This is me in 1973 when the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision. I was 13 years old. I'd been menstruating for less than a year. To me, Roe was just another reason to believe grownups were making the US a better place to grow up female. Title IX had...
Usability
Writing Digital Content People Will Want to Consume: Syracuse University
1. American Association of University Women: Broken Ladders: Barriers to Women’s Representation in Nonprofit Leadership 2. Metropolitan Museum of Art: Met Stories landing page. Choose a story and watch a couple of minutes 3. American Bankers Association:...
Trying, Failing, and Trying Again to Balance Parenthood and Your Career
If everything had gone as I’ve always planned, I’d be writing this article on a quiet workday in my pleasant home office. I’d have gone on a long walk in the woods before starting work sharply at 7 am (I'm definitely a morning person). I’d have made progress on a big...
Email Writing Resources
My articles on email writing: Set the Tone in Email: How You Sat It Is As Important As What You Say Five Email Bad Habits That Make People Dislike You How to Write an “I’m leaving my job” Email That Won’t Burn Bridges Video Interview: How to Improve Email Response...
Join our Plain Language Weekly Club on Clubhouse
On Fridays at 12 pm Eastern, Deborah Bosley, owner of The Plain Language Group, and I are hosting the Plain Language Weekly Club on Clubhouse. Please join us! Our casual, candid conversations include people from all corners of the plain language world: consultants,...
Set the Tone in Email: How You Say It Is as Important as What You Say
Setting the right tone in email writing is more than just choosing the right wine to go with the meal. Tone in email – how you say what you say – is so important that an inappropriate tone can cause a reader to ignore, delete, or overreact to your message. A versatile...
“I’m tired of stupid comments”: How NOT To Respond to Social Media Followers Who Wear You Out
If you’ve ever had to endure customers’ negative comments about your company or products on social media, you may be giving Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland, a round of applause for his response to Heather, a follower of his official Facebook page. She wrote, “We’re...
How to Write a Five-Star Response to a One-Star Rating or Poor Review
A gracious response may help to win over an unhappy customer and demonstrate that you’re listening and you care. Sometimes social media feels like the mean kids’ table in the lunchroom at middle school. Everybody’s talking dirt about someone else. And once the gossip...
Resources: Writing in Plain Language at NTSB
Webinar 1 Where to find plain language award winners and heroes: http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/about/plain-english-awards-about/ https://centerforplainlanguage.org https://plainlanguage.gov https://www.lwionline.org Some federal agencies give their own plain...
For Entrepreneurs: How to Grow Your Virtual Network, Sincerely
We’ve all experienced the highs and lows of having a personal virtual network. We enjoy the highs—reconnecting on Facebook with your best friend from high school—and we suffer the lows—scrolling through a cousin’s Instagram pics of every plate of food she’s ever...
