And they say they CAYRE

Kwik Kopy, Kidz Kutz, Koffee King ... These not-so-kute variations of common words have certainly made their way into the world of branding. While I can’t say I’m terribly in favour of their existence, they don’t usually get my goat, but every now and then … grrrrrrrr … my goat gets got.

CAYRE (Community Alliance for York Region Education) is a community-based registered charity that funds opportunities and advantages to enhance learning for York Region students in Ontario. I have absolutely nothing against their acronym. In fact, I think it’s rather clever. But there’s a time and place for clever, and the bag in which young children carry their library books is not, in my opinion, the smartest surface on which to write “We CAYRE about reading.”

Well, that brings my little rant to a close. Agree? Disagree? Got one of your own? Have your say here. 

What kind of listener are you?

Communication refers to the exchange of information between individuals, exchange being the operative word. Effective communication should, therefore, focus as much on receiving a message as it does on delivering one. What kind of listener are you?

Are you a mind reader? If you're constantly trying to second-guess others, you can't be giving them your full attention.

Are you an adviser? If you go in already focused on what you think is best, you're unlikely to be open to the suggestions of others.

Are you a cherry picker? Cherry pickers listen out for what they want to hear and tune everything else out, which causes them to miss out on valuable details.

Are you a daydreamer? I said, are you a daydreamer?

Even if you think you're a good listener, why not shoot for better? Maximize the success of presentations, new business pitches - and even dates - by following these effective listening tips:

1. Always give whoever is speaking your full attention. (Note: Checking out their spiffy new shoes doesn't qualify.)
2. Stay focused. Listen to every word the speaker is saying instead of anticipating what they're going to say next. If you find yourself glazing over, give your body a quick wake-up call by shifting your position.
3. Don't jump ahead. If you're busy thinking about what you're going to say next, you can't be giving the speaker your full attention.
4. Don't interrupt. If you think of a question, jot it down, let the speaker finish their thought and pose the question during a suitable break.
5. Play it back. If you're not certain you've understood the message correctly, say something along the lines of: If I understand you correctly, what you're saying is ... and replay what they've said, only in your own words.

That's it for this post. Thanks for listening.

I couldn't care less ... or could I?

Two readers wrote in expressing their dismay over the misuse of this expression. Eager to clear matters up on their behalf, I began my quest to support their argument in favour of I couldn’t care less.

Lo and behold, I hit a roadblock, namely, The Concise Oxford Dictionary. While I couldn’t care less is indeed correct for use in Canadian English, apparently I could care less is its American English counterpart.

Does the American version make sense? I believe it does, my interpretation being: “I care about the size of a pinhead – if that, but yes, I suppose I could care even less if I tried very hard.” As derogatory as the Canadian version, wouldn’t you say?

I’ll Be There

“You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back. Where there is love, I'll be there.” That has to be one of my favourite Jackson 5 songs. The lyrics are sweet, and unlike my daughter who objects to Michael’s “girly” voice, I think he sounds perfectly pure, and it moves me every time. At least, it did until last Saturday.

While I was out driving with the sun shining, windows down, and little Michael singing his heart out, I was almost moved to tears, and then I heard it: a line that jolted me out of my moment and into my next and rather overdue blog entry. The culprit:

“If you should ever find someone new, I know he'd better be good to you. 'Cause if he DOESN’T, I'll be there.”

Doesn’t? Doesn’t what, exactly? As this line played and replayed in my head, I couldn’t grasp why they inserted the wrong word when the right word has exactly the same cadence and actually makes sense:

“If you should ever find someone new, I know he'd better be good to you. 'Cause if he ISN’T, I'll be there.”

I’ll admit, my observation is petty when you look at how much the Jackson 5 actually did get right, but I do believe there’s a lesson in it for us mere mortals. When you’re writing, don’t just make sure your verbs and pronouns agree. Make sure your sentences agree with one another. Spell check may be smart enough to point out a poorly structured sentence, but it’s not smart enough to point out a well-structured sentence that’s out of context.

