When the Executive Interrupts Your Presentation

A young friend of mine was giving her first presentation in her first professional role. When she was still on the opening slide, a senior executive asked a question. The question threw her off, and she never got back on track--at least not in the way she wanted. 

Hearing about my friend's experience, it was eerily timely to receive an article in my inbox that same day titled "What to Do When the Executive Interrupts Your Slide Presentation." My friend Gilda Bonanno wrote the article, and she has permitted me to share it with you. You can subscribe to Gilda's email newsletter and also find valuable articles on presentation skills and communications on her website. 

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What to Do When the Executive Interrupts Your Slide Presentation

By Gilda Bonanno

Recently, participants in one of my training programs complained that they spent weeks to prepare long, in-depth PowerPoint presentations to sell their ideas to a senior executive. But he stopped them on the first slide and asked them so many questions that they didn't have time to go through the rest of the slides. While I initially shared their indignation, here are some suggestions about how to view the situation in a positive light:

• Remember, the point of the presentation is to communicate your information to your audience; in this case, your audience is the executive (and his team) and your goal is for him to understand your project and make a decision about it. Whether he does that by looking at all your slides or listening to the answers you give to his questions, you have achieved your goal. 
• Slides are just the visual aids – you are the presentation. It is better that the executive asks you the questions rather than asking you to be quiet so he or she can read each of your slides. Your ability to answer the question demonstrates that you have command of the information. The slides are just there to provide you backup, rather than the other way around. 
• The exercise of constructing the slides is useful in itself. Even if you don't get to show all of them, just the fact that you spent the time to prepare them means you know the information well. 
• Be selective in what you include in your presentation and on the slides. Just because you know all the details doesn't mean you have to say them or put them in the slides. Focus on the big picture in your presentation and keep the details available to answer the questions.
• Creating effective and focused slides takes time – so build that time into your schedule. 
• You will be interrupted with questions – expect them and be prepared for them. You can try to respond with, "I have a slide later that answers your question," but if the executive asks for the information, it's not usually a good idea to make him or her wait for it. 

So the next time you are preparing a slide presentation to present to an executive, remember that you are there to communicate to your audience in whatever way that audience wants.  

About Gilda: Gilda Bonanno helps people improve their communication and leadership skills so they can have more confidence, influence, and success. Since 2006, she has worked with organizations on four continents, from Chicago to Shanghai and Rio to Rome, including GE, Travelers, Praxair, Assa Abloy, Wells Fargo, and Yale University.

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Thinking about Gilda's advice, I would emphasize her last point to my young friend: Expect questions and be prepared for them. Because it was my friend's first professional presentation, she probably assumed the situation would be similar to her presentations in college, where people sit quietly and listen until the end. Anticipating questions and interruptions would have helped her stay on track. 

Do you have experiences or suggestions about handling executives' questions? Please share them. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

When the Executive Interrupts Your Presentation

A young friend of mine was giving her first presentation in her first professional role. When she was still on the opening slide, a senior executive asked a question. The question threw her off, and she never got back on track--at least not in the way she wanted. 

Hearing about my friend's experience, it was eerily timely to receive an article in my inbox that same day titled "What to Do When the Executive Interrupts Your Slide Presentation." My friend Gilda Bonanno wrote the article, and she has permitted me to share it with you. You can subscribe to Gilda's email newsletter and also find valuable articles on presentation skills and communications on her website. 

