Incorporating visuals is a very helpful way to get your point across in a presentation. In this weeks reading, we look at what can make a good graphic, and what not to include in a graphic. Some of these are tips on how to make your graphic stand out, how to introduce and explain your graphics. The use of fonts in certain situations is important as well. Below, I will discuss some of my thoughts.

The most important thing for graphics I want to talk about is Step 1 of how to incorporate visuals. This is to “Label, number, and title every graphic”, which I believe is the most important component of a visual outside of the data itself. The labels, number and title makes it easy for us to read the graphs. If it weren’t for all the labeling, we wouldn’t be able to interpret the data. With these labels, titles, and numbers, we can use the graphs to make assumptions and conclusions from the data.

Another important part to me was the reading “The science behind fonts (and how they make you feel)”. One thing it talked about was the importance of proper layouts. In the article, it talked about how one group of people were given a letter with a bad layout, and one group with the good layout. The people that had the good layout, read the page better because it made them feel better while reading over the page.

Another point the article went over was how to better design your content with fonts, and the first step was to choose an anchor font. I didn’t know until this reading, there are 4 main fonts that I should be using…Serif fonts for more formal situations, sans-serif fonts which are more playful and used for digital situations, script fonts for bodies of letters, and finally decorative fonts for headings. Below is a graph showing the use of serif vs. sans-serif in the body. It seems that the professional serif font is used more often which I would have guessed, but you always need to make sure that you are using the right font in the right situation, or else it could give someone the wrong message….

Earlier in the reading, it says “thou shalt not comic sans” and I have an example of how using that font can make people feel a certain type of way.  Back in 2010, Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a professional basketball team in the NBA, sent a note after losing his best player. He later sent out a letter to the fans showing his anger toward the situation, and saying how he didn’t need the player. The worst part of all of this, that everyone that’s a fan still remembers today is his use of comic sans font in his letter to the fans as you can see below. Outside of the word choice that was poor and distasteful, people still mocks him about his font choice to this day, so this just shows how choice of font can change the perception of how some see you.

So, as you can tell, not all fonts are appropriate in certain settings, and you have to make a smart choice for your fonts to make sure you give the right impression. Also don’t forget about the importance of graphics, as they can help convey data easier to an audience.

When is the last time that you read a whole online post or online article? You probably aren’t even going to read this whole thing. You likely are going to just look for the information that you want to see, or are looking for before you even get to the article. As you can see below, about 30% of people don’t even go in depth when reading their news, which just shows the lack of thorough reading. But, there are some techniques though to get people to notice your writing online, and I will share my thoughts on those techniques.

One of these techniques is to use the Inverted Pyramid style of writing. This means, up front including information that users must have, then additional information that is helpful but not crucial, and then lastly would be nice if they had it. This is important to follow, because if you are looking to get readers, you need to get their attention on what they want right away. Also, there is importance in including a good hook. If you have a good hook, that may get the reader to read more of your online content. Here are some cool types of hooks below that could work:

Appearance is also a crucial part to making sure that someone is going to read your online work, as you need to include pictures, bullet points, among some other things to keep the reader engaged. I think media is a major part in this because if you don’t include any pictures or videos, the reader may become disinterested and just stop reading.

Another main point is to make sure that you are talking to the reader. I really agree with this point because if you try and make a connection with the reader, the more likely they are to be engaged. This would also help you gain a relationship with the reader and might bring them back for another online post of yours since they feel connected to you.

Another major part to keeping the reader engaged is making sure that the paragraphs remain short and concise. I think that short paragraphs keep the flow moving, and readers have an easier time following along and can help their attention. I also like the idea of including one sentence paragraphs to really stress certain points to get across to the reader, especially online.

Overall, I feel that the best thing to do to maintain the readers attention online would be to stress your main points right away and to add some flair, and some graphics to keep the reader engaged the whole time.

After an interview, whether you bomb it or do great, there is one thing that needs to be done no matter what. That is a follow-up thank you email that needs to occur. This is often forgotten by many people trying to get an internship, or job, and could actually lead to them not getting the position. 

