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When to knock on your prospect’s door . . . . and wait for their response!

 

In a recent blog posting, marketing genius (and entrepreneurial visionary) Seth Godin warned  about the limits of communication:

“Knock, knock” is a fine guideline for what communications documents need to say, he says:

“The purpose of most communication isn’t to completely explain yourself–Too often, we get stuck relieving tension, making our case and closing the door on the discussion.

The purpose is to open the door to interaction, learning and action. ‘Who’s there?’ is a fine response to hope for.

Communication is a process, not an event.”

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More specifically, communication should not be an invitation to an event where all of the salient details (and then some) are outlined without a chance for the reader/prospect to respond.

For instance, I recall promoting my writing and editing services in a letter of introduction I sent to prospects,  ten years ago. After I inserted the logo (in reduced size) and provided my contact coordinates, the body of the letter itself spilled onto a second page.  Hmmmm, I thought, at the time. They do say “less is more. But . . . . . ” I thought the ideas were so important that I allowed a 1.25 page letter to go out via Canada Post (which I used to avoid anti-spam legislation)!

Only three out of about 25 prospects responded and for most, I don’t doubt,  the length made the letter too much to process.

In more recent years, I provided a reference letter for a mentor who was nominated for an annual award.  Then I recognized that human attention span and intensity are shorter than we may think: as a copy or content writer, you will be far more deeply involved in the service you describe than the assessors of it will be (and care to be)!  Less truly is more—without exception—whether or not you have a logo that gobbles space!

Beyond that one page limit, too much content detracts from the reader’s impression. You don’t need all that detail!  A finite promotion is not a legal report or government legislation!

As Godin says, “relieving” your tension as a writer, making a “foolproof” case  are me-centred, not prospect-centred,  strategies. 

Such writing does not stop with the “knock, knock,” but assumes the admission and meeting to come,  all without the prospect’s consent!

Don’t delude yourself that you’ll “blow the reader away,” when you’ll more likely tire them out!

A cardinal rule of copywriting is to remember that the prospect comes first.

So when preparing your next cover letter, focus on the employer’s needs, not your own.

And when preparing your resume, don’t tell your life story! Only the highlights that pertain to the job posting will matter to the hiring committee. Think a maximum of two stories/storylines for a two page resume.

Leave all of your impressive ideas for the job interview (and for the job!) that you’ll more likely secure by keeping your document to a  “knock, knock.”

And now it’s your turn: Have you read a communications document recently that fails to stop in time? Please share your experiences: I’d be delighted to hear from you.

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Can English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers teach learners to write more effectively? On language misuse in this month’s issue of “Tell Your Story Newsletter”

June 2022 Vol 4 Issue 6

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Specializing in Entrepreneurial and Organizational Storytelling

Let me tell your story!

Welcome Mid-June, 2022!

We have had cooler than seasonal temperatures this month and a week of steady rain as I write this issue. But gardeners and farmers alike are mostly relieved for the moisture, which renews the parched soil of our province’s precious grasslands.

Many Saskatchewanians dread “construction” season which is all the more intense because the road and sidewalk projects from earlier Covid years have been postponed until now. But all around us the greening of the trees and grass and the recent flowering of lilacs and fruit trees have brought remarkable beauty to our neighbourhoods. I hope amid the rushed pace of your schedules, good readers, that you can find time to observe summer’s unfolding beauty and to store the season’s warmth in your minds.

In Article One, this issue, taking two public signs as examples of language misuse, I raise the question, “Can English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors teach learners to write more effectively (than we do)?”

And in “Storytellers’ Corner,” we consider etymologist Bryan Garner’s discussion on the term “disconnect,” a “casualism” in which a noun is extracted from a verb and used in informal speech and writing.

In the news are many signs of strife and difficulty, from the soaring costs of gasoline and food, due to Russia’s war on Ukraine and Covid’s disruption of our supply-management chains; to unstable and uncertain air travel in these late pandemic times. . . And yet, as many of us strive to do work that “lights us up” while also making a difference in our communities, we see that much continues to be good in our world and warrants our awareness of it.

May this summer be a time to renew relationships with your family and/or friends, good readers; and to relax enough to restore your minds and creativity; and may we all remember to be grateful for the blessings that still grace our lives.

Happy summer.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

Principal,  Storytelling Communications

www.elizabethshih.com

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IN THIS ISSUE:

 

ARTICLE 1:  Can ESL instructors teach learners to write better (than we do)?

STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: The case of “disconnect” with Bryan Garner

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US

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Article One: Can ESL instructors teach learners to write better (than we do)? 

