Someone has to say this to you…so here goes.

Exclamation points do not help people understand your message any more effectively!

Really!!

Stop using them.

Please!

Call, video chat, or visit your friends and family and let them hear and/ or see the happiness and joy that you cannot do justice in email, text, or IM.

I think most people know this – but we all forget it sometimes in the moment – and then we wonder why some people misunderstand our happy message as frustration, sarcasm, bad news, or anger e.g. “What were you thinking!?”.

The immediate feedback of verbal and facial cues and body language is priceless and most people want to share with you in those happy memories.

So pick up the phone and make the call.

If you have to send an electronic message – so everyone knows at the same time – then just write the message in a simple, plain language – without any emotions e.g., “The baby arrived at…”, “I’m engaged to …”, They offered me the job at …”, “I was accepted into “, etc.

Then pick up the phone and call mom.

Resumés are usually full of exaggerations, half-truths, embellishments, and sometimes flat-out lies and most hiring managers pay little attention to them.  Anybody can look good in bullet points.

Unfortunately, many people looking for work are wasting their time and money hiring a “professional” to pack their resumés full of action verbs from standard position descriptions found online.

People are so focused on trying to “get an interview” that they are missing the most important part – the cover letter – and then wonder why nobody is calling.

Companies are judging the cover letters

Cover letters are like writing a great title to a book.  People should be spending half their time creating them, because the phone interview is the third test.

The first test is “Did you follow the instructions to apply for the position?”  No, goodbye.

The second test is reading the cover letter and determining “How well do you write?” and “How badly does this person appear to want the job?”  Bad writer. Goodbye.   Impersonal, form cover letter. Goodbye.

Cover letters indicate if the applicant can write or not

While spelling and grammar checkers can help find 80% of the errors – they can’t write.

And great writers quickly rise to the top.

When I’m choosing between two qualified candidates, I always hire the better writer.

Covers letters can show who really wants this particular job

They offer an opportunity to demonstrate the applicant did their homework.

Smart people will include specific knowledge of the company,  mention the name of a contact or an event, and identify the hiring person by name “Dear Michelle Jackson:”.

We also look for effort and ask “How badly does this person want the job?” or “Out of this stack of resumes, What name do I remember and why?”

I notice when people go the extra step to build a special online portfolio pitching their skills.

Walking out to the mailbox to pickup mail can seem like a chore to you and me, but “mail call” is one of the most important events for soldiers.

Mail call is an announcement typically once or twice a day of delivery of mail to the soldiers.  Each person listens intently for their name to be called – which means they have mail.

Soldiers typically don’t receive junk mail or bills.

They mostly receive personal communications from family, friends, and Any Soldier support programs.

The communications can come in many forms.

While some people prefer handwriting or typing personal letters.

Others enjoy assembling care packages full of treats often using a list of items that are hard to find overseas.  And the USPS offers several discount shipping specials to help you get it there.

But in Baghdad, soldiers have other options – because they have personal access to cell phones and the internet.

Many soldiers enjoy more communication with their friends and loved ones through free services such as Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, and Hotmail email, phone calls, and video chats using Skype.

Despite the numerous internet avenues that are available, Skype seems to remain the most popular form of communication with soldiers because of the availability of free video conferencing and reasonably-priced telephone services.

Recently, the military has allowed soldiers to communicate using social media.  Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace also continue to remain popular with deployed troops.

I think it is interesting that communication technology has evolved dramatically since the beginning of the war.

Soldiers continue to report that it “really helps the morale in the field” – which is key to their success.

So if you haven’t written or sent something to the soldiers fighting for our freedom in the Unites States – you now have a mission.

This most recent case of college violence makes me wonder if all colleges are going to have to conduct background checks on future and current students.

According to a recent report, approximately one out of every 29 college students across the nation had some type of previous criminal record.  Students with criminal records could be sitting in every classroom at colleges and universities in the United States.

The study of 13,859 students in 125 universities, career colleges, nursing schools, and other educational institutions found a variety of convictions from across the nation.  It’s interesting to note the convictions in this study excluded juvenile records as they are sealed, charges dismissed by prosecutors, and arrest information that did not have a disposition.  So these numbers could be much larger in reality.

Colleges should be a place where you should feel safe enough to learn.