In the article “The Interview was Awesome. Now What?”, until reading I didn’t realize the importance of added value in thank you notes. Recruiters, or someone at the company who was interviewing you probably won’t remember exactly who you are, but if you bring up something you talked about in the interview or show how you will add value to the company, that makes you stand out. And looking at the graphic below, the average office worker receives 121 emails a day. If you are trying to make an impression in your follow-up, and not just another email to go through, make sure to stand out.  

This point also reminded me of some advice that I received from a mentor of mine. He said, “in the interview, they are looking to see if they will enjoy working with you”. That is something that I feel needs to apply to a follow-up email as well. You still don’t want to overshare, but you still want to be personable. Show whoever interviewed you that they will be happy to work with you. You don’t want to sound like a robot in your follow-up email, be you.

I also found it interesting from the article presented “Recovering from a big interview mistake” by Beth Braccio Hering, if you make a huge mistake in an interview, to bring it up in a positive way in a follow-up email, and show what you really meant to say in that situation. Admitting to the mistake shows accountability. The interviewer whom received the email probably knows that you messed up, but you willing to admit it might show them that you are owning up to that mistake and that’s the type of person they’ll be getting in the office.

The idea of handwritten notes also struck me in a weird way. I wasn’t sure what to think about this. Sure, the sentiment would be really nice to send a handwritten one. But in this day and age, decisions are being made really quickly. Even in the first article with added response, it notes that you should send your thank you email within 24-48 hours. The decision may even be in by the time that the note gets to where you sent it. In this graphic it shows the interview process of extending the offer takes either less than a week or 1-2 weeks 59% of the time. If you are looking to send a handwritten note, make sure that it’s going to get there in time, or else it will be very awkward if you mention anything around the decision in the letter. 

Overall, I feel that your follow-up email is very important. I even have experience of this advice being helpful. The internship that I have this upcoming summer, I sent a follow-up email the day after I interviewed, and I truly believe that helped me get the position. Don’t forget to send your follow-up email! It will pay dividends in the future.

I dug into the pages of How to Write with Flair to learn techniques to include in my blog post.  Now, the Question is- has our writing style changed as a result? For me- Writing with Flair pushed me to identify areas of improvement and present me with suggestions. Although there was a lot of good information throughout the book, three chapters really stood out to me.

Lesson 1 resonated with me because I tend to use words like am, was, were, and does. The author challenged me to transform my boring sentences into more engaging ones by adding strong verbs. Coming up with strong verbs on my own is not always easy; so, the list of 500 words has been a life saver. Anyone else finding that list to be as useful as I do?

Another lesson that caught my attention was the second lesson: Secret Ingredients. Typically, my writing comes off as bland since I write paragraph upon paragraph with no stylistic changes. No colons. No semi-colons.  No dashes. Just lots of commas.  I really never knew how to use a semi- colon before; now, I use it often to break up my connected thoughts. As a heavy comma user, learning how to effectively use commas has been important to improving my writing. Now, knowing how to use semi-colons limits my use of commas; providing more diverse punctuation. The diverse punctuation is very important as you can see in the chart below; it shows how little punctuation such as semicolons and colons are actually used. This second lesson really helped broaden my punctuation usage.

Finally, Lesson 4: Garnishing my work- has positively impacted my writing. I really enjoyed learning the different ways to write with more personality.  What is my favorite technique of all of them? Using self-answering questions. What I like about “garnishing” is that it can be different for everyone. The self-answering questions technique spoke to me more, but a different technique might speak to you more. I also didn’t realize how much power repeated first words would have. I used it in my 4^th blog post and could not believe how effectively it grabs the audience’s attention.

Overall, I learned a ton from reading How to Writer with Flair.The sections on strong verbs, advanced punctuation, repetitive words and self-answering questions jumped out the most to me as I powered through the book. As you can see in the graph below, there are many different forms of business writing, and through reading the chapters, I can use what I have learned from letters to emails. As part of my revision process, I now go back to see if I have included these techniques and if not- add them in.These lessons as well as the others will be beneficial in my future writings. So-what about you? How has your writing style changed?

Layoffs are always hard, and there never seems a right way to do them. You can never please everyone. As even the chart below from a report by Just Capital says that 28% of Americans say layoffs are unethical. So it’s hard to do it right. But that doesn’t excuse Jack Dorsey from making some critical errors during his email letting twitter employees know about a 336 person layoff.

