WEBVTT 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:19.039 Welcome back everybody. It is 12 noon here where 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.859 I'm at. This is Neogentrics and thoughts if it 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:25.359 were you. Food for thought. Now I know last time 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.300 I covered critical thinking and I will probably 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:29.800 go a little more into that at a later date. But 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:31.399 I'm going to go ahead and take a side step here. 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:34.000 I'm going to cover something that I feel is a 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.799 little important. Rather, someone asked me to 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:39.640 cover it in light detail. So I'm going to cover 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:43.100 writing skills. I probably will cover some of 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:44.979 the more basic things such as grammar, spelling, 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:47.000 punctuation, and whatnot, but I'll cover that 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.020 also if requested. Like I said before, if you 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:53.380 have any ideas, hit me up, let me know what they 00:00:53.380 --> 00:00:56.799 are, and I'll gladly talk about them, okay? Now 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.579 let me go ahead and say this about writing first 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:00.820 off. It's an important part of communication, 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.439 okay? If you can't write, you can't talk. If 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.739 you can't talk, you can't write. Good writing 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:07.599 skills allow you to communicate your message 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.959 with clarity and ease to a far larger audience 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:13.659 than through face -to -face or telephone conversations, 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:16.560 okay? This is what makes it entirely possible. 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:18.260 Hell, without writing, I wouldn't be able to 00:01:18.260 --> 00:01:19.920 write up the stuff that I talked to you guys 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:22.840 about in the first place, okay? I gotta do what 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:24.760 I gotta do, but I gotta first be able to write, 00:01:24.819 --> 00:01:27.599 too. So, we'll see how this works its way out, 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:31.500 okay? Let's go off of this scenario. Like I said 00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:34.280 before, the whole... point of this podcast is 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:36.739 to stop and think and consider some stuff here 00:01:36.739 --> 00:01:38.859 so let's stop and think about it for a second 00:01:38.859 --> 00:01:41.599 you might be let's say you're called upon to 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.280 write a report plan a strategy at work write 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:47.420 a grant application or press release okay within 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:49.819 a volunteering role okay you may fancy communicating 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:53.700 your ideas via a blog or something and of course 00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:57.000 a well -written cv or resume with no spelling 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.299 or grammatical mistakes is essential if you want 00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:02.189 a new job in the first place okay Today, when 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:05.109 anyone can be their own publisher, you can self 00:02:05.109 --> 00:02:06.750 -publish anything you want, you know, we see 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:08.590 more and more examples of poor writing skills, 00:02:08.830 --> 00:02:11.550 both in print and on the web. You know, poor 00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:13.770 writing skills creates poor first impressions, 00:02:13.789 --> 00:02:16.569 and many readers will, you know, they'll have 00:02:16.569 --> 00:02:19.050 an immediate negative reaction if they spot spelling 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:21.469 or grammatical mistakes out the wazoo. Now, it's 00:02:21.469 --> 00:02:24.069 one thing if you're intending it, but it's not, 00:02:24.150 --> 00:02:27.590 if it's not intentional. Like say you're writing 00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:29.770 a book or something then it's just plain weird 00:02:29.770 --> 00:02:32.770 You know as just one example a spot mistake on 00:02:32.770 --> 00:02:34.990 a commercial web page may cause potential customers 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:37.229 to doubt the credibility of the website and the 00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:40.509 organization meant for many of us It will have 00:02:40.509 --> 00:02:42.789 been a long time since we were taught any writing 00:02:42.789 --> 00:02:44.909 skills and a refresher may be needed So this 00:02:44.909 --> 00:02:48.810 is this section here that I'm covering You know 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:52.150 is a good way to get yourself back into the line 00:02:52.150 --> 00:02:54.629 right of writing and doing what you have to do, 00:02:54.710 --> 00:02:58.460 you know from punctuation, grammar, spelling, 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:01.319 and so on. You know, I'll cover each and every 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:05.400 one of them. Give me a short second here, and 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:17.659 we'll go into the next piece. And we're back. 00:03:18.219 --> 00:03:20.789 All right. So, like I said, I'm going to cover 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:22.689 grammar, spelling, and punctuation a little bit 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:24.849 here and there. If you'd like to hear a little 00:03:24.849 --> 00:03:26.969 bit more about each, like I said, I'll cover 00:03:26.969 --> 00:03:29.830 those. And also how to write a report, to -do 00:03:29.830 --> 00:03:32.469 list, business cards, resumes, so on and so forth. 