********************

What to Do When the Executive Interrupts Your Slide Presentation

By Gilda Bonanno

Recently, participants in one of my training programs complained that they spent weeks to prepare long, in-depth PowerPoint presentations to sell their ideas to a senior executive. But he stopped them on the first slide and asked them so many questions that they didn't have time to go through the rest of the slides. While I initially shared their indignation, here are some suggestions about how to view the situation in a positive light:

• Remember, the point of the presentation is to communicate your information to your audience; in this case, your audience is the executive (and his team) and your goal is for him to understand your project and make a decision about it. Whether he does that by looking at all your slides or listening to the answers you give to his questions, you have achieved your goal. 
• Slides are just the visual aids – you are the presentation. It is better that the executive asks you the questions rather than asking you to be quiet so he or she can read each of your slides. Your ability to answer the question demonstrates that you have command of the information. The slides are just there to provide you backup, rather than the other way around. 
• The exercise of constructing the slides is useful in itself. Even if you don't get to show all of them, just the fact that you spent the time to prepare them means you know the information well. 
• Be selective in what you include in your presentation and on the slides. Just because you know all the details doesn't mean you have to say them or put them in the slides. Focus on the big picture in your presentation and keep the details available to answer the questions.
• Creating effective and focused slides takes time – so build that time into your schedule. 
• You will be interrupted with questions – expect them and be prepared for them. You can try to respond with, "I have a slide later that answers your question," but if the executive asks for the information, it's not usually a good idea to make him or her wait for it. 

So the next time you are preparing a slide presentation to present to an executive, remember that you are there to communicate to your audience in whatever way that audience wants.  

About Gilda: Gilda Bonanno helps people improve their communication and leadership skills so they can have more confidence, influence, and success. Since 2006, she has worked with organizations on four continents, from Chicago to Shanghai and Rio to Rome, including GE, Travelers, Praxair, Assa Abloy, Wells Fargo, and Yale University.

**************

Thinking about Gilda's advice, I would emphasize her last point to my young friend: Expect questions and be prepared for them. Because it was my friend's first professional presentation, she probably assumed the situation would be similar to her presentations in college, where people sit quietly and listen until the end. Anticipating questions and interruptions would have helped her stay on track. 

Do you have experiences or suggestions about handling executives' questions? Please share them. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Does "Ladies" Belong in a Salutation?

Rob wrote: 

I thought you might be a helpful sounding board from something I'm experiencing at work. 

Recently, one of our female executive leaders has been using the word Ladies as a salutation in her emails that include men in the To and/or the Cc of the email. 

I'm indifferent to people using ladies, women, men, gentlemen, etc., in emails, but I feel that care should be given when the email contains mixed-gender recipients. As an example, there have been instances where there was just one female in the To section and mixed genders were cc'd, but the executive used Ladies. Had the email included more than one female in the To section, I believe this would have been a suitable use of the salutation Ladies. 

Would you care to share your thoughts on this?

 

How would you respond to Rob? Do you and your executive team members use gender-based greetings such as Ladies in emails? Think about this issue before scrolling down to my thoughts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob's issue perplexed me. Why would anyone use Ladies as a greeting for a message going to a mixed-gender audience? It makes no sense. I can only guess that the writer sometimes unthinkingly types a greeting that she often uses when writing to a group of women--despite her current audience. 

But beyond that, mentioning gender in the greeting of company emails is not appropriate. That's because gender-based language leaves out and hurts gender-fluid (non-binary) people in the workplace. Ladies does not fit them, and neither does Gentlemen. For more background on using appropriate, sensitive language, read my blog post "A Guide to Gender-Neutral Language."

If you have been using gender-based language such as Ladies or Ladies and Gentlemen, don't worry. You have many gender-neutral ways of greeting readers:

Dear Residents,

Hi!

Hi everyone! 

Team, 

Board members,

Hello,

Hello everyone! 

Hello to all, 

Hello Commission Members, 

Good morning, 

Good afternoon, 

Greetings, 

Greetings, Finance! [or another team name] 

Folks, [if your organization uses that word]

Friends, [for a friendly group of recipients] 

 

You can also skip the greeting and simply start with a positive or warm opening sentence. Examples:

I am pleased to introduce our new executive editor. 

I am happy to provide the attached customer feedback. 

Welcome back from the holiday weekend! 

Thank you for your support of the XYZ program. 