To start, does Jack Dorsey actually “give it to them straight” like he claims he is in his letter to his employees?  No way. How would I feel if I received this message? Disappointed. Disappointed not in my Company but disappointed in my leader. I understand that the organization needs to restructure to grow. I understand that layoffs are often a result of restructuring. I don’t understand why he could not “give it to them straight”.

I believe that there is a need for Twitter to change the way they work and needing to be smaller and nimbler. Many organizations are needing to streamline to grow and remain strong financially.  Making it sound like the changes are necessary because the world needs a stronger Twitter is a little ridiculous. Asking the employees remaining to honor those employees being laid off by doing their best to serve all the people that use Twitter is over the top. It’s even more ridiculous when most employees are already not that engaged as employees. In 2020, Over 50% of lower-level employees aren’t engaged as seen in the chart below in a study from Heartbeat. You are expecting employees, that may not be already fully engaged to do more because you laid off more people?

Then, to make matters even worse, he thanks them for their trust and understanding. Does he have our trust and understanding?  Not after the first 5 paragraphs.  His words just seep with disingenuousness. He did not win friends and influence people with that letter. I would much rather he be direct than use the indirect approach, especially when he says he’s going to be direct in the beginning.

There are a few lessons that I can learn and apply from reading this letter.  Dorsey was effective in initially showing empathy by sharing how difficult the decision was to reorganize and explaining laid off associates would be receiving generous exit packages and assistance finding a new job. He was proactive in addressing the concerns, he knew they would have, by describing how Twitter will be helping them. Ensuring I address concerns I know my audience will have is something I would emulate. I would avoid asking my audience to take any action, such as honoring anyone, trusting me, etc. right after sharing bad news. In a situation such as this, being direct would be a more appropriate approach.  Employees want to know the truth.They do not want to be patronized.

Want your audience to stop in their tracks? I do- but how?

According to Bill Taylor, Founding Editor of Fast Company, you start with an attention-grabbing opening, use data in an interesting way, and tell a story.  Then, how do you confirm your communication captures the audience’s attention?  Taylor says read it out loud.  If it is both clear and memorable– then you should communicate it to your audience. Engaging the audience is more important than ever with the amount of emails coming in, as seen in this chart. With this many Email users, you have to find a way to capture the attention of your audience.

I think Taylor offers great advice on how to effectively have your points heard. The steps he suggests are simple and straightforward; but, I don’t think they are easy to implement. At least not for me. As an introvert, communicating in a way that will grab my audience’s attention is challenging for me.  My introductions are bland. I tend to be wordy and repetitive in my writing as well. Wanting to be able to get my point of view across, I am motivated to learn new ways to engage my audience through data and storytelling. I was disappointed, in the video, that Taylor did not provide more detail on how to transition from data and facts to storytelling.

Taylor’s video also inspired me to read out loud (although not with a funny voice) and consider what else I can do to make it more memorable. After trying it out, I see why the Fast Company alumni continue to use this technique. It is impactful.  The next step is to read out loud to others so I can get feedback from them as well. This would help me tremendously, as seen in the chart below, the benefits you get from feedback are extremely helpful. In the past, peer feedback consisted of a fellow student reading my work. I am curious to see if reading it aloud is even more effective when providing feedback. It’s worth a try.

So, if you are like me and want your points to be heard, read your important communications aloud. Make sure it includes a great opening, interesting data, and a story. Then push send and dazzle your audience.

Using an email exchange to demonstrate how to dominate a correspondence using five different tactics was quite effective to engage us as readers. Using an email exchange between James Murdoch and Steve Jobs as the correspondence-brilliant. I must admit I started jotting down notes almost immediately, as emails are a really important part of the business. Even the chart below shows the importance of retention, engagement, and conversion through Emails.

Natashia Lekic is correct when she points out that Job’s writing style- strong and simple- really helped him dominate the correspondence.  Although I do not fully agree with all five tactics; I do agree that applying these tactics will get you better results.

Thoughts on the 5 Things:

• One purpose

I do this a lot; I cover several topics or ask a bunch of questions in one email thinking I am being efficient.  Also, I just ramble (especially when I am in a rush) rather than get straight to my point.  When I do this, it does end up, like what Natashia describes in her article, with many of my questions unanswered.  Moving forward- I am implementing the strategy of one request per email and waiting to get a response before asking another question.

