing a complete thought." If one or more of these elements are missing, the sentence is not complete; it is a fragment. Fragments can interrupt the flow of your writing and may suggest poor proo
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public date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 16:40:00 GMT - (4 MB Type: MPEG)
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