Creative Blog - Rettew Creative

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Why I love math! Visual storytelling is fun!

So many people ask me what I studied as an undergraduate while at Clemson. Yes…this creative person has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics…YES. I also studied statistics and art and architectural history. How in the world did I end up doing creative work telling visual stories. Hmm. If you sit back and think about it for a second…math, art, architecture, and even philosophy are interrelated. I also have a Master of Arts in Professional Communications where I studied audience analysis, usability testing methodologies, and classical rhetoric. This all plays together…in some twisted far off universe called Bobby’s world!

I am a visual storyteller. When I pull out the camera, I assess the audience. When I look through the viewfinder, I look at the screen in proportions. The eye is attracted to perfect numbers. That is why you see cathedrals using the rule of thirds and even sevens. The screen to me is divided into thirds where this “theatre” allows the eye to flow naturally top to bottom, left to right (in the western culture). If what is on the screen is not appealing to the eye and the senses, then you have lost the first battle in engaging the audience. I try to avoid centering the main focus of the screen, I try to either left or right justify. I also like to edit shots together in sequences of thirds so that the cadence reflects the natural tendency to think in thirds.

A visual storyteller uses sound. When I pull out the expensive camera, I use the expensive microphones and headphones. I like to “shoot for sound”. When I am acquiring an image, I am listening to my surroundings looking for the opportunity for the sound to enhance the image. When I am “shooting” a waterfall, I want the microphone to get as close as possible to the waterfall to capture that crisp image. Then I like to edit these sounds together in a cadence of some logical sense. Sometimes with quick actions, I will edit a sequence together using sound in a series of threes. In order to have an effective sequence for the audience to follow, the sound must be crisp. ***Rule of thumb, if editing together a sequence does not work visually, use some type of sound during the point of the visual edit to distract the eye.

When I create a video, I want to create a visual experience. I want you to forget that the editing process has happened and you are guided through this little documentary. Using proportional shots with sound editing provides a clear path to engage the audience. People want stories, people want an experience, people want rich media…but this media can only be acquired by the audience only if you can make them forget they no longer have their peripheral vision. Think of the best movie you have seen in the theatre. If you are really enjoying the movie, you forget your surroundings. Your peripheral vision has been “forgotten” for that brief period. You have engaged with the story-line. What made it go away?

You only have one shot to engage today’s audience. User-Centered Design tells us that audiences are jumping through online content faster than the synapses in our brain can tell us to click somewhere else. What allows the audience to engage with that piece of rich media. What makes our bounce rate go down? We have only one shot, just one shot to get it right. People will click away. So we have to create media with the same creative fashion we create beautiful pieces of fine art. We have to use the knowledge we have of the human eye and senses. We know the eye likes warm images, images that keep you from looking away. Fine proportions and and clean images that seem so natural to be unnatural. We have to use rich sounds that feel crisp enough to flow right next to us in our seats. We have to edit in a parameter that lends to a cadence that appeals to the visual cues the eyes and ears desire.

Using math is fun. Creating rhythm is fun. Telling a story is fun.

FYI…if you want to learn more about how engineers and mathematicians came up with 16×9 widescreen television, here is an article: CLICK HERE.

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How do we listen, really listen? Creating a knowledge economy!

I received an email today that challenged a remark I made during a meeting. The question asked about the importance of listening and asked for tips/thoughts/advice. This made me think, what makes us good listeners and how can we become better listeners in-order to engage with our audiences.

Here are some thoughts that I used in response to my friend!