• Simple Design

I love this tactic and use it a lot.  I have always found bulleted lists easier to read and digest. If it’s not simple it creates: confusion, lack of interest, and skepticism. Keeping the email design simple helps keep the reader’s focus on your message (and makes the email easier to write).

• Eliminate filler words

When it comes to email conciseness, I am much like James Murdoch.  My sentences can be long and drawn out.  They are packed with filler words: adjectives, adverbs, and cliches.  Many of the filler words I use way too often are included on this list I came across:

When I really think about it-these words aren’t necessary to my message; they just take up space.Going back to edit all my emails to remove filler words is something I plan to start right now.

• Active voice

I agree with the author of this article that using the active voice in an email brings more clarity to a message and strengthens the message.  The example in the article effectively demonstrates the difference using strong verbs and active voice can make. Being more mindful to ensure I am using an active voice is another thing I will implement ASAP.

• Close with a request

Up to now – I agreed with all 4 of Jobs’ tactics.  With this last tactic, I only half agree.  I think Natasha is accurate when she points out NOT to embed a request in the middle of an email;  the reader may never find it.  Instead of putting the request at the end, the request belongs at the beginning.  We know that the average person only has an attention span of 8.25 seconds; so why put it at the end?  I would argue that you put your purpose and/or request up front; followed by the details. Unless the correspondence is short, the reader may not make it to the very end.

For me – this article was very impactful. It provided great guidance into what should be included (and not included) when I am creating a business email.  Moving forward, I will implement the first four tips- ensuring my emails are simple, clear, and strong – to be more effective in my communications with others and more efficient with my time.

Are authenticity and a player vs victim mentality necessary to effectively communicate and scale yourself? Sandra Sandberg clearly describes why these two things, initially introduced to her by Fred Kofman, are essential.

Authenticity in Communication

I can fully relate with what Sandra identifies as the reasons why conversations often are not authentic and the negative impact of polite conversations. Managers often presented me with an answer as the one and only truth previously.  Many of these non-authentic conversations resulted in an intolerable relationship . When prompted for my opinion later in our tenure together, I clammed up or politely uttered what I knew he wanted to hear. Others seem to have this issue too unfortunately, as shown in the graph below. It dispirits me to see this many people feeling discomfort in the workplace, and not able to portray their authentic selves.

It was during my internship this summer that the opportunity to share MY truth was presented to me for the first time.The team owner and I shared our thoughts on what we felt was the best solution; not expecting the other person to have the same opinion. Being open to each other’s views, we identified a new way to address the challenge the organization was facing. His genuine openness and authenticity positively impacted our relationship and motivated me to apply his approach when interacting with others. His authenticity when communicating with me allowed me to extend my skills and scale myself.

Having communicated both politely and authentically, I concur with Sandra Sandberg that to communicate authentically is the best approach.

Victim vs. Player

Sandberg’s points on being a player and not a victim also resonate with me. If asked prior to viewing her video, I would have boastfully proclaimed that I never portray myself as the victim. Never would I outwardly blame others for my mistakes. After internalizing her message, I must openly confess that I occasionally blame traffic for being late as well as use the broken printer as my excuse when I miss deadlines. I now recognize that I am acting as a victim by giving blame to accidents, slow drivers or inanimate objects when I mess up. I truly believe being a player in all situations empowers a person as Sandberg describes. To transition from victim to a true player is not an easy thing but necessary for me if I wish to build better relationships and scale myself.

Sandra Sandberg’s words, supported by her relatable examples, inspires and drives me to work harder to be more authentic in my conversations and grow exponentially as a player.

The key to unlock this all in the workplace is to create a culture that welcomes everyone equally and positively acknowledges everyone’s ideas. The ability to make everyone feel like they belong and are heard motivates them to freely communicate their beliefs, become a player vs. a victim, and scale themselves. The chart below, also stresses the importance of culture to all individuals in the workplace, as at least 60% of both employers and employees find culture important. Workplace culture is one of the principal pieces in inspiring others to find their authenticity and become a player.

This is what I believe… What do you believe?