And now, with my rant behind me, I’m going back for more. Care to join me? Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6bARIaMhCM

Communicate, chunk by chunk

If I had a dollar for every time someone called me up and said, “I’ve been meaning to write [fill in the blank] for months and can’t find the time. Can you help?”… Granted, I wouldn’t be a millionaire but I’d have at least a week’s worth of Starbucks lattes in the bank, and they don’t come cheap.

If your great intentions are getting you nowhere fast, try tackling it in small chunks versus one big bite. With that in mind, here are five tips to help you get that communication out before it's old news.

Analyze your audience and your purpose.

Who are you communicating with? What is the desired outcome of your communication? Is it to build loyalty, drive traffic, or simply inform? Lose sight of your goal and you’re guaranteed to veer off track.

Organize your source material.

I find it helpful to create one document into which I cut and paste helpful URLs, directions issued to me via e-mail, and relevant paragraphs pulled from various sources. This allows me to spend less time rummaging and more time writing.

Don’t write and edit at the same time.

If you’re constantly stopping to criticize your work, you’ll never manage to complete a thought. Get your points down and then – only then – revisit your work and start editing.

Buy a dictionary.

If you’re not obliged to follow a particular style guide, I recommend that you stick to Canadian spelling. And don’t let your spellcheck tell you otherwise. In Canada, we write “fulfil”; in the U.S., they write “fulfill.” As a general rule don’t succumb to MSWord’s little red spellcheck squiggle without picking up your dictionary. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2^nd edition, is a wise choice.

Pass it on.

Even the best writers are human first, writer second, and humans make mistakes. If you have a vested interest in the outcome of your communication, call on a professional for a fresh pair of eyes. Or, if budget is tight, run your work by a colleague or friend at the very least.

Got a tip you’d like to share? Send it my way and I’ll pass the word on.

Avoid these everyday errors

One writing error that I come across almost every day is the mistaken substitution of two words in instances where there should be one. I’m not exaggerating. It’s practically an everyday occurrence.

If you think I’m making this up, you’re altogether wrong. I’ve been collecting clippings of this recurring error from my local newspaper. I keep these clippings all together in a small plastic box in the top drawer of my desk and look at them every day before I start work.

Okay, I confess, there is no plastic box and there are no newspaper clippings. If you were all ready to write me off as a mad grammarian, please think again. I simply like to make a grammatical point from time to time. I trust I’ve accomplished this already.

Caps in the spring

Despite the mammoth snowflakes that drifted by my office window all day yesterday, I have this tingling sense of impending spring. Call me crazy, but I swear I heard baby birds chirping the other day. Alas, it may have been in my head. Either way, sooner or later, spring will arrive, and with it will come all sorts of exciting spring promotions.

As you incorporate seasonal messaging into your marketing materials, keep in mind that seasons, as a general rule, aren’t capitalized. (“Take advantage of our fabulous spring specials.”)

If you’re incorporating the name of a season into the name of a special event or promotion, however, go ahead and capitalize. (“Our Spectacular Spring Sale starts this Saturday.”)

While we’re on the subject of caps, when your marketing is driven by holidays, religious events, and special occasions such as St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day, caps are in order as these events, unlike seasons, are all proper names.

When to spell out numbers

This week, a client of mine asked me to review some existing copy on his website – just to make sure he’d crossed his T’s and dotted his I’s before the site went live. As I was editing a rather number-heavy section of copy, it occurred to me that he might not be the only one in need of some guidelines on when to spell numbers out in full.

If there’s one guideline worth remembering, this is probably the one you’ll get the most mileage from: numbers up to and including ten are normally written out in full, while numbers 11 – 99 are typically expressed numerically. So, “we offer a four-week program and a 12-week program,” is perfectly correct.

In addition, the CP Stylebook suggests you spell numbers out:

·      at the start of a sentence: Twenty to 30 children attended, as well as 40 adults;

·      in informal or casual usage: She received hundreds of responses to her letter;

·      in formal usage: In the year two thousand and four;

·      in figures of speech and the like: Ten Commandments, Big Ten, a ten-gallon hat.

I hope that one day, some day, this entry comes in handy.