00:03:32.669 --> 00:03:35.669 Or how to have an effective LinkedIn profile 00:03:35.669 --> 00:03:39.449 if you need that. Okay. Correct grammar punctuation 00:03:39.449 --> 00:03:41.909 skills are key in writing communication. The 00:03:41.909 --> 00:03:44.069 reader will form an opinion of you, the author, 00:03:44.250 --> 00:03:47.689 based on both the content and the presentation, 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:49.969 and errors are likely to lead them to form a 00:03:49.969 --> 00:03:54.270 negative impression. If you are convinced about 00:03:54.270 --> 00:03:57.289 the importance of accurate writing, think of 00:03:57.289 --> 00:04:01.030 the clues we use to identify spam emails, phishing, 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:03.469 websites, counterfeit products, poor grammar, 00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:06.530 and spelling. Similarly, some employees state 00:04:06.530 --> 00:04:12.050 publicly, that any CV or resume containing spelling 00:04:12.050 --> 00:04:14.150 or grammatical mistakes will be rejected immediately 00:04:14.150 --> 00:04:18.310 whilst a BBC news article quotes research that 00:04:18.310 --> 00:04:20.970 calculates spelling mistakes cost online businesses 00:04:20.970 --> 00:04:25.050 millions in lost sales. They can't afford it. 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:27.870 Checking for poor writing and spelling mistakes 00:04:27.870 --> 00:04:30.430 should be seen as a courtesy to your readers 00:04:30.430 --> 00:04:33.550 since it can take them much, much longer to understand 00:04:33.550 --> 00:04:35.449 the messages in your writing if they have to 00:04:35.449 --> 00:04:38.730 think and re -read the text to decipher it. Let 00:04:38.730 --> 00:04:40.290 me put it to you this way, unless you're trying 00:04:40.290 --> 00:04:44.069 to write in code, there's no reason anybody should 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:47.490 have to decipher what you're trying to say. All 00:04:47.490 --> 00:04:49.850 writing communications should therefore be re 00:04:49.850 --> 00:04:52.589 -read before sending to print or hitting the 00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:55.889 send button in the email in case of emails as 00:04:55.889 --> 00:04:59.389 it's likely that there will be errors. Do not 00:04:59.389 --> 00:05:01.569 assume that spelling and grammar checkers will 00:05:01.569 --> 00:05:05.610 identify all mistakes as many incorrect words 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:08.290 can indeed be spelled correctly. For example, 00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:12.509 when their T -H -E -I -R is used instead of their 00:05:12.509 --> 00:05:15.389 T -H -E -R -E or principal instead of principal. 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:20.060 You know entire words may be misspelled and if 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:22.040 at all possible take a break before rereading 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:24.420 and checking your writing as You are more likely 00:05:24.420 --> 00:05:26.139 to notice the problems when you read it fresh 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:28.959 and you haven't looked at it for a while And 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:30.879 even if you know spelling and grammar rules, 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.970 you should still double check your work or even 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:36.529 better have it proofread by somebody else. Our 00:05:36.529 --> 00:05:38.730 brains work faster than our fingers can type 00:05:38.730 --> 00:05:42.149 and accidentally typographical errors or typos 00:05:42.149 --> 00:05:45.649 inevitably do creep in and they can cause a lot 00:05:45.649 --> 00:06:00.209 of problems. Let's move on with improving your 00:06:00.209 --> 00:06:03.730 writing skills. okay the good news is that writing 00:06:03.730 --> 00:06:05.709 is a skill which can be learned like any other 00:06:05.709 --> 00:06:08.029 one trick for checking and improving your work 00:06:08.029 --> 00:06:10.910 is to read it out loud reading text forces you 00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:13.290 to slow down and you may pick up problems with 00:06:13.290 --> 00:06:15.689 the flow that your eyes would not otherwise skip 00:06:15.689 --> 00:06:19.990 over or not see you know reading in general like 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:22.370 another way to improve your writing skills is 00:06:22.370 --> 00:06:24.889 to read as you read you pick up new vocabulary 00:06:24.889 --> 00:06:27.790 engage with different writing styles and there 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:29.759 are multiple different writing styles and Like 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:31.860 I said before, if you'd like, I'll go over those 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:35.660 as well. And how to effectively read. Yeah, that's 00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:38.279 actually a skill. There are a number of areas 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:40.899 to bear in mind as you write. As well as grammar, 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:42.639 spelling, and punctuation, it's important to 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:44.879 remember your audience, the people you're talking 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.459 to. Always write with your audience in mind, 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:49.500 and it can also help to bear in mind the medium 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:51.899 in which you plan to publish. Like in my case, 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:56.060 I use a podcast. This knowledge will help you 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:58.420 to decide whether you need to write in a formal 00:06:58.420 --> 00:07:00.959 style or a more informal one, and will also help 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:03.379 you to decide on a suitable structure, if you 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:08.680 will. Finally, however, have a look at multiple 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:12.860 different webpages, papers, resumes, and so on 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:18.279 and so on, for examples of what is more accepted 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:20.899 for certain platform types in certain companies. 