To know your audience, to effectively communicate…we must listen so that we may adjust/address our discourse.
To listen, we must ask. We must be willing to empower our audience and engage their conversation. So we ask questions to learn about our audience.
We are observant, we look at our surroundings where we communicate so that the visual cues provide context to the conversation.
We find a connection point. People exchange in conversation because of some common ground. We look for these commonalities and use them to form reflective conversation.
We bite our tongues. When we listen, we do not try to complete others’ sentences but provide simple gestures so that the audience feels us engaged.
We provide emotional reinforcement. It is okay to laugh, cry, and even get mad during a conversation. Emotion is the result of a successful conversation.
We make our audience feel important, we make them feel like they are the thought leader. This requires us to do a little homework and understand who will engage in conversation; so that we can be prepared with questions about that person so we can make them feel important.
We create a silence so that the audience feels the need to fill the void. Sometimes we ask questions or even prompt discussions, but we are not willing to let the person answer. Create a silence in the discussion that provides a rigid opportunity for the audience to feel the need to remove the silence.
Most importantly, be genuine and honest with the ones you are communicating. Honesty provides connection and builds credibility.
Lastly, tell stories, good stories. People connect with stories, rich stories with layers. When you tell a story, people want to share their stories. Then just sit back, listen and enjoy the moment.

Listening is one of the toughest things to do. It is a skill that can be refined during an interview process. When I worked as a journalist, I learned the hard way. I would have to go into households of families who had lost a loved one with cameras and equipment to get an interview. I learned to make them feel comfortable enough to share their deepest moment of lose with the camera recording. I learned to find something in common so that the conversation was not empty and provided context, plus I wanted to earn their trust. I would look around the room and find a picture, book, something that I could identify so we could establish some common ground. Then, I was honest in my intentions, and allowed them to make the decisions how the interview/conversation would continue. I made them feel like the gatekeeper, empowering them as the dominant in the conversation.

Listening can be fun, learning from listening is powerful. If we looked at engaging in conversation as an opportunity to learn from those whom we converse with daily, we could create a bigger knowledge economy.

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How to add a Fan Page to Hootsuite

OK…I figured it out after chatting with the people from Hootsuite how to add the a Fan Page to Hootsuite.

Open Hootsuite (log in)
Go to the bottom and click the Settings tab
Go right under the update/status bar and click Social Networks
Go to the right hand side of the screen, right under your Avatar and click +Add Social Network
A pop-up menu will appear and right under Facebook, you will see Pages (You probably need to add your personal Facebook profile to Hootsuite first)
Click Pages and then select Connect with Facebook
It will ask you again to Connect with Facebook, click it again when prompted
Another pop-up window will appear to ask you to log into Facebook, provide username & password and click Connect
Another pop-up window will appear listing all of the Fan Pages your are a part of, select the Fan Page you want to add to Hootsuite
Another pop-up window will appear that asks you if you want to allow publishing for Fan Page you want to add to Hootsuite, click Allow Publishing
It will then take you back to the pop-up window that lists all your Fan Pages with the one you want to add to Hootsuite selected, click Add to Hootsuite
You are done!!!

I hope this helps?

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All it takes is a thank you note!

There are so many layers to a story, and those layers can continually evolve regardless of time!

I was riding home from Charleston, SC a few days ago. The wife and I were tired and it was getting close to 8pm, a long day visiting my sister-in-law Susanna at the College of Charleston. As we were navigating the back-roads of this I-385 detour, my iPhone began ringing with an unfamiliar phone number displayed. This self-employeed businessman never passes up an opportunity to talk about business, so I answered. The gentleman introduced himself and called me by my name…he said, “My name is Gary and I helped your family three years ago when I worked for Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Columbia.” This begins our little journey.

This story ultimately begins with a trip. My wife’s family is notorious for packing a car full of family and that car is notorious for breaking down at the worst of times. This time it was a hot spring day, Friday afternoon traffic in Columbia, SC. Seriously, 5pm traffic on Interstate 26 towards Bowman, SC. Bowman was their destination, where my wife’s grandfather had passed away. They needed to be at the funeral home before 6:30pm, to greet family and friends the day before the funeral. Stuck on the side of the road, they do what they normally do…call me. Being two hours behind them, I did what I knew best…call Enterprise Rent-A-Car, because they have a simple motto, “We’re Enterprise, we’ll pick you up!”