 

I recommend that Rob's company create a communication policy to guide people toward gender-neutral language. I'd also suggest that someone get a copy of A Quick & Easy Guide to They-Them Pronouns and review it for the company blog or newsletter. Rob's executive and others in the company will not change their behavior without information and encouragement. 

What would you tell Rob? How does your organization deal with gender issues in communication? Please share. 

By the way, I have been writing about Ladies for many years. Read my 2007 blog post "Women, Ladies, and Girls at Work," which inspired Rob to write to me. 

Lynn
Syntax Training 

 

A Guide to Gender-Neutral Language

It's LGBTQ Pride month and a good time to start using gender-neutral language if you haven't started already. That's words such as people, folks, everyone, they, them, and their, which do not indicate gender. It's different from the expressions ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, men and women, sir, madam, and he-him-his-she-her-hers, which do indicate gender. 

Why should you use gender-neutral language? Because not everyone identifies as either male or female. For some people, he or she, man or woman, and sir or madam do not fit. These individuals are "non-binary"-- that is, they do not fit the either/or gender model. 

Yes, it may be true that everyone in your social circle identifies as male or female. But the reason to use gender-neutral language is that not everyone beyond your circle does, and these people may turn out to be your coworkers, supervisors, employees, patients, customers, clients, constituents, volunteers, patrons, students, and students' parents. In fact, they will become part of your larger circle if you work beyond the walls of your home. 

I just finished reading a good starter guide on gender-neutral language: A Quick & Easy Guide to They-Them Pronouns, by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson. It's written in comic-book style with Archie and Tristan as characters talking about why and how to use they/them pronouns and other gender-neutral language. 

I recommend the guide, especially for its non-threatening, non-judgmental, clear comic-book explanations of why it's important to learn about and use gender-neutral language. It also communicates poignantly about the life experience of non-binary people. For instance, it shows a day in the life of non-binary Archie, who is repeatedly assaulted with the terms girl, she, her, lady, woman, and miss. In character, Archie says, "Being misgendered all day is mentally exhausting." They add, "To me and other people, being misgendered can make us feel all sorts of ways" with a panel image that includes these expressions: annoyed, frustrated, alone, invisible, afraid, exhausted, and wrong in my body. 

Did you notice my use of They to refer to Archie in the previous paragraph? That's gender-neutral language. Although it may feel awkward at first to use they to refer to one person, they is no longer just a plural. It has become a plural and a singular pronoun. 

From the Amazon Look Inside feature for A Quick & Easy Guide to They-Them Pronouns, here are a few examples of gender-neutral solutions:

 

The book also recommends referring to a customer as they (but addressing them as you, of course). Not long ago I had a learning experience at Staples that I could have avoided if I had read this book. Someone at Staples had been helping me with a product, but I proceeded to the checkout counter and got help. The person who had originally been helping me called out, "Did you find what you needed?" I responded, "Yes, he helped me," gesturing toward the cashier. The cashier gently corrected me, "They helped you." 

This primer belongs in your workplace. In a highly readable 64 pages, A Quick & Easy Guide to They-Them Pronouns will give you and your colleagues an excellent introduction to gender-neutral language and how and why to use it. It also gives sample dialogs for finding out whether a coworker uses the pronouns they/them/their. (Hint: It starts with stating which pronouns you use.) And it has plenty of examples of what not to do. 

Have you read the book? How well does your employer communicate in gender-neutral ways? 

Lynn (she/her)
Syntax Training 

 

Read Your Dense Privacy Policy? No, I'll Go Elsewhere

Earlier this month The New York Times published an interactive data-filled article on privacy policies titled "We Read 150 Privacy Policies. They Were an Incomprehensible Disaster."

Author Kevin Litman-Navarro performed several analyses. For example, he timed the minutes it took him to read a privacy policy. Craigslist's policy took the shortest amount of time, around 3 minutes, with Indeed's and Airbnb's policies taking the longest--nearly 35 minutes. (If you can access the NYT article, moving your cursor over the dots reveals the company names.) 

