• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Executive Writer

Executive Writer

Business Writing Training

  • About
  • Workshops
  • Government
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact

Blog

Our blog explores all aspects of writing and proofreading, and passes along effective business writing tips. Do you have questions or concerns about workplace writing? Then join our discussion!

When in Doubt, Leave It Out

March 13, 2023

When editing anything you write, from short emails to 50-page reports, your guiding rule of thumb should always be: if a word does not help convey my message, delete it. If it does not clarify, it clutters. For example, while the following sentence gets its point across: “We would like to convey the ability we have to provide the industry’s highest level of customer service with certified and trained support personnel,” it gets the point across even better after cutting a few words and moving a key phrase into the subject position: “Our certified, trained support personnel provide the industry’s…

Continue Reading

Don’t Rush Important Writing Projects

March 11, 2023

Whip out emails and memos, but set aside the appropriate amount of time to write important projects. Shut the door, stick a strip of police tape across the opening of your cubicle, turn off the phone, clear your desk, take a deep breath… then take the time to 1) think and plan your project, and 2) write it. The project will go easier, faster and what you write will be more intelligent and professional than if you rush through it.

Continue Reading

Get Used to Throwing It Away

March 4, 2023

Writing is rewriting, and that means writing more words than you will end up using–and throwing away the rest. That’s a tough pill to swallow for those who don’t like to write in the first place or, out of concern for the environment, hate to throw anything away. But the undeniable fact is that good writers write more words than they need and toss the leftovers. A tough concept to get used to, but a big step to improving one’s writing.

Continue Reading

Develop an Attitude

March 2, 2023

Some people make the act of writing more difficult by simply THINKING that writing is difficult—and that they’re poor writers. They psych themselves out before they even lift a pen or strike a key. The solution is to fight fire with fire: Psych yourself UP by developing the reverse attitude just before you begin the project. Say to yourself: “Who cares what anybody thinks about my writing. The main goal here is to get the proposal [or whichever project you are working on] finished and off my desk.” Next, write a brief outline of the points you must cover. Keep…

Continue Reading

Never Underestimate the Power of a Metaphor

February 28, 2023

How do you describe a long, complex process or complicated product in one sentence? Use a simile or metaphor. Writing Task: Describe how a computer operating system works to someone who is computer illiterate. One of Many Possible Solutions: A computer operating system is like the electrical wiring system in your house—a power system that doesn’t do much of anything until you “plug in and turn on” a microwave/browser, lamp/word processing application, toaster/spreadsheet—you get the idea. Some people would write paragraph after paragraph trying to explain a computer operating system, confusing their readers more and more with every sentence they…

Continue Reading

Start at the Finish Line

February 27, 2023

Before you write an e-mail, letter, or report, write down (in one sentence) what you want your reader to do after they read it. Then write a list of the points that will persuade them to take that action. Your one-sentence goal and list of points will be a good outline to follow while writing the document.

Continue Reading

Write an Audience Profile

February 26, 2023

Before starting a writing project, write a brief description of your audience. Do not simply write: sales force. Write: “sales force, highly trained, most with college degrees, 50% men/50% women, overachievers, overworked, and feel left out of the loop here at headquarters.” Such a profile will allow you to write your letter or report with their point of view firmly in mind.

Continue Reading

Curb Your Verbs

June 29, 2022

When editing your work, check for long verb phrases with unnecessary helper verbs and delete them: “The mail room manager is able to sort mail electronically.” The revision: “The mail room manager sorts mail electronically.”

Continue Reading

Get Used to Throwing Words Away

April 18, 2022

Writing is rewriting, and that means writing more words than you will end up using—and throwing away the rest. That’s a tough pill to swallow for those who don’t like to write in the first place, and those who can’t bear to part with words they spent much time, effort, and sweat to produce. But the undeniable fact is that good writers write more words than they need and toss the leftovers. A tough concept to get used to, but a big step to improving one’s writing.

Continue Reading

Stop When You’re Finished

December 2, 2021

When should you stop writing a memo, letter, or email? When you’ve said everything you NEED to say. That sounds obvious, but too many businesspeople feel they must write long memos, letters, and reports or they will appear unintelligent to their readers. Nothing is further from the truth. The moment you start writing simply to add length, is when your document starts to become illogical, off-topic, and wordy. Then you really sound unintelligent. If your message can be conveyed in one sentence, stop there and hit the SEND button. You will be praised for your brevity.

