Word “czars” at Lake Superior State University published their 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.

Their complete 2010 list of words to ban from your business writing are:

1. Shovel-ready
2. Transparent/Transparency
3. Czar
4. Tweet
5. App
6. Sexting
7. Friend as a verb
8. Teachable Moment
9. In These Economic Times…
10. Stimulus
11. Toxic Assets
12. Too Big to Fail
13. Bromance
14. Chillaxin’
15. Obama as a prefix

Airlie Center has been called “an island of thought” by TIME magazine because many creative ideas have been spawned at conferences there: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington and Earth Day are two notable examples.

We discussed the challenge of finding words that adequately convey the extraordinary beauty and facilities and amenities of Airlie Center, particularly in prospecting email messages.

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. One very smart salesperson has been appending relevant images of Airlie Center in the signature of her prospecting emails.

PROSPECTING EMAIL EXAMPLE:

Unlike a hotel, Airlie Center is a dedicated Conference Center with all inclusive packages.  Our Complete Meeting Package (CMP) begins with dinner, and includes the following:

Seven Guesthouses Accommodating 217 guests

Each guestroom offers serene charm coupled with modern amenities including:

• Cable television
• Lighted work area with analog and T1 data ports
• 2 private telephones with voicemail
• Personal coffee pot, hair dryer, iron, ironing board

17 Conference Rooms boasting 17,000 Square Feet of Meeting Space

• Designed to accommodate each group’s needs
• Understated décor, abundant windows providing natural light
• Comfortable ergonomic chairs
• Latest conference support technology

Recreation & Relaxation

Airlie’s picturesque, rural campus provides a perfect backdrop for jogging, walking, biking, fishing, and other nature based activities.  There is also a fitness gym and an outdoor swimming pool.  Team Building Activities, such as a certified ropes course instruction, can be arranged (additional cost will apply).

Airlie’s Whistling Swan Pub provides a warm ambiance for after-hours relaxation complete with darts, billiards, fireplace, and overstuffed leather chairs.  A game of golf, winery tour, skeet shooting, horseback riding and trip to enchanting historic Old Town Warrenton can also be arranged.

Dedicated Conference Planners
Airlie’s professional Meeting Planners work closely with you to deliver customized results.  From meeting room selection, setup and equipment requirements, guest room requirements, to food presentation and menu selections, our professional Meeting Planners simplify and streamline your job!

Day Meeting Packages are also available.

TIPS

• Be certain to customize the images to your audience. Send only those images that reflect the relevant services for your prospect.
• More tips on using email signatures for marketing messages.
• We tested Airlie’s signature images on three email systems: gmail, MS Outlook and a college proprietary email system. None required a separate click to download the images, as is required for images in the body of an email message in these systems. (NOTE: this was an anecdotal test only, and not conclusive, but does suggest that images in the signature are are more likely to be seen.)

If your products or service is visually compelling, use this wise practice from Airle Center to engage your reader and immediately differentiate your message.

As the holiday season and end-of-year deadlines approach, you’ll need to produce more documents in even less time.

Our November newsletter explains how to proofread when time is tight.

Learn More in This Course: Effective Proofreading Techniques

Too many cooks, throwing in too many ingredients, can easily muddle the audience focus and requisite content:

How to Write by Committee:

• Make sure roles are clearly assigned. You need a writer/editor and the sign-off designee:
  • Choose your best writer as writer/editor and recipient of all team feedback.
  • Choose the team member most familiar with the audience needs and benefits and product as sign-off designee.
  • All team members can, and should, provide feedback.

1. Start with a group meeting. Identify audience and content. (As taught in Effective Business Writing Techniques.)
2. For the first review, solicit feedback, not text editing, from the full team. What information do team members want changed? Make sure they are able to explain why they want that information changed.
3. Let the team writer/editor revise the document, based on the team feedback received. To hold clarity and voice, it’s best if multiple team members do not edit text.
4. For the second review, have team proofread for typos and errors, as well as message.
5. When the editor feels the document is ready, present it to the sign-off designee.

Beware committee bloat. If you have important documents that are shaped by committee, be sure to identify roles and process. You’ll save time and frustration, create documents that reflect your audience’s needs, and present a clear message.

Thanks, as a closing, and as an exchange wrap up, is overused in business email:

• Do not use “Thank You,” and your name as a signature. Every email you send will not need to convey thanks at the end, so do not automate this.
• If you over-thank, it will soon become meaningless or insincere.

In business, our jobs require that we solve problems. It’s not necessary to thank people for regular work tasks.

