E-Mail Writing 1.2

E-Mail Writing 1.2

Email Etiquette

An organization needs to implement etiquette rules for the following three reasons:

1. Professionalism: by using proper email language an organization will convey a professional image.

2. Efficiency: emails that get to the point are much more effective than poorly worded emails.

3. Protection from Liability: employee awareness of email risks will protect the organization from costly law suits.

Most Important Email Etiquette Tips

a. Be concise and to the point. Do not make an e-mail longer than it needs to be. Remember that reading an e-mail is harder than reading printed communications and a long e-mail can be very discouraging to read.

b. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions. An email reply must answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions – If you do not answer all the questions in the original email, you will receive further e-mails regarding the unanswered questions, which will not only waste your time and your customer’s time but also cause considerable frustration. For example, a customer sends you an email asking which credit cards you accept. Instead of just listing the credit card types, you can guess that their next question will be about how they can order, so you also include some order information and a URL to your order page. Customers will definitely appreciate this.

c. Make it personal. Not only should the e-mail be personally addressed, it should also include personal i.e. customized content. For this reason auto replies are usually not very effective. However, templates can be used effectively in this way, see next tip.

d. Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation. This is not only important because improper spelling, grammar and punctuation give a bad impression, it is also important for conveying the message properly. E-mails with no full stops or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text. And, if your program has a spell checking option, why not use it?

e. Use templates for frequently used responses. Some questions you get over and over again, such as directions to your office etc. Save these texts as response templates and paste these into your message when you need them. You can save your templates in a Word document, or use pre-formatted emails.

f. Answer swiftly. Customers send an e-mail because they wish to receive a quick response. If they did not want a quick response they would send a letter or a fax. Therefore, each e-mail should be replied to within at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day. If the email is complicated, just send an email back saying that you have received it and that you will get back to them. This will put the customer's mind at rest and usually customers will then be very patient!

g. Do not attach unnecessary files. By sending large attachments you can annoy customers and even bring down their e-mail system. Wherever possible try to compress attachments and only send attachments when they are productive.

h. Use proper structure & layout. Since reading from a screen is more difficult than reading from paper, the structure and lay out is very important for e-mail messages. Use short paragraphs and blank lines between each paragraph. When making points, number them or mark each point as separate to keep the overview.

i. Do not write in CAPITALS. IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response in the form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.

j. Read the email before you send it. A lot of people don't bother to read an email before they send it out, as can be seen from the many spelling and grammar mistakes contained in emails. Apart from this, reading your email through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.

k. Do not overuse Reply to All. Only use Reply to All if you really need your message to be seen by each person who received the original message.

l. Mailings > use the Bcc: field or do a mail merge. When sending an email mailing, some people place all the email addresses in the To: field. There are two drawbacks to this practice: (1) the recipient knows that you have sent the same message to a large number of recipients, and (2) you are publicizing someone else's email address without their permission. One way to get round this is to place all addresses in the Bcc: field.

m. Use a meaningful subject. Try to use a subject that is meaningful to the recipient as well as yourself. For instance, when you send an email to a company requesting information about a product, it is better to mention the actual name of the product, e.g. 'Product A information' than to just say 'product information' or the company's name in the subject.

n. Take care with abbreviations and emoticons. In business/ official emails, try not to use abbreviations such as BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud). The recipient might not be aware of the meanings of the abbreviations and in business emails these are generally not appropriate. The same goes for emoticons, such as the smiley :-). If you are not sure whether your recipient knows what it means, it is better not to use it.

o. Be careful with formatting. Remember that when you use formatting in your emails, the sender might not be able to view formatting, or might see different fonts than you had intended. When using colors, use a color that is easy to read on the background.

p. Avoid long sentences. Try to keep your sentences to a maximum of 15-20 words. Email is meant to be a quick medium and requires a different kind of writing than letters. Also take care not to send emails that are too long. If a person receives an email that looks like a dissertation, chances are that they will not even attempt to read it!

q. Use active instead of passive. Try to use the active voice of a verb wherever possible. For instance, 'We will process your order today', sounds better than 'Your order will be processed today'. The first sounds more personal, whereas the latter, especially when used frequently, sounds unnecessarily formal.

After knowing this all, (advantages and disadvantages of email, basic email etiquettes) we must use email as a time saver rather than a time waster. 