So I called the nearest Enterprise based on their location, it was a branch at the Columbia, SC airport. Gary from Enterprise answered the phone and I explained the situation. He broke protocol, took a Town and Country van, dropped it off, helped them exchange cars, and my family was on their way arriving in Bowman right at 6:30pm. He stayed with the car until the tow truck arrived and then got a ride back to the branch office. It was this can-do attitude and service that has now earned a lifetime customer, yes…I am a card carrying rewards member of Enterprise.

After hearing this story, I wrote a series of letters to his boss, the corporate office, and the southeastern manager. A series of thank you notes. It probably took an hour of my time. He had the time to help my family, I had the time to tell Enterprise…because of Gary, they now have a loyal customer.

Back to the phone call. So while talking to Gary on the phone, he began telling me that it was those letters that prompted him to call me. He was calling to thank me. He told me that those thank you letters changed his life. HOLD ON? I asked, “what do you mean, changed your life?”

He continued explaining; because of that letter, he was immediately promoted to a marketing division. After a while, and a few downsizing efforts, he was laid off. I immediately perked up and wondered where this conversation was leading. He went on to explain that he took some time to consider what was next after Enterprise. He had enjoyed investing his retirement package at Enterprise and began helping family and friends with their portfolio. This prompted him to begin researching the business of investments. After a series of meetings, many certification tests, several interviews, and a long training process…it was decision time for Edward Jones Investments. He went to meet with a VP of Edward Jones, and as a part of his application package for his own branch, he included this very letter from that I wrote to Enterprise. The VP basically told him that this letter was the only thing he needed to make his decision.

So Gary was calling me on this day, March 1st to thank me. You see, it was March 1st…this day that his branch in Lexington, SC was opening for the first time! He had reached his dream, to own his own business, be his own boss, and help people. He was thanking me for writing that letter. What he did not realize, while he was thanking me, tears were running down my eyes. I was actually thanking him, because this story, this day brought a new meaning to my life. It was this day he had changed my life. His one phone call, his few minutes thanking me made me see the world in a difference way. He had once again made a serious impact in my life.

It is amazing what a thank you note will do. It is amazing the residual effect from a single gesture. It is amazing the layers to this story, that connected us once again. I have yet to meet Gary, but I will be making a trip to shake his hand. Thanks Gary, thank you for being you. You are an inspiration!

This post is dedicated to a few people:

To Denise Weathers, my mother-in-law who is no longer with us but made a tremendous impression on Gary that day!
To John Warner who taught me the value of a simple social media called a thank you note!
To Bob Dotson who has helped me learn the value of the red-string and finding those stories with layers.

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Update your Facebook Fan Page from TweetDeck

So I was searching around for this option and could not figure this out. But thanks to a search and a comment in a post from Andreas Stephan, I was able to figure this out!

Andreas Stephan’s Comment:

“TweetDeck supports this natively. Took me a while to figure that out: Go to you FB account in Tweet Deck, you can add pages at the bottom of the account settings. You wil then be able to post to your fan page directly from TweetDeck. Hope this helps some people.”

Here is a step-by-step process for integrating the ability to update your Facebook Fan Page via TweetDeck. FYI, you need to be an administrator of this Fan Page to make this an option.

First, you have to add your Facebook Account to TweetDeck:

Open TweetDeck
Go to the upper right hand corner and look for the wrench – CLICK
Select Accounts
Click Add New Account
Select Add a Facebook Account
Provide the necessary information to add your Facebook Account
Save

Add the Fan Page to TweetDeck to update in the status bar:

Open TweetDeck
Go to the upper right hand corner and look for the wrench – CLICK
Select Accounts
Select Facebook in the center of the screen
Below Click Add Pages
Log Into Facebook from TweetDeck
Select your relevant Fan Page

Thanks so much Andreas for your help!

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Trial lawyers are storytellers as well!