Exclamation excess

Ah, the exclamation mark. Intended to denote surprise, command, sarcasm or deep emotion, this strong mark of punctuation has slowly but surely become the canned laughter of copywriting.

It’s become a cue that writers all too often use to make extra, extra, extra sure their readers get it, which suggests one of two things: the writer is either concerned that his or words lack sufficient impact, or he or she isn’t quite convinced that the audience is smart enough to get it.

While there is definitely a time and place for the exclamation mark, do take a moment to question why you’re using it when you next feel the inclination. As for using two or three consecutively, don’t do it – ever!

Ps and Qs or P's and Q's?

Have you ever wondered how the term mind your Ps and Qs came to mean mind your manners? To be honest, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind either until a beer-loving friend brought it to my attention a few years back.


According to her findings (be honest, you thought she was a he), the saying originates from public houses in Old England. Apparently when customers became unruly, bartenders would yell at them to mind their pints and quarts – or Ps and Qs – referring, of course, to their bevies.


And that’s not the only drink-related theory. Another one suggests that back in the old days when sailors were paid a pittance, they frequented taverns that allowed them to run bar tabs until payday. Since many of them were illiterate, the landlords kept the tabs simple by writing Ps or Qs next to the sailors’ names each time they ordered a drink.


Back to the headline of this entry for a moment. If you were the writer, would you have written Mind your P’s and Q’s? Adding apostrophes to plurals of capital letters and numbers may feel as instinctive as crossing your Ts, but if no ambiguity is caused by their absence, they’re not required. In a nutshell:

• No ambiguity = no apostrophe: she knew the five Ps of the marketing mix off by heart and got straight As in the exam she took back in the 1990s.

• Ambiguity = apostrophe: A’s are hard to come by and I’s need dotting when their lower-case is used.

What's in a name?

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty attached to my name. Vivienne. My parents gave it to me years ago and it has great sentimental value. (They gave me a middle name, too. Whatever.)

Why they chose to spell my name the French way, I have no idea. I haven’t an ounce of French in me. But I love it. I mean, LOVE it. Whenever I’m asked to spell my name, I declare with pride: “Vivienne, with an E Double N E.”

Over the years, I’ve been addressed as Vivian, Vivien, Vivyan, Vanessa, Victoria, and Valeria, which is why I decided to run my business under the name Viv. However, in the interest of all the Marcs, Sarahs, Marijas, and others out there who are as attached to their correctly spelled names as I am to mine and perhaps you to yours, spell it right! So accustomed are they to reading Mark, Sara and Maria, you’ll score bonus points instantly. I guarantee it.

How to write reader-friendly emails

I've been meaning to blog for a while. The marketing gurus told me I should a long time ago. I just didn't know what to blog about and then it hit me.

In my early freelance days, I published an e-newsletter called 
The Writer's Block. It was short and pretty sweet. Once a month I shared writing tips, word trivia and more, with a few hundred clients, colleagues and friends. In the spirit of the New Year, I'm dusting off the content of this newsletter and resolving to pick up where I left off.

I’m not embarking on an uptight grammar blog. Heck, I’m the first to begin a sentence with and or but. (Gasp.) This is simply a place for me to flag some common writing errors and share good-to-know writing tips so that you can make a better impression in your letters, sales kits, web content or whatever else you’re writing. Even emails.

Want people to read your emails?

Sometimes there's simply no avoiding a lengthy email, but if you must send one, take a few steps to avoid losing your audience. Long, continuous screenfuls of text are as laborious to read as the small print on your refrigerator warranty. Consider these tips to help keep longer messages reader-friendly:

• Open with a list that outlines the major points your message will cover. 
• Use bold, heads, subheads and white space to organize your text.
• Avoid the use of uppercase UNLESS YOU WANT TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION YOU’RE SHOUTING.
• Don't forget to spell-check your work; your writing is a reflection of you, no matter what medium it's in.
• If you’re requesting a response, make this known at the top of your email – just in case your readers’ minds wander before they reach the end.

That's it for now. If you found this helpful, feel free to share.