 

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E-Mail Writing 1.1

E-Mail Writing 1.1

(Advantages & Disadvantages)

E-mail is a quick and easy way to stay in touch with family, friends, business contacts, and strangers. It doesn't cost the price of a stamp and you don't have to wait for days to get a response or answer. In the business world, it is any easy, fast way to keep in touch with co-workers and employers. Emails keep us from wasting valuable time being placed on hold when you need to contact someone regarding business or pleasure.

Advantages/ Importance of Email

Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of email will help you analyze the time you spend using it. Learn the pros and cons to decide when and how to use email effectively.

Cheap. Once you’re online, there is no further expense.

Easy to Reference. Sent and received messages and attachments can be stored safely, logically and reliably.

Easy to Use. Once you’re set up, sending and receiving messages is simple. That goes for a host of other email functions. Data storage and contacts can be accessed quickly and easily.

Easy to Prioritize. Incoming messages have subject lines that mean you can delete without opening. How much time does that save compared to ‘snail mail?’

Fast. Message to send? Done, under a second! Email is by far the fastest form of written communication.

Global. Web based email means you can access your messages anywhere online. Going oversees? Before you go, mail yourself a copy of your passport number, travel insurance details or your accommodation details.

Good for the Planet. Actually the advantages and disadvantages of email are clear here. Computers themselves aren’t 'green', but email offsets some of the damage by reducing the environmental cost of contact.

Info at Your Fingertips. Storing data online means less large, space taking file cabinets, folders and shelves. You can access information far quicker if you learn how to use email this way.

Leverage. Send the same message to any number of people. Adaptations are simple, too. If you have a product or service to sell, email is an effective medium to get your message out.

Send Reminders to Yourself. Do you use more than one account? Email yourself messages from work to home or vice versa. Does the idea of two or more accounts seem complicated? It's not if you know how to manage multiple accounts.

If used well, email really is a superb productivity tool. And here's the flip side...

Disadvantages of Email

Emotional Responses. Some emails cause upset or anger. A reply in the heat of the moment can’t be retracted.

Lacks the Personal Touch. Some things are best left untyped. Email will never beat a hand written card or letter when it comes to relationships.

Misunderstandings. Emails from people who don’t take the time to read what they write before clicking ‘send’. Time is wasted, either to clarify or, worse, acting on a misinterpretation of the message.

Information Overload. Too many people send too much information. They often cite ‘need to know’ as the justification. Learn how to use email effectively and you’ll reduce time wasted on this.

No respite. The law of the empty inbox – leave it and will grow. Ignore it at your peril! Discover how to get an empty inbox every day.

Pressure to Reply. Once it’s in your inbox, you feel an ever increasing obligation to act on it. Procrastinating doesn’t make it go away.

Spam. Having to deal with spam and spoofs is one of the worst avoidable time wasters online.

Wasting Your Time. Over checking messages is time wasted on low value, passive activity.

Viruses. A virus could seriously affect your computer. If you want know how to use email, you need to know how to deal with these

Too Long. How long is too long? It’s hard to say exactly, but the longer it goes on, the harder it is to take in. Email is suited to brevity.

 ...to be continued.  

EFFECTIVE READING: 1.1

EFFECTIVE READING: 1.1
The Importance of Reading: Why is the Habit of Reading Important?

The Importance of Reading is difficult to express in words but can experienced by people from all walks of life. With the advent of modern technology, the Ipod and the X-box have probably overtaken the humble Hardy Boys or Tom Sawyer in managing to catch the attention of the young kids. Parents and others would however do well to inculcate the habit of reading in children from a very young age and that will prove to be in good stead for the years to come.

Although one can take to reading at any age, I have seen that it is much easier to begin at a young age and develop a love and passion for reading rather than forcing oneself to indulge in this at a later age in life. Reading has a host of benefits - tangible and intangible and should in fact become a habit as common as bathing or eating.

The Importance of Reading - Reason #1

Reading can make you Smarter

Yes. Reading is a very active state exercise for your mind as opposed to watching TV or listening to music. Reading forces your brain cells to engage in activity as you paint a vivid image in your mind about the story that you are reading. This is what is most fascinating for me and also why I am always scared of watching a movie about a book that I have read. As the imagination in my head could be totally different from that depicted in the movie.

Your Brain is also a muscle which must be worked on a regular basis as this will keep your mental faculties constantly engaged and thus keep you sharper and smarter.

The Importance of Reading - Reason #2

Reading can improve your Vocabulary and Language Skills

If you are a regular reader, you are bound to come across the works of various authors and will be exposed to several different literary styles. You will keep on learning new words, phrases, idioms and learn to use them in several different ways as well.

