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Better English 30
Timely Communications Tips
June 1, 2009
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Back from Creating
-- LEBRON JAMES DOESN'T LIKE TO LOSE
-- NONE WAS
-- INTERVIEWING

It's been weeks since the last edition. I've been working on my own writing--a collection of encounters with the notable and eminent. The collection will be called "No, I'm Not David, But I've Known a Lot of Famous People."

The reference is to a bunch of emails that I received about a year ago. The senders--youngsters from Eastern Europe mostly--thought that they were writing to the soccer star, David Beckham, and begged for pictures and signatures.

I'll be sharing my progress with you. Last week in the passenger seat of a friend's car, I smiled with him as he twisted his neck to watch a well-endowed young woman walk across the street.

I couldn't help but remember the anecdote about banker David Rockefeller. He too was watching (from a limousine) a shapely lass stride across the street, and remarked, "My, she certainly has ample accoutrement."


LEBRON JAMES DOESN'T LIKE TO LOSE
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Who does?

But I couldn't concentrate so much on the basketball star's poor example to youngsters. Is that how they should communicate when defeated?

"It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them," he said.

No, I was more alert to the Yahoo journalist's misuse of our language.

According to writer Tom Withers: LeBron said that Cleveland's loss to Orlando "will not impact his future with the Cavaliers."

As a verb, "impact" means to "drive close together" or to "wedge tightly."

He didn't stop there. Withers talks about "July 18--the three-year anniversary of him signing his previous deal."

By now all of you readers know that "signing," is a gerund, a noun formed from a verb, this time ending in "ing." So we put the possessive form in front of a gerund: "his signing."

Accordingly, we write "his drinking," her writing," and "your learning."


NONE WAS
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Edward Epstein, of the online "Congressional Quarterly," wrote this on April 22 about congresswoman Nancy Pelosi: "The speaker said none were true and that the real reason was much more mundane."

"None" takes a singular verb, so it should be "none was true."


INTERVIEWING
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We're in tough economic times, and many are looking for jobs.

I glanced through a little booklet, "Rapid Guide to Job Hunting," published by the University of Texas at Arlington. A printer from India sent it as a sample.

Here are some tips about the interview:

  • Do a practice interview with feedback.
  • Show your skills associated with the job. For example, for a sales job, demonstrate closing skills.
  • Good interviewers ask specific questions to assess certain traits and attitudes. Think about what they are really asking.
  • Show real interest in the interviewer. People respond favorably to those who seem to like them.
  • Check your wardrobe for wrinkles, unpolished shoes, and missing buttons.
  • Know the job requirements and explain how you exceed them.
  • Plan what you can say and do at the end of the interview to make a lasting impression.

How do I send my hard copy messages from a hotel when they have no stationery kit? Using email, I fax my communications from my laptop. You can't beat the efax service. Here's a special offer

Sincerely,
Barry Beckham


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