Some "very" good advice
“Very” is a dangerous word. Mark Twain once gave the following advice to writers: Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. American novelist and columnist Florence King was of the same opinion: ‘Very’ is the most useless word in […]
8 Tips from Kurt Vonnegut to Make You a Better Speaker
Kurt Vonnegut was one of the United States’ most intelligent, witty and beloved authors. His novels such as Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions and The Sirens of Titan are still widely read and just as insightful as they were when they were first published. In the 1980s, Vonnegut wrote a short essay entitled “How to Write […]
Sound Advice from George Orwell
Seth Godin recently wrote a post on good writing habits. He says that the reason business writing is so bad is that people are either afraid to say what they mean, because they might be criticized, or afraid to be misunderstood and thus criticized. I believe that the same can be said of bad speaking habits. In […]
When the words don’t come
Sometimes it is difficult to craft a speech. We have no idea what to talk about. The well has run dry. Or, we know our topic, we have a general sense of what we want to say, but we cannot get our ideas down on paper. It’s hard when the words don’t come. Authors aren’t the […]
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