He tested how easy it was to understand each policy based on factors such as sentence length and vocabulary. Of the sites featured in the article, the BBC's policy was the easiest to understand (although more than 3,000 words). These were among the hardest: CNN, GoDaddy, Walt Disney, Hulu, and M.L.B. (Major League Baseball). 

Here's an example Litman-Navarro offered from the BBC's clear policy:

We have to have a valid reason to use your personal information. It's called the ‘lawful basis for processing.’ Sometimes we might ask your permission to do things, like when you subscribe to an email. Other times, when you'd reasonably expect us to use your personal information, we don't ask your permission, but only when: the law says it's fine to use it, and it fits with the rights you have.

Compare this 98-word snoozer of a sentence, which I plucked from Airbnb's privacy policy: 

For text messaging in the United States, by requesting, joining, agreeing to, enrolling in, signing up for, acknowledging, or otherwise consenting to receive one or more text messages (“Opting In”) or using a Airbnb arrangement in which Airbnb sends (or indicates that it may send, or receives a request that it send) one or more text messages (“Text Message Service”), you accept these SMS Terms for U.S. (“SMS Terms”), consent to the handling of your personal information as described in the Airbnb Privacy Policy, and agree to resolve disputes with Airbnb as described in our Terms of Service.

Litman-Navarro measured the readability of the first chapter of some classic texts to compare them to the privacy policies. His data shows that: 

• Immanuel Kant’s demanding Critique of Pure Reason is easier to read than lots of companies' privacy policies, among them Crunchyroll, Baidu, Zoom, CNN, GoDaddy, Walt Disney, Hulu, and M.L.B. 
• Charles Dickens's Great Expectations is easier to read than all but Craiglist's and the BBC's policies.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is easier to read than all of them. 

He also graphed policies by their reading levels, and he shows that the majority of privacy policies--like those of Chase, Citi, eBay, Yelp, Shopify, Apple, and UPS--exceed college reading level.

Litman-Navarro writes that "A significant chunk of the data collection economy is based on consenting to complicated documents that many Americans can’t understand."

But do we have to consent to them? I'm trying my best to reject them. 

For instance, the other day while making a reservation online for a favorite Seattle restaurant, I tried using the restaurant's new reservation service, Resy. I was directed to read a privacy policy of 4,622 words and click a link to acknowledge having read it. Nope. Not going to do it! I'm not going to read a 4,622-word policy, and I'm not going to pretend I read it--not for a restaurant reservation. I called the restaurant and reserved a table in a nice conversation with a human being. I let the restaurant know that I'm not going to deal with Resy and its required privacy policy.  

I had a similar experience last month with Avis. I had wanted to rent a car from them because they listed hybrid cars as an option. But Avis insisted that I acknowledge having read a 13-page 4,270-word policy to create an account. I declined and kept my original National car rental reservation, despite National's not having hybrids. I've probably agreed to National's policy in the past, but I'm not going to do this anymore--not unless I have to do it to get what I need. 

When companies start offering clear, concise, well-organized, and well-formatted privacy policies whose reading is optional, I'll start clicking yes. But until then, I'm going to avoid companies that make me work too hard to be their customer--or who expect the impossible of me. 

How do you feel about privacy policies? Do you read them? Do you click to agree and pretend to have read them?

Litman-Navarro suggests that this is what a good privacy policy would look like: 

A good privacy policy would help users understand how exposed they are: Something as simple as a list of companies that might purchase and use your personal information could go a long way towards setting a new bar for privacy-conscious behavior. For example, if you know that your weather app is constantly tracking your whereabouts [a NYT link] and selling your location data as marketing research, you might want to turn off your location services entirely, or find a new app.

I think that's a good start. How about you?

Enroll in my online, self-study course Business Writing Tune-Up to write policies worth reading. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

 

Signs That Need Your Proofreader's Eye

Even when I am on vacation, I can't turn off my proofreading eyes. The three signs below, which I spotted in Charleston, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina, got my attention. Can you recognize why? Each sign has at least one error. 