One handy tip for youngsters - Keep a dictionary handy. If you come across a new word you didn't know about, look it up immediately in the dictionary. From my own personal experience I can tell you that this has done wonders for my vocabulary and I loved interacting with new words every day and with each new book that I read.

Keep reading new books, new genres, fiction, non-fiction, etc. Give yourself some variety and I am sure that you will pick up some new words each day.

The Importance of Reading - Reason #3

Reading makes you Knowledgeable

Okay this one's a no brainer. Reading does make you knowledgeable. The more you read, the diverse books you read, each time you are adding valuable pieces of knowledge to your mental database.

Everyone knows how important it is to be knowledgeable to succeed in any area of life that you choose. It will perhaps be less surprising to learn that the most successful people in many walks of life would be the persons who are the most well read.

Noble Peace Prize winner and former President of Israel - Shimon Peres very wisely said ~

Your best friends are not only human beings, but books. To read books is like going to swim in a sea of wisdom, endlessly fascinating. And there are so many wise people all over the world, throughout history, and you can have it free, for nothing. And reading must become a daily habit. It's not that you can read once a week. I read day in and day out, and you make acquaintances with books. After a few pages, you know with whom you are dealing. Serious, unserious, far-sighted, repetitive.

The Importance of Reading - Reason#4

Reading boosts Creativity

What is Creativity - It's the ability to identify unusual or novel connections to a given set of facts. Creativity requires the individual to be knowledgeable in several areas to be able to make these connections.

Creative individuals are generally masters in their area of expertise and very good readers and thus knowledgeable about several different aspects. This constant reading and ability to think out of the box helps them to see patterns, novel connections or new solutions where others are not able to relate.

The author was once on his way to a presentation about Innovative Tax Planning Strategies and was struggling to find a good opening anecdote. While on his way he dug into his stack of magazines that he usually carried and began to flip through "The Economist" magazine. He read a story about an unusual hoarding along a highway in California. The hoarding just had a mathematical formula with the words ".com" at the end suggesting that the answer to the formula would probably lead to some website.

Persons who solved the formula got something like a 158302890.com (just an example) and when they landed on the website, they saw an even harder mathematical formula. A privileged few who managed to crack that were led to another website which just said.

"Google welcomes you to submit your resumes"

Fantastic. The point here was not only did he read something fantastic, it also gave a mind a great boost, he used the "Innovation" connection and used it as an opening anecdote for his presentation.

Thus It is not always necessary to know what you will do with your reading. The dots will connect at sometime in the future and will give you innovative and creative solutions. Keep reading. You will definitely be more creative in whatever area of life you choose to excel.

Other Benefits

Good readers can understand the individual sentences and the organizational structure of a piece of writing. They can comprehend ideas, follow arguments, and detect implications. They know most of the words in the text already, but they can also determine the meaning of many of the unfamiliar words from the context - failing this, they can use their dictionary effectively to do so. In summary, good readers can extract from the writing what is important for the particular task they are employed in. And they can do it quickly!

Educational researchers have also found a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary knowledge. In other words, students who have a large vocabulary are usually good readers. This is not very surprising, since the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read extensively, and if you read extensively you are likely to be or become a good reader!

The graphic below illustrates the interdependence of vocabulary, reading ability and academic success. 

*"Research findings in applied linguistics and reading research consistently show a strong correlation between reading proficiency and academic success at all ages, from the primary school right through to university level: students who read a lot and who understand what they read usually attain good grades."

~  Pretorius, E.

Start Reading Today. So these were the 5 major reasons to start reading today but it is sure you would find many more reasons to do so. Love reading and then the passion of reading will automatically take over. Once it becomes a habit and something that you love and you are crazy about, it will remain for a lifetime. Remembers, Readers are the Leaders !

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EFFECTIVE LISTENING 1.5

EFFECTIVE LISTENING 1.5 

Barriers to Effective Listening  

Shift Response: Shift response occurs when one competes for attention in a conversation by changing the subject in order to favour oneself. The opposite of this occurrence is support response, which is constructive to appropriate listening. Both genders use shift response in conversation, but men utilize shift response more often than women.

