What I’ve Learned So Far…

I have never written a blog post, but I have read blogs. I know the general idea behind them…be fun, witty, interesting, thought provoking, but not annoying or over critical. Easier said than done!

“What I’ve learned so far” Are you cringing yet? I thought it was a relevant topic and one that hardly goes out of style. I mean why be perfect when you can make mistakes?

1. Proofread: OK, so this is a mistake that I have unfortunately made myself, but learned from, so the story has a happy conclusion. I was recently sending out a letter to a sponsor asking them to help fund a family friendly event complete with a face painter, cupcake decorating, and a one of a kind “Ball Twister”. What I meant to write was balloon twister. Proofread!

1. Know your Audience: Several years ago, I attended an event with a prestigious crowd of professionals. The keynote speaker began with a long-winded explanation of how we are children disguised as adults before continuing with a group sing-a-long complete with PowerPoint presentation consisting of smiley faces and clowns. Not good. Know your audience.

1. Capitalize the letter “I”: I have a work colleague whose emails looks something like “hey are u going to be at the event later i want to go call me” I often want to respond with “Are you kidding me?” Just because it is a quick email or because you are responding via your Blackberry, please, do not ever write like this. Capitalize the letter “I”.

1. Know your message: I have a friend, who is a kind hearted, good spirited person. However, when he tells a story I literally feel nauseous. It takes him, on average 20 minutes to introduce the subject. “STOP TALKING AND GET TO THE POINT!”  Remember that the average attention span lasts eight seconds. This means two things: 1. you have to be clear and concise and 2. if you aren’t, you lost me a long time ago. Know your message and get to the point!

In the spirit of conciseness, I think I’ve reached the perfect moment to end this blog.