Sign 1 in Charleston 

 

Sign 2 in Charleston 

 

Sign 3 in Charlotte

 

Please share your corrections in the comments. 

Do you need to improve your proofreading or punctuation skills? Take a free trial of my online Proofread Like a Pro and Punctuation for Professionals courses. They are great programs for summer (or winter if you're down under) self-study. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Language That Enslaves Our Thinking

Traveling recently in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, I visited many places that told the story of slavery in the South. From the start, I noticed that presenters used the phrase enslaved people or enslaved person rather than slaves or slave.

The first time I heard enslaved people at the Old Slave Mart Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, I asked the guide about her choice of words. She explained that the noun slaves defined people too narrowly. They were much more than slaves. They were people who were enslaved. 

Then at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters in Savannah, Georgia, this portion of a sign explained that concept. 

In other words, the noun slave limits our thinking. It gives no hint that the enslaved person might have been a mother, daughter, sister, wife, dressmaker, cook, caregiver, gardener, healer, etc., as well as a thinking, feeling human being. 

We still have words that define people narrowly. They cause us to focus on a specific, negative condition of a person's life rather than reflect on the breadth of it.

Do you use any of these nouns in your writing?

Homeless--When used as a noun (the homeless), this word narrows our thinking, like slaves. In contrast, the expression "people experiencing homelessness" (like "people who were enslaved") allows our thoughts to broaden. It suggests that the individuals are more than their current social condition. They have lived in homes, gone to school, had people who loved them (and love them still), held jobs (and may hold them now), and had full, varied lives. They are not simply the category homeless. 

Addicts--This noun limits our vision and our understanding of people who suffer from addiction. Indeed, addiction takes over people's lives, but writers should not let the word addict define the individual. More useful expressions are "a person suffering from addiction," "a person experiencing an alcohol/drug problem," or "a person with a substance use disorder." The Associated Press Stylebook 2019 (AP) recommends avoiding the words alcoholic, addict, user, abuser, junkie, and drunk because they label the person rather than the disease. 

Illegals--This hot-button noun is sometimes used to label people who are in the United States illegally. Like slaves, homeless, and addicts, it limits the readers' perceptions of a huge range of individuals--in this case, individuals who are in the country illegally for many different reasons. AP recommends:

Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission. 

Diabetics, insomniacs, paraplegics--Like the other nouns, these words limit people using one challenging condition that they live with.

These examples are slightly different, but they appear in business writing and communicate narrowly and negatively: 

Subordinate--Some people use this noun to name people who report to them. Yet the word suggests "less than." The adjective subordinate has synonyms such as lesser, minor, inferior, lower, and subservient. Better expressions than subordinate are employee, team member, staff member, staff, and direct report--none of which suggest subservience. 

Loser--Like subordinate, loser stresses the "less than" status. Yet people who lose are often highly skilled, trained, and committed--winners by most measures. Better words are runner-up and competitor. 

In your writing, have you recognized limiting words and discovered ways to avoid them? Have you found alternatives that suggest the rich complexity of life rather than constraining our thoughts and ideas? I'd love to hear from you. 

But before you fault me for political correctness, please consider the title of this post: "Language That Enslaves Our Thinking." Let's not allow our language to restrict our ways of thinking about slavery, homelessness, addiction, immigration, and other challenging subjects. My goal is not to be politically correct. It's to think and communicate with my eyes fully open. 

Thank you to the many people of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia who made my vacation a rich experience! 

Lynn
Syntax Training 

Three More "Error Quests" for You

Test your error-finding skills in each of the three short passages below. Each passage has just one error. 

Passage 1:

The purpose of the conversation is to recognize the common ground between members of the Republican Party and the Democrat Party in our state. We hope to come away with a sense of common purpose and shared values. (The full description of the event appears on the back cover.)

