"In writing a speech, you have two objectives: Making a good impression and leaving your audience with two or three takeaways.

According to Travis Bradberry (photo, left), "Email strips a conversation bare.

"People pitch ideas all the time.

"There is a lot to like in Mary Norris’s Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen.

"I asked everyone around me, people who’d been working longer than I had, 'Why do we write this way?

"There’s real power in sending a handwritten note to a customer: a card to thank a customer for subscribing, to celebrate with a customer for completing her first project with you, and so forth.

We check in with Ken Makovsky (photo, left), contributor at Forbes.

"If you’re like most job seekers, you’re not taking advantage of one of the best ways to get a hiring manager’s attention: writing a great cover letter," reports Alison Green in a piece at USNews.

"During the course of conversation, there are several tricks you can use to make your words sound more authoritative and to address your audience with greater overall confidence.

According to Susan P.

"You might have a good reason to turn down a job offer, and at the same time you want to leave a positive association in the “losing” manager’s mind.

"Developing an effective presentation is akin to the value chain in business: a series of activities performed to deliver a valuable product or service.

"Twitter is one of the best platforms for creating and growing your personal/professional learning network (PLN).

"Many companies' help lines are usually crowded with customers trying to find an answer for their questions.

According to Julie Winkle Giulioni (photo, left), "A significant investment is made each year on studies, training, portals and programs related to career development; yet, the return on this investment continues to disappoint organizations, leaders and employees alike.

Ronnie Ann, Founder of WorkCoachCafe.

"The infographic below shows five of the most toxic types of employees that exist and how to keep their problems from affecting you and your fellow co-workers.

"First of all, the most important thing to do is stay calm," advises Emily Co (photo, left).

"The slideshow not only acknowledges the long-lasting nature of digital information, but also suggests ways that employees can avoid incriminating themselves and GM by not using words like "catastrophic" and "spontaneous combustion" when talking about GM products.

"According to a new CareerBuilder survey conducted by Harris Poll, a whopping 20% of 2,192 hiring and human resource managers in the US indicated they have asked a candidate an illegal question.

"But what's the best way to build rapport and create trust?

"The online jobs and career community Glassdoor sifted through tens of thousands of interview reviews to find the questions hiring managers most frequently ask.

Christina Desmarais of Inc.

"But, as you may have noticed, a lot of people are trying to tell stories these days.

Gerry Crispin (photo, left) weighs in on the topic.