Continue Reading

Elegant Emails

November 7, 2021

No one has time to ask a proofreader to edit each email they write before hitting the SEND button. But the vast majority of typos and errors that appear in emails can be eliminated if everyone took one simple step: reread each email before posting it to cyberspace.

Continue Reading

Writing: Psychological Warfare

October 31, 2021

Earnest Hemingway stopped writing at the end of each day on a positive note. If five o’clock rolled around and he was in the middle of a paragraph that was tough to write, he would work out the problem, and continue to write until he hit an idea that was easy to write about. Only then would he put his pen down. That way, he looked forward to writing the next day. Psychologically—and writing is all about the little mind games we play with ourselves—Hemingway’s ploy helped him get off to a fast start each morning. This works for business…

Continue Reading

Eliminate Officialese

October 7, 2021

Officialese refers to the jargon and convoluted phrases that, over time, become part of the vocabulary in every industry. The simple word “form” becomes a “requisite document or instrument of commerce.” Eliminate officialese. Here’s what Warren Buffet, Chairman of the Board, Berkshire Hathaway, has to say about jargon in his preface to A Plain English Handbook: How to create clear SEC disclosure documents: “For more than forty years, I have studied the documents that public companies file. Too often, I’ve been unable to decipher just what is being said or, worse yet, had to conclude that nothing was being said….…

Continue Reading

Sentence Variety Adds Spice to Your Writing

October 6, 2021

Whether you’re writing a brief email or a long report, take a little time to vary the length of your sentences. It adds zip to your style. Your readers will also appreciate the change in cadence as they read. No kidding. Everyone has a little voice in their head that speaks to them as they read. Varying sentence lengths will keep that voice alert and interested.

Continue Reading

So what if Shakespeare couldn’t spell his own name?

October 3, 2021

Everything you write on the job will go faster and involve fewer headaches if you focus on your message (what you want to say) instead of the mechanics (grammar, spelling, and punctuation). Nothing inhibits writing and causes writer’s block more than proofreading while writing. Take a tip from Merry Olde England. In Shakespeare’s day, spelling wasn’t a big deal. In fact, of the six known signatures of Shakespeare, each one is spelled differently. Back then, what you wrote was more important than how you wrote it. (Spelling wasn’t standardized until 1755 when Samuel Johnson published the first English dictionary.) Times…

Continue Reading

Prefer Anglo Saxon to Latin

September 3, 2021

Concrete words are “tangible.” You can touch, see, hear, smell, taste and paint a picture of the objects they describe. Abstract words are just the opposite. They make no mental connection to physical objects in the world. Many concrete words are derived from Anglo-Saxon and tend to be one syllable, more direct and blunt than abstract words, which are typically polysyllabic Latin words. Concrete: rose, thimble, chair, paper, water, axe, dirt, chalk, telephone, milkAbstract: occupation, intermittent, precept, offer, monograph, epilogue, aspect A mix of both types, with an emphasis on concrete words, is best. People who overuse abstract words tend…

Continue Reading

It’s Okay to Use a Million-Dollar Word, Really

February 16, 2021

We’ve all seen those lists with two columns: the first one consists of dozens of million-dollar “fancy” words like ascertain, circumvent, and endeavor. The second column is a list of ten-dollar “everyday” words—find out, avoid, and try—that are replacements for the fancy ones in the first column. The idea behind this writing tip is that if you use too many fancy words, you’ll sound like a pedant or stuffed shirt. But you need to view and apply these lists with a little common sense. When writing a document, if your Writer’s Intuition tells you that ascertain is the exact right…

Continue Reading

The Wisdom of Wile E. Coyote

February 14, 2021

“When we were young and fast and invincible, the Road Runner was our hero. Impervious to danger, the Road Runner ran without tiring, scooted without fear and beep-beeped coolly like a blue James Bond. But as I look down now from this creaking tower of years, I see it was the Coyote who deserved my admiration. That TV show was never about the Road Runner. It was always about the Coyote. The Coyote was determined. Determined is a word much misunderstood. Obstinate people are not determined. They merely suffer from too much pride. Stubborn people are not determined. Stubbornness is willful ignorance. Determination…

Continue Reading

More Writing Advice from Mark Twain

February 11, 2021

“The time to begin writing an article [or any document] is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.” This is Twain’s humorous way of saying “writing is rewriting”—a tip we all know, but is so very hard to put into practice, especially when writing under a deadline. However, the more we hear it and practice it, the better chance this tip will become part of our writing process.