 

Passage 2:

You met with Duane and Elise yesterday, right? I was wondering whether there were time for the three of you to work through all the issues. For instance, did you have time to decide whether we should use an attachment or a link for the detailed itinerary? Please let me know.   

 

Passage 3:

We can't publish the newsletter till we hear from Renee, who has the scholarship figures. By the way, Renee said she will be happy with whomever appears on the cover. She feels that all the recipients are strong, highly deserving candidates.  

 

Did you find just one error in each passage? A hint appears below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each passage includes an incorrect word. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compare these corrected passages with your versions. 

Passage 1:

The purpose of the conversation is to recognize the common ground between members of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in our state. We hope to come away with a sense of common purpose and shared values. (The full description of the event appears on the back cover.)

The correct name of the party is Democratic, not Democrat. 

 

Passage 2:

You met with Duane and Elise yesterday, right? I was wondering whether there was time for the three of you to work through all the issues. For instance, did you have time to decide whether we should use an attachment or a link for the detailed itinerary? Please let me know. 

"I was wondering whether there was time" is correct. The subjunctive form, were, is wrong because the sentence is not a wish, a conjecture, or a statement that is contrary to fact. 

 

Passage 3:

We can't publish the newsletter till we hear from Renee, who has the scholarship figures. By the way, Renee said she will be happy with whoever appears on the cover. She feels that all the recipients are strong, highly deserving candidates.  

"Appears on the cover" needs the subject form whoever--not the object whomever. Don't let the preposition with fool you. 

 

Do you want more practice finding errors? Try these five Error Quests. Then get the booklet (printed or interactive PDF) of 50 Error Quests.

Consider taking a course: Punctuation for Professionals and Proofread Like a Pro are available as online self-study courses.  

Did you find other errors in the three passages or in this blog post? I hope not! But if you did, please share them, and feel free to raise questions. 

Note: I'm on vacation through June 3, but I will respond to your comments as soon as I get a chance. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Can You Fix This Error-Filled Email?

Below is a screenshot of the first half of an email invitation I received for a bill-signing event in Seattle. I understood the content and appreciated the invitation, but I couldn't help spotting all the errors. How many do you recognize?

Feel free to edit the message and post your revision in the comments. So that you can copy and paste, I have included the text version of the message below the screenshot. 

 

**********

**********

 

Text of the message:

Dear ,

Come celebrate with our coalition partners, volunteers, legislative champions, and Governor Inslee at the WA Climate Package Bill Signing Ceremony on Tuesday May 7th at 3pm in Seattle!

Governor Inslee will sign 100% Clean Electricity, Clean Buildings for WA, and many other climate related bills into law at the event.

RSVP to the bill signing ceremony today, you won’t want to miss this groundbreaking signing!

****

I'd add or change seven punctuation marks, in addition to fixing other errors. If you can't find the errors, take my Punctuation for Professionals course. It's an online, self-study program with quizzes that tell you what you know and practical lessons that make understanding easy. 

I look forward to your revisions.

Lynn
Syntax Training

Use a Thank-You Note to Fix Interview Blunders

At job interviews it's easy to stumble over at least one question, especially if it's unexpected. Interview blunders can cause you to dread following up on your application. But don't lose heart! A thank-you note can remedy the situation. 

When you feel that you have blown an interview question, address it in a brief paragraph in your thank-you note. (Read about how to write the interview thank-you.) Use positive language to say what you wish you had said during the interview. 

Here's an example from a graduating college senior--we'll call her Valerie--who felt she had insufficiently addressed a question in her interview with a senior executive, the last interview in a series:

I would like to expand on my answer to your question about where realtime information can be gathered aside from Twitter. I think it's useful to look at regional or neighborhood blogs, comment sections under articles, and websites like Reddit, which encourage discussion among those under common circumstances.