At the end of an email exchange, don’t add another email round by thanking someone for doing their job. If thanks is really warranted, make it meaningful. Draft a new email and express brief thanks for the above-the-call-of-duty work, and copy the person’s supervisor.

We’re all deluged with too much email. Save “thank you” for when it really conveys gratitude.

Learn More in This Course: Email Essentials: Productivity and Impact

“Email has had a good run as king of communications. But its reign is over.”

The author, Jessica Vascellaro,  argues that just-in-time communication, such as Twitter, Facebook, and the upcoming Google Wave offer a constant stream of information. Conversely, email is outdated. It reflects how we used to use the Internet. Log on, do what we need, log off.

Email use is slowing, but it is still by far the dominate communications vehicle in business. Other services are increasing dramatically, but for now, they are not the dominate channel.

Eventually, ideally, we will  choose the best tool for the right task, as real-time communication is more widely adopted in business.

The challenge will be managing a 24/7 information flow.

What do you think? Does email work well for you for your business communication?

The term “white paper” was originally used to designate government reports, but the term and format are now commonly used in many industries. The term is an offshoot from “white book,” which is an official government publication. Since it has its base in government publications, white papers should reflect authority.

The term “white paper” is now used to represent a document that showcases a specific business product or service. Because it needs to have authority, the author should have credibility in the subject. A white paper should engage the audience by showing specific examples and using clear arguments.

A white paper is different than a simple brochure because it typically highlights a product or research, and the author’s credibility on this subject is highlighted.

They are very useful in professional services to demonstrate expertise and are often used to generate sales leads, establish thought leadership, make a business case, or to educate customers.

Learn More: Business Writing Courses

Let’s discuss this offline some more. You should talk about that offline. That’s an offline conversation. (A variation of this was stated seven times in one hour. Ugh.)

We were all physically gathered together, so the discussion was never online. This dreadful term “talk offline” is business-speak for “talk privately.”

Other jargon bantered by the presenter:

Let’s debrief so we can pull best practices from this.

What can we do to stake things up, so it doesn’t happen again?

How can we best ramp our efforts?

I hear you.

It was impossible for me to “hear” this presenter because her excessive jargon drowned her good content.

Learn More: Business Writing Courses

What do business writing and climate change have in common? Both, at their core, are about connection and interaction.

I’ve been writing a lot lately about social media and business writing, because highly interconnected, disbursed business communication is increasing. Climate change affects every person living on our plant, now and in the future. Each action we take ripples over our environment, much as a networked business document streams across multiple audiences.

“The art of the concise” brings clarity of thought and expression to business writing. Conservation at work and home bring a balanced life and sustainability to our planet.

Communication and technology offer a great convergence of information. We have one issue, one day, and millions of voices: I hope this article heightens our connection and our awareness of our dependency on each other.

Watch the American Association for the Advancement of Science Discuss Climate Change:

How Can You Help Right Now?

Visit Blog Action Day.org to learn more about today’s world-wide blogging event.

U.S. Citizens: Tell President Obama the World Can’t Wait for Clean Energy:

This December, world leaders will gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a global response to climate change. As a world leader in greenhouse gas pollution, as well as clean energy technology, the United States needs to take bold action by implementing comprehensive clean energy policies to curb emissions. Sign the petition.

David Henderson, author of Making News in the Digital Era, summarized the most important considerations brilliantly:

At the core … more than ever before … I found that without the skills to clearly communicate ideas, anyone is easily lost in cyberspace, just making noise.

The quality and substance of what you have to say matters most of all.

There is no such thing as an expert in the world of online social media or online communications … because the space is too complex, too fluid and too expansive.

Social media is nothing more than a delivery tactic or tool. Strategic planning on ways to utilize social media for an organization is far more important. (NOTE: I believe this applies equally to business individuals, as well as organizations.)

I remember when eLearning was new and exciting, not the mainstream training delivery tool it is today. Initially, too much focus was on the technology, with not enough concern for the content transmitted. Now, we know that while it’s wonderful to train any time, place, and pace, what most matters is the content of that training.

What’s old is new again: social media is a fantastically disbursed communication medium. But, what most matters is the message and connection with audience. That’s the point. Plan your communication strategy, and use the social media channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, Flickr) that best convey(s) your message to your audience. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid being pushed by “social media experts” that “if you’re not everywhere, you are no where.” (Yes, that is an actual tagline from one of these “experts.”)

First, be sure your idea is clear and well expressed. Then, use your chosen social media channels to widely transmit your message.

You can read more about David Henderson’s highly vetted insights, in his blog post: What Works, What Doesn’t Online.