Continue Reading

To Be or Not To Be?

December 14, 2020

Tip: Don’t overuse the to be verb (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been) or the have verb (have, has, had) in your sentences. When you edit your work, look for any forms of these verbs and replace them with stronger ones. Choose verbs that have specific meanings, so readers aren’t left with vague descriptions. For example, revise “The CEO has a positive effect on our company” to eliminate the weak has verb and revise the sentence so that it describes what the “positive effect” actually is: “The CEO brings strong leadership to our company.” Also, use the present…

Continue Reading

Mark Twain Didn’t Give a Damn When Writing

November 24, 2020

Mark Twain wrote by following rules. His own. Here is one we should all follow: “Substitute damn every time you’re inclined to write very. Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” This is a humorous way of saying, “Eliminate unnecessary words. Everything you write should be clear and concise.” Words we can all write by.

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Vicarious

March 29, 2020

Vicarious means experiencing in your imagination what someone is actually feeling or doing. For example, “Keith derived vicarious pleasure from the misfortune of the CFO, his office nemesis.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Nemesis

March 23, 2020

Nemesis means an enemy or long-standing rival. For example, “Keith considered the CFO his nemesis, ever since the person disallowed half the meals on his expense report.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Bonhomie

March 16, 2020

Bonhomie means good-natured friendliness; geniality. For example, “Keith worked hard to create a bonhomie among his sales team.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Surfeit

March 9, 2020

Surfeit means excess; overabundant supply. For example, “The CEO presented a surfeit of ideas during the meeting, but Keith thought they were all foolish.“

Continue Reading

Proofreading Tips

March 6, 2020

It’s National Proofreading Day on March 8th! As a gift from The Executive Writer, here is a list of proofreading tips that will ensure everything you write is clear, concise and error-free: Use a spell checker and grammar checker on the document as a first screening, but don’t depend on them.Then print out the document you need to proofread.Read it out loud once and then a second time silently.Read it backwards to focus on the spelling of words.As you read, use a screen (such as a blank sheet of paper) to cover the material not yet proofed.Point with your finger…

Continue Reading

National Grammar Day

March 5, 2020

It’s National Grammar Day! But what, exactly, do we mean by the word, grammar? Most people define it very simply as “writing rules.” But grammar has a much more extensive and complex definition. What better day than today to take a closer look at the word:Grammar is the study of words, how they are used in sentences, and how they change in different situations.The Ancient Greeks used to call it grammatikē tékhnē or “the craft of letters.” The word, however, can have any of these meanings: The study of a language: how it works, and everything about it. This is referred to as “background research on language.”The study of sentence structure. Rules…

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Circumscribe

March 1, 2020

Circumscribe means to draw a line around; to constrict with a boundary. For example, “Keith felt that his authority was being circumscribed by the new CEO.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Acquiesce

February 23, 2020

Acquiesce mean to submit, comply, or accept. For example, “Keith acquiesced to his sales team’s demand that he stop micromanaging them.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Tractable

February 16, 2020

Tractable means docile; capable of being easily managed or controlled. For example, “The new salesperson seemed too tractable to Keith, so he fired him.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week:

February 10, 2020

Impugn means to oppose or attack as false or lacking integrity. For example, “Keith felt that the VP’s comments impugned his integrity.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Haggard

February 2, 2020

Haggard means tired; exhausted. For example, “After a marathon session of endless meetings, Keith felt haggard.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Mellifluous

January 26, 2020

Mellifluous means having a smooth rich flow. For example, “Keith’s mellifluous voice could be heard well beyond the shower where he was singing.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Recondite

January 19, 2020

Recondite means obscure; arcane; something that is little known. For example, “The HR manual’s section on paid time off was so recondite that Keith threw the book away.“

Continue Reading

National Thesaurus Day

January 18, 2020

When you expand your vocabulary, you expand your mind. So start expanding, by thumbing through a thesaurus and jotting down new favorite words to use in your everyday speech and writing. There’s no better time to start than National Thesaurus Day, which just so happens to be January 18th! The first modern thesaurus, Roget’s Thesaurus, was compiled in 1805 by Peter Mark Roget. Since its publication, it has never been out of print. The word thesaurus is derived from the Greek word thēsauros, which means “treasure.” A fitting name given that a thesaurus is a treasure chest of words! According to Roget, the main purpose…

