Monthly Archives: March 2013

To thank or not to thank on Twitter?

Nick Bilton’s suggestion that e-mail thank-yous are a time waster has sparked debate on whether or not it’s appropriate to thank people in digital communications. Some have gone so far to suggest that this new social ethic of efficiency is creating … Continue reading

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“Scholarly Writing and How to Get It Done”

That’s the subtitle of my favourite blog on academic writing, “Stupid Motivational Tricks,” authored (primarily) by Jonathan Mayhew, a Professor of Spanish at the University of Kansas, who is a friend of mine and has been since our days in … Continue reading

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Getting in a communication state of mind: 3 tips

Over the past few days, I’ve come across three great articles about mentally setting the stage for successful communications. Heidi Grant Halvorson’s “The 2 Epiphanies That Made Me a Better Negotiator” points out that viewing negotiation as a challenge rather … Continue reading

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CMO.com: A very useful resource

Last week I gave a presentation to the Vancouver chapter of Construction Specifications Canada. It was called “Twitter? LinkedIn? How to Use Social Media Professionally.” The room was filled with architects, engineers, landscapers, contractors, and one or two marketers: an … Continue reading

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Stopping the Page from Being Blank

In the mid-1990s, shortly after I moved to Vancouver, I got a job doing Investor Relations for a public company drafting news releases, presentations, brochures, and the like. I would put drafts of these items together and present them to … Continue reading

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Ethics of Persuasion: The Reciprocity Rule

I was walking down Granville Street the other day on my way to London Drugs when I spotted two Chinese monks ahead of me speaking to passersby. Ordinarily cautious of sidewalk solicitors, I let one of them engage me precisely … Continue reading

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On National Grammar Day: A love letter to language

It’s fitting that I should write this post on National Grammar Day. Choosing and arranging the right words with the right endings in the right order with the right punctuation isn’t even close to the most interesting thing I could … Continue reading

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