I was having a great conversation with a friend and client the other day about storytelling; Andy Arnold of W. Andrew Arnold Law Firm. He was talking about his past and how he almost went to seminary, but ultimately chose to become a lawyer. The more we chatted the more he explained how trial lawyers are storytellers, guiding the jury through an “argument.” This argument is made up of layers of micro-stories, all connected with an overarching mission to prove a case.

We are all storytellers; so I thought I would share an impromptu interview with Andy Arnold who practices employment law and nursing home litigation. Take a few minutes to listen to our conversation wrapped around the idea that lawyers are telling stories, especially when trying a case in a court of law.

Check out Andy Arnold’s website: http://aalawfirm.com
Check out Andy Arnold’s blog called Blogger At Law: http://www.aalawfirm.com/bloggeratlaw/
Follow Andy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AndyArnold

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Building a Tribe – Building a Digital Strategy

Here are some notes that I use when working with groups to create a new media strategy, most of the ideas come from Seth Godin‘s “Tribes.”
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“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.” ~ Seth Godin – “Tribes”

Creating a Micro-movement

Publish a manifesto
Make it easy for your followers to connect with you.
Make it easy for your followers to connect with one another.
Realize that money is not the point of a movement.
Track your progress.

Identify the Brand (The Context)

Audience
Purpose
Delivery

What is your Mission Statement?

What is your communication strategy?

Who are you trying to reach?

How to create reach? How to build the Tribe:
Build the Digital Media Presence:

Web has become more than one-direction
Create rich media for all audiences to engage
Create portals of conversations
User created content
Content Management System (CMS), Twitter, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr

Build the Events

Create events that engage students, industry, and academy in one conversation.
Create events for each group to engage internally & empower conversation.

Build a Community

Build the digital platform where students, faculty, staff, industry can engage, connect, and build relationships.
Use this digital community provide regular information about the community.
Use this digital community to create profiles for all to connect.
Build regular events around the intellectual engine.
Have thought leaders, entrepreneurs share innovation.
Provide a platform where students and industry can engage on common ground.

“A movement is thrilling. It’s the work of many people, all connected, all seeking something better. The new highly leveraged tools of the Net make it easier than ever to create a movement, to make things happen, to get things done. All that’s missing is leadership.” ~ Seth Godin – “Tribes”

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There is something special about true customer service!

A few weeks ago, I was in Spartanburg, SC and decided to have lunch with a good friend! Jim O’Donnell (some people know him as @JimSharp because he is the scissor sharpening business) of Wolff Industries took me out to lunch, the original Fatz Cafe was our destination. If you have not gone to the Fatz Cafe in Spartanburg, SC, you are missing out on something special. They have the best fried chicken strips around.

As we walk into Fatz Cafe, it was noticeably busy but we were immediately seated in a special section. I do not mean special because of some big event going on, but it was because Jim is a regular at Fatz and has grown to know almost all of the staff.

As we sat and began chatting, he was telling me of this waitress that just retired and had worked at this particular Fatz for close to 23 years. Who works at a restaurant as a server for 23 years (I thought in my mind as we ordered two Dr. Peppers). I also learned that Jim loved Dr. Pepper as much as I did…good guy I tell ya! Back to the story; Jim continues to tell me how this one lady, this one server could work magic in this restaurant. He explained one time he wanted a particular soft drink that Fatz did not serve. Instead of telling him that they did not serve this soft drink, she took his order and brought him what he requested. What he later found out is that as soon as she walked away with the drink order, she walked across the street to purchase the soft drink, put in on ice like any other drink, and serve it to him without he even knowing it was an issue. Now that is customer service.

This lady loved her job and she loved her customers. She loved the people that walk through the door, this was shown by the way she made them feel special. After about five minutes into his explanation, I felt like I knew this lady and no longer viewed her as a “waitress.” She was the face of this establishment for close to 23 years.