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Incongruous

January 12, 2020

Incongruous means incompatible; not harmonious; inconsistent. For example, “Keith felt that the new design for the headquarters building was an incongruous mix of modern and baroque.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Impervious

January 5, 2020

Impervious means impenetrable; not capable of being affected or disturbed. For example, “Keith said he was impervious to jet lag and that sleep was for losers.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Deleterious

December 31, 2019

Deleterious means causing harm or damage, often in a subtle or unexpected way. For example, “Keith felt that the CFO’s new strategy would have a deleterious effect on next quarter’s sales.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Hegemony

December 23, 2019

Hegemony means leadership or dominance over another person, group, country, etc. For example, “Keith felt that his sales team’s hegemony in the Northwest was being threatened by a competitor that just moved into Seattle.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Germane

December 16, 2019

Germane means fitting; relevant and appropriate. For example, “The CEO politely reminded Keith to keep his comments germane to the topic being discussed in the meeting.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Caustic

December 8, 2019

Caustic means sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way. For example, “The CFO’s caustic remarks cut Keith to the core.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Redound

December 2, 2019

Redound means to contribute greatly to a person’s credit or honor. For example, “Keith would only join committees whose work would redound to his reputation for efficiency.“

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Lackadaisical

November 24, 2019

Lackadaisical means lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy. For example, “Keith’s lackadaisical attitude toward filling out expense reports got him in trouble more than once.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Pedagogical

November 17, 2019

Pedagogical means relating to teaching or education. For example, “Keith wanted to be known for his pedagogical skills, which is why he constantly lectured the interns.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Hobbyhorse

November 10, 2019

Hobbyhorse means a preoccupation or favorite topic to which someone constantly refers. For example, “The sales staff was tired of Keith talking about winning the lottery, one of his many hobbyhorses.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Apocryphal

November 4, 2019

Apocryphal means of doubtful authenticity, spurious. For example, “Keith always thought that the CEO’s braggadocios college stories were apocryphal.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Apposite

October 27, 2019

Apposite means highly pertinent or appropriate, apt. For example, “Keith searched for an apposite quotation to begin his presentation on hygiene in the workplace.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Puckish

October 20, 2019

Puckish means whimsical, impish. For example, “Keith’s puckish sense of humor often got him into trouble.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Faze

October 13, 2019

Faze means disconcert, daunt; disturb the composure of. For example, “The new employee was fazed by Keith’s insistence on arriving at 8:45 each day instead of 9:00.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Clarion

October 6, 2019

Clarion means loud and clear. For example, “Keith gave a clarion call for focusing on the first quarter’s new sales targets.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Evince

September 29, 2019

Evince means to reveal, display clearly. For example, “Keith’s new CEO gave a speech that evinced the excitement she felt at leading the company.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Motley

September 22, 2019

Motley means incongruously varied in appearance or character; disparate. For example, “Keith’s motley arrangement of the slides in his presentation was embarrassing.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Cogent

September 15, 2019

Cogent means clear, logical and convincing. For example, “Keith made a cogent argument for repainting the stripes in the employee parking lot.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Sedulous

September 8, 2019

Sedulous means showing dedication and diligence. For example, “Keith was sedulous in his pursuit of the perfect Quiche Lorraine that he wanted to make for the Christmas party.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Hapless

September 1, 2019

Hapless means having no luck; unfortunate. For example, “Keith could only smile at the intern’s hapless attempt to impress the CEO.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Ostentatious

August 25, 2019

Ostentatious means designed to impress or attract notice, usually with a vulgar or pretentious display. For example, “Keith felt that the CEO’s ostentatious lifestyle sent the wrong message to the company’s employees.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Dearth

August 18, 2019

Dearth means a scarcity or lack of something. For example, “The dearth of ideas at the quarterly sales meeting left Keith feeling depressed.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Importune

August 12, 2019

Importune means to ask someone pressingly and persistently for or to do something. For example, “Keith importuned his boss to give him a paid day off to take his dog to the vet.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Burgeon

August 6, 2019

Burgeon means to grow and expand rapidly; flourish; bloom. For example, “Keith’s confidence burgeoned after he received the employee of the quarter award.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Cubit

July 28, 2019

Cubit means an ancient unit of measurement equal to the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger (typically about 18 inches). For example, “When Keith suggested that the new shelves in the conference room should be four cubits long, his boss had no idea what he was talking about.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Shanghai