Impression Interrupting: Interrupting is something we all do. It's natural for listeners to evaluate a speaker, but our impressions should not interfere with our listening. The content (what the speaker is saying) should be judged on its own value to you and the speaker. Sometimes you may be tempted to tune out the speaker because of his or her appearance. If an instructor is sloppily dressed and careless about their appearance, you may conclude that what is being said isn't worth listening to. Avoid the temptation and do not let your personal feelings interfere with your learning.

Glazing: Glazing over occurs when the listener’s attention wanders, dozes off or daydreaming begins.

Pseudo Listening: This happens when someone pretends to listen during a conversation and attempts to disguise inattention. Typical responses include “Mm-Hmm”, “Really?”, and “Uh huh”. During this time of inattention, the pseudo listener is unfocused, therefore, it can be very frustrating for the speaker.

Ambushing: Ambushing is an example of negative listening in which the listener ignores the strength of the message, instead looking for weaknesses in order to attack what the speaker says. Although the listener is attentive, the problem stems from the fact that responses are rebuttals and refutations of the speaker’s message. 

Content only Response: This type of response occurs when one focuses on the content of the message, but ignores the emotional side. This type of response does not recognize feelings and comprehends only the literal meaning of messages.

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EFFECTIVE LISTENING 1.4

EFFECTIVE LISTENING 1.4

"Listening is a skill while hearing is natural process."

Skills relating to Active Listening

•       Note-taking,

•       Effective Questioning & Paraphrasing

•       Non-verbal Communication

•       Semantic Markers

Note-taking

•       Note making vs. note taking.

•       Keeping a record for yourself

•       A selection and organization of  words including the most important/ interesting parts of the lecture

•       Summarization and reflection on what they say.

•       Usage of a whole range of symbols, abbreviations, our own form of shorthand

•       Identifying for oneself a list of key points while revisiting the notes

Effective Questioning & Paraphrasing

•       One of the important skills within Active Listening

•       To focus or concentrate more on what the speaker is saying

•       Making a summary of what you heard

•       Closed questions vs. open-ended questions

•       Paraphrase to (i) Test your understanding of what has been said, (ii) Demonstrate your understanding.

Non-verbal Communication (NVC)

•       Speech contains paralanguage, including voice quality, emotion and speaking style

•       Written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of emoticons

•       Posture & Gesture

•       Eye Contact is important.

 Semantic Markers

•       Noticing even the smallest aspects of communication such as semantic markers.

•       The main ideas are cued with a facial expression and /or gesture and/ or phrases 

note: Posture can be used to determine a participant’s degree of attention or involvement, the difference in status between communicators, and the level of fondness a person has for the other communicator. Posture is understood through such indicators as direction of lean, body orientation, arm position, and body openness. A gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to express meaning. Gestures may be articulated with the hands, arms or body, and include movements of the head, face and eyes, such as winking, nodding, or rolling ones’ eyes.

In short, good posture, paying attention to speakers’ gestures and semantic markers and looking into the speaker’s eyes, facilitate and promote learning. Paying attention to what your lecturer and/or speaker is saying and doing is key to success in your studies and life.

to be continued...

EFFECTIVE LISTENING: 1.3

EFFECTIVE LISTENING: 1.3

Why do we listen?

• To gain information.

• To get feed back.

• To participate in another’s story.

• To hear of their experiences and insights.

• To be in control (information is power)

• To broaden our horizons (to learn)

• To create a relationship.

• To respect and value others.

FACTS about LISTENING

What is Listening ?

      First listening requires the ear. If one doesn't or isn't able to hear, then listening can’t take place. Your ears are primary to listening. In other words, you must give the other person communicating your full attention so that you actually hear the message. We also must listen with our eyes. Much of listening is observing and trying to understand not only what is being said but how it is being said. This is often called nonverbal communications. And listening also involves the heart. We need to understand the emotion that is being communicated in the words we hear (and see). Listening requires ears as primary, plus eye contact, and one heart…a full attention.

Listening is the process of,

i. receiving,

ii. constructing meaning from,

iii. and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages;

iv. to hear something with thoughtful attention 

      

Why is it important to be a good listener?

1. Listening builds stronger relationships.

2. Listening promotes being heard.

3. Listening creates acceptance & openness.

4. Listening leads to learning

5. Listening reduces stress and tension.

6. Listening is CRITICAL in conflict resolution.

7. Listening is helpful in accomplishing tasks & making wise decisions.

8. Listening is directly proportional to learning.

9. Listening can enhance your problem   solving abilities.

10. Listening is the most powerful form of acknowledgment that the other person is important.

Listening Bad Habits

...to be continued.