As Jim and I sat and continued chatting about this lady, our waitress for that day told Jim that Shryl was here and Jim’s eyes lit up immediately. You see, Shryl Dover was that waitress of 23 years…the one that walked across the street to get that special soft drink. Our waitress walked back to find Shryl to send her our way. As she peered around the corner, it was like old friends picking up where they left off…Jim and Shryl just chatted without missing a beat.

You see, it was that day the young owner of this Fatz Cafe had talked Shryl into coming back part time. That owner knew that Shryl had a tribe, a group of people that enjoyed seeing her smiling face….that special touch when it comes to true customer service. I made a new friend that day and I will never see Fatz Cafe as just the building that serves great fried chicken strips, I will see it as the place where I can come talk to a friend and the fried chicken strips are the bonus.

Thanks Shryl Dover and thanks Jim O’Donnell for sharing this story! Everybody has a story to tell, even in a Fatz Cafe!

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Finding stories within an organization, peeling back layers.

It is all about connecting to your audiences…your constituency bases. Stories create identity between and organization and those who have the greatest potential to engage.

Stories are finite, clear, concise messages that uncover the layers of information that give the audience the true perspective of an organization. These stories are not one-dimensional, there are two streams of consciousness within one story: the facts (subject) and the supplementary position that brings color to the facts.

It is easy to pick broad general ideas to write about; but the stories that people connect with are the ones that people will share (repeat). So how do organizations find and create stories that are repeatable? They must first understand their brand and the umbrella message. This is the rhetorical position that shapes the messages and how the layers of information are organized.

So what are the stories within organizations where people will connect? Hmm…people. People connect with stories about people. People are the faces of an organization. Each person has specific stories how they help shape, support, and build the foundation of an organization. People tell their stories best. People have layers of stories, ones that are connected by the “red-string” that represents the brand of the organization.

Use frequency when telling these stories. Find the people that have stories that change a view-point, raise someone’s’ awareness, or reveal a new idea…and tell those stories. Tell them on a regular basis. Identify the layers of the stories and use those layers as the frequency. Each time you tell a story, peel away one more layer…one more piece of the bigger story. As one more piece is revealed and each micro story is told…the audience gains a bigger insight into the “red-string”.

Think of it this way…if you use Twitter or Facebook, you are making regular posts or status updates. Those are the micro-stories about you; and ‘your personality’ is the red-string. The more you post, the more you connect, the more your audience gains insight to who you are and your personality. People begin to peel back the layers into you and your daily context. Use the same approach when telling and delivering stories. Give people little stories frequently, ones that peel back the layers and allow the audience to see the bigger idea. Do it frequently and efficiently.

The more stories you tell, your more layers you reveal, the more the red-string is reveal…which is the heart (or the core) of the bigger story.

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Congressman Bob Inglis talks about “Why Social Media?”

Congressman Bob Inglis spoke with me a few weeks ago after his January presentation to the Social Media Club in Greenville, SC. In his presentation, he admitted not engaging on a regular basis with his audiences using tools like Twitter and Facebook. He also admitted that it was not to long ago, he was learning to become more technologically savy.

It is political representatives like Congressman Bob Inglis that are finding the value in using Social Media Technologies to engage with audiences, but he does not was to engage with those nay sayers. It is this issue that I think is starting to transcend many of the politicos because of a few different barriers: technological ignorance, time management, and not understanding the context of those who are trying to connect using Social Media Technologies.

Social Media provides technologies to connect but does it really break down the walls of communication? We all know it is easier to connect and conversate when we are face-to-face, it provides the opportunity to understand tone, delivery, and read facial expressions. Politicos might have a hard time communicating with the nay sayers because it is hard to communicate through such a marginalized method. There are only words and information can be lost in translation. The nay sayers might be interpreted as having not so positive connotation, but in actuality they might be just trying to ask a question or have a concern; and they have a hard time translating that concern via Twitter or Facebook.