July 21, 2019

Shanghai means to coerce or trick someone into doing something. For example, “The CIO shanghaied Keith into attending the tradeshow in his place.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Prodigious

July 14, 2019

Prodigious means remarkably or impressively great in size or degree. For example, “Keith was impressed with the new hire’s prodigious knowledge of the company’s market.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Ephemeral

July 7, 2019

Ephemeral means lasting a very short time. For example, “The prestige Keith earned for making the most sales in the first quarter was ephemeral; he placed last in the second quarter.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Countermand

June 30, 2019

Countermand means to revoke something (such as an order) issued by someone else. For example, “Keith felt he had a moral obligation to countermand the CEO’s directive to inflate the company’s worth during the next stockholders meeting.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Tenacious

June 23, 2019

Tenacious means clinging; adhering closely; persistent. For example, “Once Keith decided on a course of action, he could be very tenacious in seeing it through to the end.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Incipient

June 16, 2019

Incipient means beginning to happen or develop; in an initial stage. For example, “Keith felt he had to immediately quash the interns’ incipient revolt against working without pay on weekends.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Asperity

June 6, 2019

Asperity means harsh behavior or speech; rough manner or temper. For example, “Keith’s asperity during meetings with the CFO was just one reason why he was not promoted.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Protean

June 4, 2019

Protean means able to do many different things; versatile. For example, “Keith was a remarkably protean manager, which is why he was promoted so often.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Largesse

May 26, 2019

Largesse means generosity. For example, “Keith benefited from the largesse of his grandparents when he received a sizable inheritance.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Sequester

May 19, 2019

Sequester means to set apart; segregate. For example, “Keith sequestered the sales team in a conference room until they created a new campaign for the coming quarter.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Minion

May 12, 2019

Minion means a subordinate or servile dependent or follower. For example, “Keith considered the new group of interns his minions and ordered them about mercilessly.”

Continue Reading

Inspiring Quote for Business Writers

May 11, 2019

“It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.” – C. J. Cherryh

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Eclectic

May 5, 2019

Eclectic means composed of elements drawn from various sources; having a wide-ranging and diverse sense of taste and style. For example, “Keith had an eclectic palate and enjoyed dining at a variety of ethnic restaurants.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Epitome

April 28, 2019

Epitome means a person or thing that is the perfect example of a particular quality or type. For example, “Dressed in his tuxedo, Keith looked the epitome of the debonair man about town.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Mitigate

April 21, 2019

Mitigate means make less severe, serious or painful. For example, “Keith felt he could mitigate his financial problems by selling his Escalade.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Apotheosis

April 14, 2019

Apotheosis means the perfect form or example of something. For example, “Keith felt that Star Trek was the apotheosis of television shows, and recorded every episode.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Portend

April 7, 2019

Portend means indicate; an omen or sign of something to come. For example, “Keith felt that the weak sales figures in the first quarter portended even more financial trouble the rest of the year.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Cacophony

March 31, 2019

Cacophony means a harsh, grating mixture of sounds. For example, “The cacophony of voices coming from the break room made Keith decide to eat lunch in the parking lot.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Abstruse

March 24, 2019

Abstruse means difficult to comprehend. For example, “The instructions on how to set up the new printer were so abstruse that Keith slammed the printer manual down and walked away.”

Continue Reading

All federal employees must write in plain English. It’s the law!

March 22, 2019

Wordy, convoluted, unclear writing has been a problem for centuries in both the public and private sectors. But the federal government took a big step to address the issue by passing the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Simply put, the Act states that every document a federal employee writes that will be read by a taxpayer must be written in plain English. Here are some of the highlights of the Act: The purpose of this Act is to improve the effectiveness and accountability of Federal agencies to the public by promoting clear Government communication that the public can understand and…

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Perspicacious

March 17, 2019

Perspicacious means keen, having acute mental vision or discernment. For example, “Keith was perspicacious about the challenges facing the company, and wrote a report detailing what he felt could be done to address the problems.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Enervate

March 10, 2019

Enervate means to weaken, to cause someone or thing to feel drained of energy. For example, ” Missing his quarterly sales quota did not enervate Keith, in fact it had the opposite effect and spurred him to action.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Approbation

March 3, 2019

Approbation means commendation, praise. For example, “Keith constantly sought the approbation of his colleagues.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Cumulate

February 24, 2019

Cumulate means to gather or combine, pile in a heap. For example, “Keith asked the intern to cumulate the sales reports for the last three years.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Clement

February 17, 2019

Clement means inclined to be merciful, lenient; not severe, mild. For example, “Keith appreciated the clement attitude of the police officer who pulled him over for speeding.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Venal

February 10, 2019

Venal means corrupt, able to be bribed. For example, “Though only a small number of politicians have been convicted of taking money, Keith believed that all politicians were venal.”

