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LET'S COMMUNICATE
Electronic Newsletter
February 2000, No. 50

CONTENTS 

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD
BE A BETTER SPEAKER--PREPARE

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD

"A word too much always defeats its purpose."--Arthur Schopenhauer

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Things have been quiet on the Trained Professional Watch front, but a couple mildly interesting examples have come up. In a local columnist's weekly effort we find, "(The judge) took a different TACT with this one." Does this mean the judge used an alternative means of determining what is proper to say or do? I think not. The accurate word is probably TACK, meaning that the judge used a different course of action with this particular case.

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Then, in my habitual foray through the sports section, I found one that bewildered me for a moment. The whole (and long) sentence read, "Along with being inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, Winslow went to law school, works as an analyst for ESPN and Fox Sports, is raising a family and now serves as grand PUPA of a fledgling football league." Is this a mixed metaphor for a fledgling (a bird term) league changing from larva to butterfly (insect analogy)? No, I think the intended term was grand POOH- BAH of the league, meaning a person of high rank (from a character in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera). This COULD be a spell-checker thing. My Word Perfect checker refuses to even try pooh-bah, but this is a term you often hear but seldom read. The writer may have typed PUBA, for example. Moral: The first phonetic spelling you think of for a slangy term may not be correct.

***

A tip from Strunk and White's The Elements of Style:

SECONDLY, THIRDLY, ETC. Unless you are prepared to begin with FIRSTLY and defend it (which will be difficult), do not prettify numbers with -ly. Modern usage prefers second, third, and so on.

BE A BETTER SPEAKER--PREPARE

Some basic tips to help make sure your speech or presentation is the best it can be:

--Prepare your presentation carefully. Yes, you know the subject forward and back, but if you try to ad lib you probably won't succeed. Prepare an outline and stick to it.
--Check things out in advance, including the facilities and visuals and AV equipment you plan to use.
--Establish your credibility. Know your topic, be confident, display professionalism.
--Be yourself. Use your own style, and don't try to imitate anyone.
--Use your own words and a conversational tone. Don't read your presentation unless you are giving a direct quote.
--Put yourself in the audience's place. Let them know what your message means to them.
--Encourage audience participation, and be prepared to handle tough questions.

LET'S COMMUNICATE

If you have questions or comments, or would like to submit information or make a suggestion, contact:

Agriculture Communication
Attn: Becky Koch
7 Morrill Hall
Phone: 231-7875
FAX: 231-7044
e-mail: bkoch@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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