Active and Passive Voice: What is it and why does Microsoft Word (and every other grammar check tool) hate it so much?

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You may have been told in middle school not to use passive voice. Or your high school or college writing teacher used red pen and underlined sentences marking them “Passive voice!!” as if you should’ve known what that meant and why it mattered. Or you see Microsoft Word’s squiggly blue line under a sentence and read “Passive voice” and then just accept whatever suggestion the AI offers. It’s ok. You don’t have to know everything about writing, and using grammar check is a good habit! But this is one technique that you may want to know how to use.

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Introductions and Conclusions for Reports

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This month’s blog post is on introductions and conclusions to help those of you who write reports feel more confident about how you are starting and ending those documents. Most writing guide books will tell you that the introduction sets the stage for the report, and the conclusion summarizes. You might have heard the idea “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.” Conceptually, that’s about right. More specifically, we will give you the concrete elements that should appear in both your introduction and conclusion to create the strongest frame for your report and the best reading experience for your audience.

Report writing is primarily about sharing information with an audience. The goal of the report is to present that information in a logical and organized way that helps the reader digest the content and understand how the content could be applied or what it might mean.

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Are you allowed to use “I” in reports?

"...Since a report’s job is to present information, the content, organization, and formatting of the report work towards that purpose...Of all the challenges capturing information in an easy-to-read report presents, perhaps the hardest is avoiding the word “I”. Many of us were told that we couldn’t use the word “I” in a report. It was a rule given to us by our biology teacher for our lab reports or our English teacher for a book report. The rule seemed arbitrary and made us write in strange ways..."

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Listening is 50% of effective communication

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When we think about communication, we often focus on what we are trying to say to another person. But the act of producing language–whether writing or speaking–is only half of communication. Effective communication requires a reader or a listener. If you write something and no one ever reads it, the content is not communicated. If you say something but no one hears you, your message hasn’t been communicated. In other words, effective communication isn’t just what we produce, but also how well we listen.

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Grammar "Rules"

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Recently I got into a little text message exchange with my aunt. She wrote to me about sitting next to someone on the plane who had terrible grammar. They were talking and the other person kept saying things like “Me and my friend” instead of “My friend and I.” Which made my aunt a bit crazy. She texted me because, since I’m an English person, she thought I would understand her frustration.

And I do understand. But I don’t think speech has the same grammar rules as writing. And I definitely don’t think it’s appropriate to correct a stranger’s grammar on an airplane.

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What is Professionalism?

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… Knowing how to be professional for a particular audience in a particular context is what allows us to build, create, or maintain credibility…Professionalism linked to suits in the workplace is one example of the ways we generalize “professionalism”, even though suits in the workplace aren’t professional for every situation and every audience. Professionalism really depends on the context rather than a fixed set of rules…

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Closings: How do you say goodbye?

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If you read our January blog post, then you already know: Email is a slow, written conversation. Once you start that conversation, you will inevitably need to end it.

The closing is important because it marks the end of the message. It reassures the reader that they have received your complete thoughts, all that you intended to send them…

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Parallel Structure: 1, 2, 3 not 1, A, Blue

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Is the grammar in your lists and bullets correct? Whenever you create a series, whether horizontal (sentences) or vertical (bullets) the items in those lists need to match!

Parallel structure not only maintains consistency in your lists (sentences and bullets) but it establishes clarity and credibility for your audience. How can you make sure that your sentences and bulleted lists are parallel? When thinking about parallel structure think 1, 2, 3, not 1, A, Blue.

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Make Every Word Count Because Nobody Wants to Read Anything

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Our professional writing has to be concise because, unfortunately, no one wants to read anything. Most of the people who are reading your messages or are writing to you are doing so because they need to get things done, or we need them to get things done. They need to have information. Rather than reading to enjoy your emails, like they would a good book, they are reading the message trying to figure out: Why are you writing to me? And, what am I supposed to do with this?

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Mimicry: One Tool to Build Trust

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Recently, a few videos on “psychological tricks” have been popping up in my social media feed. One of the tricks that gets a fair amount of attention is that of mirroring. The idea is that if you mirror people’s body language, they are more likely to trust you. For example, if a person reaches for their drink, and then you reach for your drink, the similarity of the action subconsciously suggests that you are alike, which can build trust. So, if the person leans forward, you lean forward; if the person crosses their legs, you cross your legs.

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Comma Splices: How to Identify Them in Your Writing and Fix Run-On Sentences

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You might be thinking, do commas or run-on sentences really matter that much? Or, I learned about commas back in grade school, but I don’t remember any of the rules. Don’t I just a throw a comma in before “and” or anytime I pause to take a breath?

The short answers: comma splices and run-on sentences do matter. Not only are they correctness issues, but they help with clarity, so you can clearly articulate what you want to say to your audiences. And, both correctness and clarity establish credibility with your audience.

And, there are pretty straightforward rules for when you should use commas in your sentences (not just when you see “and” or take a breath). Basically, the reason that commas exist is to help us sort the pieces of a sentence.

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Grammar "Rules"

in

Recently I got into a little text message exchange with my aunt. She wrote to me about sitting next to someone on the plane who had terrible grammar. They were talking and the other person kept saying things like “Me and my friend” instead of “My friend and I.” Which made my aunt a bit crazy. She texted me because, since I’m an English person, she thought I would understand her frustration.

And I do understand. But I don’t think speech has the same grammar rules as writing. And I definitely don’t think it’s appropriate to correct a stranger’s grammar on an airplane.

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Writing Personalities

Just like the way we talk, move, interact with our families and friends, and move through our day, our writing reveals a slice of who we are. But writing, like all communication, involves two sides: a sender and a receiver. As the writer, we know what we want to say. And most of our education has taught us how to get our thoughts onto the page or screen in front of us.

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Oxford Commas

What is the Oxford comma, and how would I use such a thing?

Our March newsletter on apostrophes was quite popular—thank you! And, it yielded a request for a blog post on Oxford commas. Thank you, dear reader, for your request! We hope this month’s blog post and newsletter will be illuminating.

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