Podcast

Business Letter Basics (TWDP-003)

COMING SOON! In this forthcoming episode, I will outline the eight key elements of a business letter, as well as seven optional components and a handful of tricks and suggestions to give your professional writing polish and sophistication. Whether you’re a parent contacting your child’s elementary school, a consumer reaching out to a business about a product or service, or an actual business professional contacting clients or associates, knowing how to draft a business letter is a valuable skill that will help you communicate more effectively and persuasively.

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Active Reading Strategies (TWDP-002)

Active Reading Strategies (TWDP-002)

Have you ever struggled to focus on something important that you’re reading … or to retain information afterwards? If so, you won’t want to miss this episode on Active Reading Strategies—ways you can engage with a text rather letting the words passively wash over you. This episode begins with a consideration of how our minds wander in the first place—and why that’s not necessarily bad! I then move on to a list of five simple tools you can use while you read to mark your place, take notes, and highlight key passages. Finally, I provide an overview of several ways to use these tools and as well as a few mental techniques you can employ to gain the most from your reading. By the end of this podcast, you’ll have a number of active reading strategies that can help you not only better focus on your readings, but also learn more when your mind does wander and better review and study material later on. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Full disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, meaning I may make a small commission from any sales (at no extra cost to you). 3 inch x 3 inch Post-It Notes 2 inch x 2 inch Post-It Notes #2 Pencils Post-It Flags Post-It Page Markers Colored Index Cards Notebook

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The Importance of Context (TWDP-001)

Whether it’s thinking about how your purpose for writing influences the kind of document you write — and what and how you express your ideas — or how you can better introduce your subject to your own audience to provide them with the background information essential to getting your point across—context is an essential consideration for effective communication. In this episode, I’ll introduce you to the RAFT model—an acronym for four key factors shaped by the context of a communication—and I’ll talk about how you can use the “person-in-the-hallway” test to make sure you’ve properly introduced your subject. When we’re done here, you’ll have a couple of techniques that can help you not only better evaluate what kind of document to write and what style and level of formality to use in doing so but also proofread through the eyes of a stranger to determine whether you’ve done so effectively.

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