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...
Workplace Writing
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...
Customer Service Chat by Vizio: Some Answers, But No Help
Customer service chat is popular with companies and customers alike. It's easy, it's quick, and it works well on mobile devices. But easy and popular doesn't always equal good. Read this chat with customer service agent "Jack" at Vizio. It is a set of customer service...
Verizon customer service chat: How to kill your relationship with your customer
Someone needs to tell Verizon: "Customer service chat is supposed to help the customer." Read through the transcript of this truly painful chat, and you'll hardly believe your eyes. The customer, Marianne, endures: One hour and 17 minutes of chat Dialogue with no...