Notice that Valerie wrote, "I would like to expand on my answer." She did not criticize her earlier answer or apologize for it even though she had felt discouraged about it after the interview. Writing the thank-you email and expanding on her answer in it helped Valerie feel better and more hopeful about the interview. A few days after sending the thank-you message, Valerie received an offer for the position and accepted it. 

Here's another example that led an applicant--let's call her Cristina--to the next round of interviews and eventually to a job offer:

I would like to follow up on your question about my first steps in approaching the customer service project. I mentioned user interviews, but I forgot to talk about how I would further define the vision and scope, budget, and timeline of the project.

Cristina felt disheartened that in the anxious situation of an interview she had forgotten what she regarded as basic information. That's probably why she wrote "I forgot." However, I recommend avoiding negative language like "I forgot," "I neglected," and "I should have." Just focus on how you want to address the question now. Instead of "I forgot to talk about . . ." Cristina might have written "I want to add that. . . ."

You might worry about calling attention to an interview question that you bungled. You don't want to remind the interviewer of that awkward moment. However, if you give an effective answer in your interview follow-up thank-you, you present yourself as a thoughtful person who takes the time to make things right. 

These made-up examples illustrate language you can use to expand on or correct interview answers: 

When you didn't have the information requested but should have:
Thank you for asking me about metrics for the project. I have researched the question and learned that after implementing my outreach plans, we more than doubled the number of applications from 36 to 80. 

.....

When you hadn't thought about the question before and didn't answer it knowledgeably: 
I have been thinking about your question about style manuals. I believe that The Associated Press Stylebook would be a better choice than The Chicago Manual of Style for the newsletters you want to create. AP is easier to use, and for the areas it doesn't cover, we can create a newsletter style sheet. 

.....

When you hadn't thought about a preference question before and didn't answer it thoughtfully: 
You asked about the kind of manager I would prefer. What a great question! Thinking more about it, I realized that my favorite managers have been ones who . . . . 

.....

When you gave a naive answer to a scenario question:
In the scenario you asked me about, I suggested a budget of around $60,000. However, thinking further about the scenario and the limitations you described, I believe $100,000 is a realistic figure. This amount would . . . .

.....

When you wish you had shared a work sample sooner: 
Reflecting on our conversation, I thought it might be helpful to share an example of my scientific writing. I have attached a recently published article, "[name]." 

.....

When you answered a straightforward question clumsily: 
I would like to clarify my answer to your question about which office location I prefer. I would be pleased and excited to work in San Francisco, Seattle, or Chicago. 

 

It's always a great idea to prepare for interviews by practicing your answers to likely questions aloud. However, you will probably have to answer a question you hadn't practiced and didn't anticipate. When you aren't happy with your answer to a question--and can't fix it during the interview--use a thank-you note to communicate what you wish you had said. Your thank-you can show that you don't settle for "good enough." You work at something until it's excellent. 

Do you have suggestions for applicants who flub an interview question? Please share them.

Please forward this blog post to anyone who is feeling bad about an interview answer. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Error or No Error?

I saw this great card designed by Jessica Hogarth at my local supermarket. It's a thank-you card for a teacher.

Does it contain an error? If so, where? If not, why not?

Do you worry about whether errors are getting by you? Or that you are correcting non-errors? Check out these two online self-study courses: Proofread Like a Pro and Punctuation for Professionals. Use those links to take $30 off each course throughout May. 

In your writing and editing, which items make you think twice? Punctuation problems? Grammar gaffes? Tell me which ones bother you, and I'll either write a blog post for you, refer you to one I have already written, or explain it in a comment. 

I'll comment on the thank-you card tomorrow. 

Lynn
Syntax Training 

 

May 2, 2019

Yes, the card does have an error. I've corrected it in the image below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The thank-you sentence needs a comma because it directly addresses the teacher. 

I've written about the direct-address comma many times. Read these posts if you would like explanations and examples: 

What Some Got Right About My Birthday: The Comma

Will You Commit Lynn?

How New Is That Rule? 

The Commonest Punctuation Error of 2008