Congressman Bob Inglis spoke with me a few weeks ago after his January presentation to the Social Media Club in Greenville, SC. In his presentation, he admitted not engaging on a regular basis with his audiences using tools like Twitter and Facebook. He also admitted that it was not to long ago, he was learning to become more technologically savy. This conversation was great and exploratory, where I gained knowledge of individuals like Congressman Bob Inglis…like many busy decision makers that have a hard enough time managing their day and now Social Media.

It is political representatives like Congressman Bob Inglis that are finding the value in using Social Media Technologies to engage with audiences, but admits does not want to engage with those “nay sayers”. It is this issue that I think is starting to transcend many of the politicos because of a few different barriers: technological ignorance, time management, and not understanding the context of those who are trying to connect using Social Media Technologies.

Social Media provides technologies to connect but does it really break down the walls of communication? We all know it is easier to connect and conversate when we are face-to-face, because it provides the opportunity to understand tone, delivery, and read facial expressions. Politicos might have a hard time communicating with the nay sayers because it is hard to communicate through such a marginalized method. There are words and information that can be lost in translation. The “nay sayers” might be interpreted as having a “not so positive” connotation, but in actuality they might be just trying to ask a question or have a concern; and they have a hard time translating that concern via Twitter or Facebook.

Click Here to follow Congressman Bob Inglis on Twitter!

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Creating a path for those to find your story

I have been thinking lately about how we get our stories to people…distribution points. The one thing that I consistently preach to my students and my clients:

Audience – Who are the audience(s) you are trying to reach..list them ALL!
Purpose – What is the sole reason you have something to say or tell.
Delivery – What are you going to use to get that message to those audience(s).

These points create context…context for the message. As you notice…they are intertwined. Well, you may have a great story, but if you do not know how the audience can access the message…then you might be creating the best Super Bowl message for an audience who does not have a television. You might be creating the most unbelievable email marketing campaign, and your target audience does not open emails.

We have to think about distribution…yes, it comes down to delivering the message. Here is a list of distribution methods:

Web
Blogs
Television
Home Phone
Mobile Phones
PDA’s
Text Messaging
Twitter
Facebook
Fax
Mail
Brochures
Business Cards
White Papers
Annual Reports
Online Video
Mobile Video
Newspaper
Radio
Satellite Radio

Now let’s look at major “Anchor” tools where stories can be told, the beginning of the food chain:

Web
Blogs
Newspapers
Brochures
White Papers
Annual Reports
Television
Radio
Satellite Radio

These places are where the stories are produced and created for audiences to eventually find themselves enjoying content. But, we have different distribution points to bring these audience back to the original source…teasing them with a hint of what’s to come:

Twitter
Facebook
Mail
Fax
Business Cards
Radio
Text Messaging
Mobile Video
Home Phones
Mobile Phones

The point here is when we create stories, we can use these “Anchor” tools to place our stories and use the distribution points to bring audiences back to this place…to learn more, read more, or hear more. The new face of our organizations is our “Web Property”… our main website.

Organizations are learning that they must invest just as much time, effort, energy, resources, and money into shaping their main web property as the major distribution point of information. The organization internally must support this new media and begin using the distribution tools necessary to funnel audiences back to this portal.

Organizations are also learning to re-shape marketing budgets, pr budgets, and IT budgets to allow resources necessary to create, provide, and drive traffic to a web portal and IT providers are learning to build robust systems to support this audience base.

Organizations are also starting to learn that Social Media Technologies are just as efficient as other distribution tools to gain audiences attention with “Teasers” of content, finding new ways to tell stories in a distributive method. This distributive method is now the online community building technologies. Providing portals of conversation where people can engage and connect…and allowing the “Tribe” mentality to shape the community which becomes the online cheerleading section.

So now that ealier way to analyze context of a story is starting to take new shape:

Audience(s) – Name all the audiences
Purposes(s) – What is the purpose of the over-arching message and for each distribution points
Delivery – What is the main point of delivery and what are the sub-distribution points that will tease audiences back to the mother ship.

