Excellence in Business Communication, 13th Edition
Chapter 6. Writing Business Messages
"Tax forms, credit agreements, healthcare legislation: They're crammed with gobbledygook, says Alan Siegel, and incomprehensibly long.
"We believe we should work hard in order to be happy, but could we be thinking about things backwards?
"Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think.
Abby Wolfe tells the story of Erin McKean (photo, left) who went from lexicographer to start-up founder.
"Ever wondered why it's called "7UP"?
"Dave Isay [photo, left] opened the first StoryCorps booth in New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003 with the intention of creating a quiet place where a person could honor someone who mattered to them by listening to their story.
"In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, "We are losing our listening.
"One could argue that slang words like ‘hangry,’ ‘defriend’ and ‘adorkable’ fill crucial meaning gaps in the English language, even if they don't appear in the dictionary.
"In this soaring demonstration, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie illustrates how listening to music involves much more than simply letting sound waves hit your eardrums.
"In an exclusive preview of his book The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker looks at language and how it expresses what goes on in our minds -- and how the words we choose communicate much more than we realize.
"As a research scientist at Google, Margaret Mitchell helps develop computers that can communicate about what they see and understand.
"The other day at my health club I asked an employee what time the bank parking lot was available for club members' use.
"Amazon Go is being called the grocery store of the future, where lines and cashiers don't exist.
"In Strategic Communication class, 4 MBA students share information and techniques on gender related communication barriers.
"This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
"Do you think you are a punctuation pro?
"The shoulder-shrugging reply “Whatever” continues to annoy Americans more than other words or phrases, but “fake news” is coming on strong.
Watch the YouTube video by Diane DiResta.
"Branson Centre entrepreneur Yanique Grant explores the relationship between language, culture and business success.
"Doesn’t language simply describe the world of business, or does it do more – does the language we use actually shape business?
"We've heard a lot of rhetoric lately suggesting that countries like the US are losing valuable manufacturing jobs to lower-cost markets like China, Mexico and Vietnam -- and that protectionism is the best way forward.
"Psychologist Susan David [photo, left] shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness.