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CC: You. Now What?

“CC” originally meant “carbon copy,” but what does it mean now that the Internet has replaced carbon paper? Carbon copies — for those of us who remember — were thin, poor-quality reproductions of an original document. You sent a carbon copy to interested people who didn’t need to reply, unlike the intended recipient, who got the original. Electronically, CC works like this: everyone can see all the addresses in the CC field, and if any recipient hits “reply to all,” their message goes to all the original recipients AND everyone in the CC field

Know Your Purpose Before You Write

Why are you writing? It’s a basic question, but if more writers answered it before they hit the keyboard, I’m convinced the world would be a better place. Think of all the times you’ve run into confusion with the written word — in legal documents, owners’ manuals, and sales brochures. Or think of the times you bristled at a writer’s pompous tone and had to sift through flowery language to find the facts of the matter

Short but Sweet

“I received your report. We need to talk,” read the e-mail. “Oh no!” I thought, “how bad was my report?” Not bad at all

Hire a Writer, Whatever the Job

The new software engineer on your team doesn’t need to be a poet, but she does need to have the writing skills to communicate her work clearly and simply. Some tips on evaluating a candidate’s writing skills: Is his resume concise? If someone rambles on a document as tightly-formatted as a resume, it’s likely he can’t recognize and communicate the meat of other matters, as well. Is there a central idea in each paragraph in her cover letter? Knowing how to group and rank information is a powerful skill in any arena — from organizing a to-do list to writing an annual report

Business Texting Shorthand

When our texting thumbs grow tired, it’s easy to rely on shorthand to send business text messages more quickly. Unfortunately, dropping long acronyms like “DRIB” (“don’t read if busy”) and and “AFAIC” (“as far as I’m concerned”) can confuse readers. Hewlett-Packard has a convenient list of commonly-texted business terms
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