To me…this is a game. How do we tell one story with multiple layers. Allow the audience to follow the “red-string” along the many paths of distribution points to ultimately get to the main story. What is your story, how are you telling that story, how are you reaching your audience(s), well…I am listening!

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What did you gain…really?

1) Explain the experience of taking a test together, what did you gain by using this method.

2) If you chose not to use the answers that the group suggested, why…what was your reasoning?

3) Do you feel that your academic integrity was compromised?

4) Do you think that someone was capitalizing on your academic knowledge…maybe the student that did not study.

5) What is a situation that using a collaborative method of communication (taking a test) would not be beneficial.

6) What made you naturally choose to work in a group when I just laid down the tests and said good luck.

7) Were their any rules, or did the classroom create the rules?

1) Explain the experience of taking a test together, what did you gain by using this method?

2) If you chose not to use the answers that the group suggested, why…what was your reasoning?

3) Do you feel that your academic integrity was compromised?

4) Do you think that someone was capitalizing on your academic knowledge…maybe the student that did not study?

5) What is a situation that using a collaborative method of communication (taking a test) would not be beneficial?

6) What made you naturally choose to work in a group when I just laid down the tests and said good luck?

7) Were there any rules, or did the classroom create the rules?

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ENGL 304 – Test One Study Guide

Chapter One

1) According to the National Commission on Writing, employees “almost always” use which of the following forms of writing?

2) The Dartnell Institute of Business Research found that the cost of producing and mailing one letter averages almost:

3) Select the false statement about writing:

Good writing tells your audience that you can think logically and communicate your thoughts clearly.

Poor writing reveals that you can neither think clearly nor communicate your thoughts effectively.

Writing is an extension of your interpersonal communication skills at work.

Your writing ability will never affect your job performance.

4) Whether you are looking for a job or are already employed, how will you need to communicate to diverse audiences?

5) What are the three basic communication styles?

6) What are the characteristics of an aggressive communication style?

7) According to the 2006 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, what are the skills employers identify as part of their top ten employee qualities?

Chapter Three

1) How do you achieve higher audience involvement with your writing?

2) Identify the following audiences and their characteristics:

Specialist audience

Semi-specialist audience

Lay audience

Multiple audience

Multicultural audience

3) Identify & define stereotyping.

4) How do you avoide sexist language?

5) Identify workplace documents and appropriate communication for workplace documents.

Chapter Six

1) Identify what will help you become a clearer writer.

2) Define and identify “passive voice”.

3) Describe the Gunning Fog index.

4) Define multisyllabic.

5) What will lower the fog index for a document?

6) Why should you not rely solely on computer spell checks to catch spelling mistakes?

Chapter Nine

1) Identify how Blogs are a unique type of communication channel.

2) Identify the characteristics of Online readers.

3) Understand and identify the characteristics of e-mail.

4) Identify the characteristics of E-mail messages written in the workplace.

5) Identify the benefits & characteristics of instant messaging.

6) Identify the forms of Blogging.

Chapter Ten

1) Why is the audience for memos usually specialist or semi-specialist?

2) Identify effective subject lines.

3) What should you do in the memo’s introduction?

4) Why is a clear conclusion important in a memo?

5) What is the best solution to make sure that every reader will understand the acronyms you use in your memo?

6) What are the BEST example of an informal, friendly tone appropriate for memos?

7) When is chronological organization appropriate in a memo?

8) Why is clustering a useful planning activity for writing memos?

9) Which question should you consider when clarifying your audience for memos,

10) What are the dangers of writing sloppy or negative letters?

11) What information belongs in the writer’s address section of a letter?

12) Where is the proper location for the date of the letter?

13) What is the BEST option in a letter if you do not know the receiver’s name?

14) What is the most important information to include in the conclusion of your letter of inquiry?

15) What are the goals of a cover letter?

16) When rewriting any letter, what ways do you make sure that you have made it reader-friendly?

Chapter One