Since 9-11, most campuses have security forces and contingency plans in place for terrorism issues.  But lately, the violent persons are current or former students.  Maybe colleges need to revisit their gun bans on campuses, since more guns means less crime.

I don’t think we need to start tracking students – like they’re trying to do at Northern Arizona University – it smells of Big Brother.  But when you apply for a job, often they’ll request a credit check or if you work with children – which schools are full of – a general background check is to be expected.

It just seems like a logical next step in the progression of safer schools.

So where does a convicted felon, sex offender, drug addict, etc. go to college?  Maybe they still can, but at least the colleges will know what they are dealing with and can set-up special rehabilitation centers on campus like some jails have now.

What message are colleges sending to future and current students by doing nothing?

Then I wondered what other products communicated that we needed to change our behavior.

Looking down at my desk I thought about sending text messages. Cell phones have made us switch from a telephone keyboard (and clicking 1-2-3 times per character) to a Blackberry with a Qwerty keyboard to one without a physical keyboard using the iPod Touch screen.

Even if the food doesn’t fit exactly into the food area on the plates, it reminds us to eat a well-rounded meal.

Portions don’t have to fit exactly into the pie shapes.  Maybe we’ll see a pyramid-shaped food diagram plate from the USDA or one like a cafeteria tray with containers.

That was it.

We didn’t even have sticky notes.

And when we communicated we were thoughtful about it, because our letters were more formal, polite, and complete.

There were relatively few misunderstandings or misinterpreted remarks.

Now, things are a little different.

With the arrival of instant and text messaging, we’ve learned a new shorthand language.

And our ability to spell check, proofread, self-correct, or be polite has disappeared.

How often do you get an IM that just says something like “where RU?” or “hey, i thot u were going to finish 2day!?!” and wonder what you did to make that person angry.

Of course, it’s not really anger you’re reading, it’s impatience.

Speaking is easier than typing, so people tend to type emails and IMs as if they were speaking with you.

And with unlimited 24/7 access to you in the car, train, meeting, cafe, or library, they think of something and type it just that way.

Someone sends you a question and you answer it as if you were right there…but your not.

And there is the problem.

It’s not what you say, or how often you say it, it’s HOW you say it that makes the difference.

Anyone who works with other people keeps in constant communication.

And these days everyone is wearing many hats and doing more things in their 8+ hour days.

So the shorthand is understandable.

But not best practice.

Communication: good.  Briefness: OK.  Brief to the point of perceived as curt: not good.

I use the shorthand.

I used to reply to an email with the answer to the question asked of me.  Just the answer.

Then I realized that by spending a few extra seconds to add a salutation, some context, a polite ‘does that help’ or ‘ping me if you need anything else’, and a nice sign-off it deflates negative perceptions to the exchange.

It leaves far less room for misinterpretation of intent and helps you avoid mistakes and missteps.

Which works best for you?

changes everything at the end.

If your sentences average 15 or more words, see where you can break them into two shorter sentences.  Paragraphs should have three to four sentences.  This approach will create smaller chunks of information that the reader will be able to absorb and act upon.

Remember, the more your writing deviates from this clear and to-the-point structure, the harder it will be to understand.

Examples:

BEFORE
This is a reminder to all residents and business owners of the upcoming public hearing, to be held on January 17 in the Main Conference Room, regarding the proposed waterfront redevelopment project.

AFTER
Public Hearing Reminder

Attention all residents and business owners:

There will be a public hearing to discuss the proposed waterfront redevelopment project.

The hearing will be held on January 17 in the Main Conference Room.

You will need to register with PAW to access the complete article, but here’s an excerpt to get you started:

Technical Writer

One of my many hats includes being a technical writer, also called technical communicator, who puts technical information into easily understandable language or a graphic.

You can sometimes find me leading a team conducting usability studies to help improve the design of a product that is in the prototype stage.

But the best part of this type of work are the advances in laptop computers, video conferencing, Google Docs, and wireless communications permit me to work from home, an office, or on the road.

Many view me a communication guru, but I’m just your average – detail oriented, curious, persistent in solving problems, self-motivated, and able to understand complex material and explain it clearly – type of guy.

If this sounds like you too – consider looking for work as a technical writer – jobs are expected to grow 18 percent, or faster than the average for all occupations, from 2008 to 2018.