Booher BanterYour Resource for the best ideas to improve communications skills.

ARE YOU A PRESENTATION PROFESSIONAL?

Take a 15-minute survey and learn how you compare with your peers, from the work you do and the expertise you have, to the challenges you face. Are you similar to others, or charting your own course? Find out for yourself in InfoComm International’s annual 2007 Presentation Professional Survey.

To thank you for sharing your opinions and experiences in this survey, they’ll send you a free survey report by e-mail! Click here to participate.

Posted at 4:10pm in Communication—Oral | Permalink | Add Comment » |

A small group of dedicated writers gathered at the Booher Training Center April 19-21 to fine-tune their book ideas, chapter outlines, titles, and marketing plans.  In addition to the book writing process, participants learned the in’s and out’s of getting the best deal on their subrights, licensing arrangements, and merchandising agreements.

If you missed this event, you may want to check www.booher.com for the next scheduled workshop.  For those of you who attended this past weekend, thanks for all the great discussions during our sessions together and for your glowing comments after the event.  As you traveled back home, if any other thoughts hit you about how we can increase the value to you, please let us know.  We always love hearing your insights gained from the workshop. 

Use this blog to record comments (and keep track of other workshop attendees) and let us know of your writing successes as you sign with agents and win publishing contracts!

Posted at 8:16pm in Publishing Keys | Permalink | Add Comment » |

Throughout the course of a busy day, who doesn’t sing the praises of e-mail—that tool that saves you from having to contact Chatty Cathy or deal with Boring Bill? E-mail can be used for pretty much anything these days, which means that our in-boxes are so filled with spam and clutter that we hit “delete” more often than “send.”

A powerful lesson-in-point comes in light of the thirty-three deaths that occurred Monday on the Virginia Tech campus. One of the ways that the university tried to warn people of the danger was through e-mail. USA Today included the following transcripts of the messages sent to students:

Monday, April 16, 9:26 a.m.
Subject: Shooting on campus

A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating. The university community is urged to be cautious…. Stay attuned to the www.vt.edu. We will post as soon as we have more information.

Twenty-four minutes later, another e-mail went out.

Monday, April 16, 9:50 a.m.
Subject: Please stay put

A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows.

Without raking a traumatized community over the coals, these e-mail subject lines undeniably fall far short of a clear warning.

Consider the subject lines:  “Shooting on campus” and “Please stay put.”

The first might have been glossed over simply because it didn’t say which campus, where, and when. At large colleges, crime alerts may come around once or twice a week. Without more specifics, many students, faculty, or staff may have deleted this as a random news item cluttering their Monday-morning mail. The second is the real kicker: “Please stay put.” Spam, anyone? More informative subject lines might have been “Shooting on Virginia Tech campus this morning.” Instead of the generic, “Please stay put,” “Killer loose on campus—lock yourself inside,” would have grabbed far more attention.

Before you hit send, ask yourself, “Is what I’ve written precise, concise, compelling?”

The purpose here is not to blame the officials at Virginia Tech in their moment of crisis surrounding this massacre, but to remind us all to stop and think about how to use e-mail most effectively. Although the choice is rarely a matter of life and death, the answer may be worth more than a moment of silence.

Our prayers are for the families and community that have been torn apart by this tragedy.

Posted at 8:09am in Communication—Written | Permalink | Add Comment » |

Have you ever flown in from a long business trip, travel-worn and ready for a hot shower, only to find that, lo and behold, your sleek black luggage looks just like everyone else’s? Instead of being able to grab it and go, like that group of high school soccer players over there that cleverly marked their bags with bright pink ribbons, you’re stuck chasing black bags round and round the conveyor belt. You try not to kill the older couple to your right, or total the baby stroller that’s smack-dab in the middle of your path, while you frantically read luggage tags on the move. Next time, you tell yourself as you have so many times before, I’m doing something to make that bag stick out.

As victims of over-crowded e-mail in-boxes, the new postal boxes of the 21st century, we have to have that same mindset—what can we do to make our e-mails stick out? How can we write our way out of the garbage bin and make sure the recipient actually reads our message?

For starters, prefer a specific subject line that informs to one that merely suggests a topic. And if you need action from your readers, state that in your subject line, too:

Not:  Staff Meeting
But:  Staff Meeting Rescheduled to June 6

Not:  Insurance Problems
But:  $2,000 Insurance Premium Uncollectible

Not:  Training Schedule
But:  Confirmation Requested: EWW Class May 4

Not:  Field Trip to Leichton
But:  Approval Requested for Leichton Field Trip

Like a hot-pink ribbon on a black suitcase, informative subject lines allow people to determine priorities from their in-box list without losing the important messages in the mix. What “color” ribbon are your subject lines wearing today?

Posted at 8:44am in Communication—Written | Permalink | Add Comment » |

As we head into spring and early summer, the “season of love,” when sweethearts are buying diamonds and churches are all booked up for June weddings, it’s only appropriate for one of this week’s leading headlines on MSN.com to be “Dating Do’s and Don’ts.” One contributor, an authority on love, suggests that people try to get to know one another outside of cyber-based conversations before dating. Credibility, tone, and temperament—vital signs of someone’s identity—may slip through the lines in e-mail, but become apparent through a simple phone chat.

The power of your word choice on the phone is no less important than that of your tone. How well does your tone convey your intentions?

Different linguists and psychologists have provided a variety of labels to describe habitual styles/tones of communicating:

Accusing/Blaming:

"It’s your fault that we missed that deadline." 
"Don’t ask me why we didn’t hire more people to start with—I knew better." 
"Well, I was only reacting to what you said earlier about not having sufficient budget."

Appeasing/Placating:

"Please, let’s just forget it. It doesn’t really matter."   
"Would you please consider changing the deadline?" 
"Just tell me what you want me to do now and I’ll get on it."

Computing/Disassociating: 

"The deadline is August 1." 
"Two people cannot get the job done." 
(There are no personal references, no feelings, no emotion.)

Analyzing/Diagnosing:

"The contract did not really call for an August 1 deadline.  You, as manager, selected that date.  Was your intention to test our commitment?  To force us to abandon our quality procedures?"
"Why are you saying that to me?" 
"You know, the reason you’re feeling that way is that you’re insecure within yourself."

Dogmatic:

"We will lose the business if we miss that first deadline." 
"It can’t be done that way." 
"You’re wrong."
"It has to be blue."

Dramatic/Effusive:

"We kill ourselves and you’re still not pleased." 
"This is the stupidest plan we’ve ever used—there’s not a company on earth that could meet that deadline."
"Either give me an answer today, or I quit."   
"I wouldn’t transfer her out of here for a million dollars; she knows all there is about inventory management."

Straightforward/Leveling:

"I’m disappointed that we missed the deadline.  I had two people helping and thought that would be sufficient, but evidently it wasn’t.  We need to hire more help."

Do you recognize any of the above as a habitual style of yours? No right or wrong necessarily. Whether you’re a lovebird or in love with your work, the point is this: Do you come across the way you intend?

Posted at 2:06pm in Communication—Oral | Permalink | Add Comment » |