Tag: publics

The Olympics Teach Us to Be Careful What We Tweet

Posted on by Rachel
Photo by Daehyun Park.

By now, most people have already heard about the recent uproars about Twitter caused by Olympic athletes, fans and reporters. Basically, in an Olympic Games touted to be the “first” social media games, a few things have gone awry.

Two athletes have been kicked off their teams and one has been reprimanded for inappropriate comments on Twitter, one fan was arrested after his Twitter remarks were flagged as malicious communication, and journalist Guy Adams had his Twitter account suspended for criticizing NBC Olympic coverage and publishing the email address of an NBC executive.

The stories mentioned involve lots of details and lots of claims from people on both sides of the arguments they present. But, there are two things that we can take from these Twitter experiences: the mic is always on and social media has power to bring masses together. Continue reading “The Olympics Teach Us to Be Careful What We Tweet” →

Clichés: To Use or Not to Use?

Posted on by Rachel
“We need to get our ducks in a row.”
Photo by ehpien.

Clichés have become so ingrained into our language. The problem with these phrases is that they are used all too often and can deprive a piece of true thought or emotion. In fact, the definition of a cliché is “a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.”

While a cliché may get a point across, is it really the best we can do? Can’t we come up with a better, more original way to communicate our thoughts and ideas?

Recently, Forbes compiled a list of common business clichés that when really thought about don’t do the best job at getting the point across. Here are a few of my favorites: Continue reading “Clichés: To Use or Not to Use?” →

What’s In a Name? How to Refer to Your Customers

Posted on by Rachel
Photo by Betsy Weber.

On a recent flight, I overheard a flight attendant speaking about a “gentleman” in the back of the plane. When I heard the term, I admit I thought of a middle-aged or older man, and was surprised when the passenger turned out to be a 15-year-old boy. I was so impressed with the tone of respect and helpfulness this flight attendant had for this customer, even though he was very young and let’s face it, probably didn’t pay for his ticket himself.

The terms you use to refer to your customers mean a lot. You may not realize it, but customers pick up on this, and the words you choose reflect the type of business you run and how much you value your customers. Continue reading “What’s In a Name? How to Refer to Your Customers” →

Who Created YOUR Business?

Posted on by Rachel

On Saturday, President Obama gave a speech in Roanoke, Virginia. I don’t want to get overly political with this post, but I was pretty outraged when I heard a quote from his speech:

“If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” — President Barack Obama

Continue reading “Who Created YOUR Business?” →

Friday Flubs: Small Mistakes, Big “Incoveniences”

Posted on by Rachel

Every Friday’s post is a collection of typos or grammatical errors I’ve spotted throughout the week. Sometimes they are things I find while out and about and sometimes they are things I find on the Internet. If you are anything like me, these typos drive you crazy, especially when they come from people who should know better.

Even small typos can cause big problems. You may not realize that something as small as leaving out a letter or using the wrong word could make a big difference, but it can damage your reputation. Your customers will probably still get the gist of your message, but they’ll also pick up another message: the writer doesn’t have credibility.

Here are just a few examples of small typos that can cause big credibility problems:

 

Continue reading “Friday Flubs: Small Mistakes, Big “Incoveniences”” →