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:24.000 However, and I'm going to go ahead and give this 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.329 warning. Okay. There's a time and a place for 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:29.870 a lot of things and cliches are one of them. 00:07:31.269 --> 00:07:34.410 They exist because they explain exactly what 00:07:34.410 --> 00:07:37.810 we want to say in easy to understand terms. But 00:07:37.810 --> 00:07:41.750 some people find them very annoying and you need 00:07:41.750 --> 00:07:46.850 to use them with care. On that note, I will and 00:07:46.850 --> 00:07:48.970 I'm going to cover this next what is a cliche 00:07:48.970 --> 00:07:52.639 in my next podcast. But for right now. Just be 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.819 weary of cliches, and when I cover them in more 00:07:55.819 --> 00:07:57.860 detail, you'll know what they are and how to 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:03.439 avoid them if necessary. Next is writing under 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.800 specific circumstances. There are many times 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:08.899 in your life when you will be asked to write 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:11.879 something very specific, whether this is to take 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:14.079 notes of a conversation, write the minutes of 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.639 a formal meeting, or prepare a report. All these 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:19.259 types of writing require specific skills and 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:24.629 usually a particular style. Okay. First of which, 00:08:24.670 --> 00:08:27.529 writing at home. Many people would say that the 00:08:27.529 --> 00:08:29.810 art of letter writing is dying out. However, 00:08:30.029 --> 00:08:32.110 there are still many times when you need to put 00:08:32.110 --> 00:08:35.950 pen to paper or word processor to paper and write 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:39.090 a letter. If you're not sure how to write a letter, 00:08:39.190 --> 00:08:42.350 I will do a podcast on how to write a letter 00:08:42.350 --> 00:08:55.720 later on. Okay? Aside from writing at home, there's 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:58.500 also writing in the workplace. Being able to 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:00.779 write well is a skill which will get you a long 00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:03.000 way in the workplace, partly because it is fairly 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.940 rare in many places. Okay? One skill that many 00:09:05.940 --> 00:09:07.759 people lack, especially in management and other 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:09.320 professional environments, is the ability to 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.419 write in plain English. Yes, you heard me right. 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:14.519 You have to be able to write in plain English. 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:17.740 Okay? This also means... avoiding unnecessary 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:22.340 jargon industrial specific buzzwords again cliches 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:26.019 and keeping sentences short and concise okay 00:09:26.019 --> 00:09:28.600 taking the time to polish your writing skills 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.120 is likely to pay off in the longer term and learning 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.659 how to write specific types of documents will 00:09:33.659 --> 00:09:39.860 also be helpful and useful okay next is writing 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:43.860 job applications yes that's actually a thing 00:09:43.860 --> 00:09:46.539 believe it or not At one time or another, most 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.179 of us need to write a job application. Nowadays, 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.919 job applications usually require a CV or resume. 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.740 And to get a strong covering letter or a good 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:57.639 LinkedIn profile will also help your application 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:01.299 stand out for the rest, as will managing your 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:04.460 online presence effectively. Keep this in mind 00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:08.809 if you're just writing for study. You may, for 00:10:08.809 --> 00:10:11.370 example, need to write essays, a report, research 00:10:11.370 --> 00:10:13.809 proposal, or even a dissertation or thesis. And 00:10:13.809 --> 00:10:16.450 these pieces of work are often very, very long 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:20.149 and need careful structuring and writing. Now, 00:10:20.250 --> 00:10:22.190 while I would love to cover all of these things 00:10:22.190 --> 00:10:26.370 in major level detail, I know a little bit about 00:10:26.370 --> 00:10:28.870 each one and I can go into depth into each one 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:32.870 a little bit more. However, since I'm not actually 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:34.549 an English major, that's not what I'm going to 00:10:34.549 --> 00:10:37.970 school for. I'm not going to know too, too much 00:10:37.970 --> 00:10:40.409 about it, but I can cover them in the most basic 00:10:40.409 --> 00:10:42.950 detail possible that I know and from the information 00:10:42.950 --> 00:10:46.809 that I gather. Because I'm going to be honest 00:10:46.809 --> 00:10:50.090 with you guys, I hate writing. I've never liked 00:10:50.090 --> 00:10:52.509 writing ever since I was younger. I do enjoy 00:10:52.509 --> 00:10:54.450 creative writing just for the sake of writing 00:10:54.450 --> 00:10:56.330 whatever's on my mind, whatever I feel like writing 00:10:56.330 --> 00:10:59.490 at that time. But I don't like turning in papers. 00:10:59.549 --> 00:11:02.690 I don't like writing essays. But thanks to having 00:11:02.690 --> 00:11:05.490 a loving, caring mom like I did, one who's really 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:08.370 good in English and always points out every grammatical 00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:12.909 mistake, it's gotten to the point now where I 00:11:12.909 --> 00:11:18.149 can't not write something and just be naturally 00:11:18.149 --> 00:11:20.570 good at it, okay? So I mean, let's put it this 00:11:20.570 --> 00:11:22.610 way. If you can't do this on your own and you 00:11:22.610 --> 00:11:24.429 need some assistance from somebody else, always 00:11:24.429 --> 00:11:27.559 seek additional help. from a friend co -worker 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:29.519 family member or so on someone who's in that 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:33.820 field to help you and you know bump you up again 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.799 thank you for listening this is thoughts if it 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:38.980 were you food for thought by neogentrics and 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:41.720 this was writing skills if you have any thoughts 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:45.080 or suggestions hit me up on anchor facebook or 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:47.379 on twitter and enjoy the rest of your day