I just heard about a disgruntled parent who demanded to see the minutes of his son’s minor hockey association. It doesn’t matter what the man was looking for. But, under freedom of information legislation, the group had to turn them over. The members were shocked. After all, they were just a volunteer group organized to […]
Minutes and Freedom of Information: What you need to know
in Business Writing TipsI just heard about a disgruntled parent who demanded to see the minutes of his son’s minor hockey association. It doesn’t matter what the man was looking for. But, under freedom of information legislation, the group had to turn them over. The members were shocked. After all, they were just a volunteer group organized to […]
The Key to Productive Meetings: The Cardinals Know It
in Feature, Leadership, News, Time ManagementThe cardinals in Rome have much to talk about as they participate in closed-door, pre-conclave meetings. In fact, some of them have so much to discuss that they have had to set up a 5-minute time limit. When the green light flashes, the speaker must halt. It’s the best way to run a productive meeting. […]
Writing Style – Starting a Sentence With “But”
in Feature Article, StyleTammy’s question: “I’ve always thought that it is not appropriate to start a sentence using ‘but.’ What are your thoughts?” BizWritingTip response: Starting a sentence with but is not a grammar error. It is a style issue. In the academic world, the writing style is formal. Therefore, starting a sentence with but would be inappropriate […]
Free Tip Sheet on Minute Taking at Meetings
in NewsFree Tip Sheet from the Web-Based workshop:
Taking Minutes at Meetings now on YouTube
in Business Writing Tips, Feature, NewsYouTube link or click on the image above This web-Based Training is Offered through the “Udemy” training portal. The online course costs just $149… but for a limited time, use the coupon code “otn” and get the course for only $129! Click HERE to get this special offer now!
Web Based Training – Taking Minutes at Meetings
in Business Writing Tips, Feature, NewsOntario Training now offers a web based courses through Udemy on Taking Minutes at Meetings: Web based training by Jane Watson Jane Watson has been involved in the meeting process — both as a minute taker and as a chair — for many years. In fact, she has written one of the first books exclusively on […]
Writing Style – Contractions in Minutes
in -Latest, Feature Article, StyleMarg’s question: “My manager says I can’t use contractions in my minutes. What do you think?”BizWritingTip response: First, contractions are words that are shortened by replacing a letter or letters with an apostrophe. Examples Cannot = can’t It is/it has = it’s We will = we’ll Contractions are not wrong, but they are considered a less […]
Word Choice – Recur Versus Reoccur
in -Latest, Feature Article, Word ChoicePaul’s question: “What is the difference between ‘recur’ and ‘reoccur’?” BizWritingTip response: If you say something recurs you are saying the event happens repeatedly – at regular intervals. Example We see a recurrence of flu symptoms in our patients beginning in December. (Flu happens every year.) How should we handle the recurring problem of all staff wanting to take their vacations during […]
Writing Style – Smothered Verbs
in -Latest, Feature Article, StylePaul’s question: “My manager was talking about smothered verbs last week. What are they and why should we avoid them?”BizWritingTip response: Smothered verbs deal with style. There is nothing wrong with them grammatically. Smothered verbs are created when writers take our strong English verbs and turn them into nouns. They then have to insert another verb […]
Openings for Emails
in -Latest, Emails, Feature ArticleBev’s question: “In my company, we have been told to start any email response to our customers with ‘Thank you for your email.’ What do you think?”BizwritingTip response: There is nothing wrong with the sentence in terms of grammar or etiquette. But I don’t like it for a number of reasons. First, what are you thanking […]