Continue Reading

How to turn on the writing “faucet.”

February 6, 2019

These two writing tips go hand-in-hand: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” — Louis L’Amour, and “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ― Jodi Picoult. They are good reminders that when you have writer’s block, and we all do from time to time, you should write something, anything! to get the juices flowing.

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Adjudicate

February 3, 2019

Adjudicate means to make an official decision about who is right in, for example, a dispute. For example, “The CEO asked Keith to adjudicate the quarrel between HR and the maintenance staff.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Myopic

January 29, 2019

Myopic means nearsighted; lacking imagination or foresight. For example, “Even the most myopic member of Keith’s staff could see that his suggestion that a 2% raise would solve the morale problem in the office was ludicrous.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Valorous

January 20, 2019

Valorous means acting with bravery or boldness, courageous. For example, “Keith thought that his effort to implement a casual Friday dress code was a valorous act worthy of a letter of commendation.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Impromptu

January 13, 2019

Impromptu means something done on the spur of the moment without being planned or rehearsed. For example, “Keith’s new boss had a reputation for holding meetings which were often impromptu and unnecessary.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Recalcitrant

January 7, 2019

Recalcitrant means to have an obstinate and uncooperative attitude toward authority. For example, “Keith was upset with the recalcitrant website team that refused to implement his changes to the company website.”

Continue Reading

Here’s a little sound, concise (very concise) advice from experienced writers.

January 4, 2019

1. “A sentence should never be cruel and unusual.”  — William C. Burton, attorney 2. “I have made this letter longer that usual because I lack the time to make it shorter.” — Blaise Pascal, mathematician 3. “Clarity begins at home.” — Edie Schwager, speaker with the American Medical Writers Association 4. “The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity.” — Robert Stuberg, author and speaker 5. “I never write metropolis for seven cents when I can write city and get paid the same.” — Mark Twain, author 6. “When writing about science, don’t simplify the science;…

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Exculpate

December 31, 2018

Exculpate means to show or declare that someone is not guilty of wrongdoing. For example, “The company’s lawyer exculpated Keith of any blame in the sales team’s attempt to defraud the company.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Umbrage

December 24, 2018

Umbrage means a feeling of resentment after being slighted or insulted. For example, “When the client mockingly inferred that Keith’s sales figures were inflated, he took umbrage at the remark, turned and walked away.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Mordant

December 17, 2018

Mordant means showing a sharp or critical quality, biting. For example, “Keith refused to work with the intern because he did not like the intern’s mordant sense of humor.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Verbose

December 10, 2018

Verbose means wordy, using more words than necessary. For example, “Keith’s response to a company inquiry of his excessive spending at a tradeshow was verbose, confusing, and misleading.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Codify

December 3, 2018

Codify means to arrange laws or rules into a systematic code. For example, “The CEO asked Keith to codify the many different HR policies that their company implemented over the past 10 years.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Camaraderie

November 26, 2018

Camaraderie means a spirit of friendly good-fellowship. For example, “Keith felt his team’s camaraderie gave them a leg up against the competition.”

Continue Reading

Word of the Week: Cloister

November 19, 2018

Cloister means to cut off or seclude from the world. For example, “While Keith was protective of the two new interns from his alma mater, he did not want to cloister them either.”

Continue Reading

Footer

Information

  • About
  • Contact
  • Reviews

Workshops

  • List of Courses
  • Listen to Dr. Ryan on CBS Radio

Government

  • UEI and NAICS Codes
  • Download our Capability Statement
  • Download our Navy SEALs Case Study

Let’s Talk

The Executive Writer
11833 Hidden Valley Road
Sandy, Utah 84092-5735

801-706-7558
info@executivewriter.com

The Executive Writer © 2023 · All Rights Reserved
UEI LM2LRB2MX9P8 • CAGE 3SPU0 • DUNS 028636947