Sometimes, even in unexpected places like supermarket shelves and the doors of downtown office buildings, passersby can find evidence of poor writing–of language misuse.

Recently, while shopping for food at a discount grocer’s chain, I saw a sign that begged to be edited:

_____________

CRACKERS 

MOVED TO

MIDDLE OF 9TH

ISLE

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Now, since editors can occasionally sound grumpy about the poor language skills native speakers show in public places, I must first acknowledge the thoughtfulness of this sign, intended by store staff to notify shoppers that inventory was recently moved. The intention was to alleviate confusion and inefficiency for shoppers.

Since I had been looking for  whole wheat, saltine crackers, I was mostly grateful to read this sign.

That said, as you’ll have noted, the sign misspells the word “aisle” as “isle,” ironically advising shoppers to find the “9th isle” (sic), which they would (in a literal sense) be hard-pressed to locate in the dozen or more “aisles” in the store.

“Never you mind,” a voice may say in the heads of many native speakers of English: the sign does a “good enough” job of communicating where in the large store one can find those elusive baked biscuits.

The only remaining problem is that the sign also begged for some editorial fact-checking, since my visit to the store’s “9th [a]isle” told me that crackers of any kind were not there to be found! Glancing at my watch and aware of other errands queued up for the afternoon, I opted to drop the item from my grocery list, going without some food that I’d recently included in my meal planning.

“So what?” might say the voice in many shoppers’ heads: the crackers could wait for another week, during which time someone in the store (shopper or staff) would certainly have recognized the misinformation in the sign, and perhaps also its misspelling, improving accuracy, all around.

Then one short day later, when I was running errands downtown, I encountered another (arguably well-intentioned) sign that miscommunicated its message:

______________

PLEASE CLOSE

DOOR WIND

HOLDS IT OPEN

______________

The fused sentence between “door” and “wind,” which begs for punctuation, had none at all. Furthermore, the line breaks in the message (which designers or layout people might also lament) confuse the grammatical object of the action of what should be the sign’s first sentence (“door”) with the grammatical subject of what should be the sign’s second sentence (“wind”).

The hapless person who fashioned the above sign also used universal “caps lock” formatting, further confusing where one thought ends and a second begins.

This sign forces even a native (first language) speaker of English entering the doorway to read its message (at least) twice, before understanding what it may mean to say.

“Now, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill,” a reader might say, since re-reading the sign would likely still allow most pedestrians to understand its jist and so to manually close the door behind themselves.

“All’s well that ends well,” such a reader might conclude. Whoever posted the sign intended to preserve the safety and security of the building from undesirable, seasonal weather. The door was in fact closed and intact, when I came upon the sign.

“But not so fast!” (might say Saskatoon’s master editor, Wilf Popoff, who has given riveting and hilarious talks on such commonplace sloppy communication). Are these two instances of faulty signage really adequate in our already helter-skelter, fast-paced world?

One can imagine an episode of Mr. Bean, when he would lose hours in [a]isle nine, searching for saltine crackers at the supermarket; and where the door with the second sign would slap him in the face, as the wind caught it and forced it open . . . .

And who among us wants to live like Mr. Bean?

Furthermore, in my work as an English as a Second Language teacher to newcomers to Canada, I find myself feeling annoyed when I see linguistic misuse. “Get a life” some readers might say, but good communication is especially important when we teach the English language to those who are first learning what good usage in English means. That knowledge is vital, as newcomers strive to participate in our communities.

In a recent webinar, fellow italki.com ESL teacher, Emma Blackledge, observed that “teaching writing to ESL students” means “teaching good writing principles.” Whether a student is a beginner, an advanced user of English, or even a native speaker like many of us, “everyone needs better writing skills.”

Now, my reading lately as an ESL teacher has involved survival English, often referred to as “literacy” instruction. It is about communicating how to introduce oneself to others, hold a pen, open a bank account and understand what “windchill” means at the outset of a prairie winter.

Yet from my perspective, the two public signs I’ve described are valid “texts” for newcomers (and not only native speakers) to consider, because the signs invite the kind of interactive and collaborative exchanges that make language learning come alive.

Albeit for a level four to eight student (and not necessarily for a “survival” one), one lesson plan could demonstrate the importance of correct spelling and checking the accuracy of facts; another lesson could examine the importance of grammatical sentence structure in conveying a sign’s meaning . . .

So to prevent ourselves and newcomers to Canada from experiencing chaotic and unfulfilling lives (resembling Mr. Bean’s) and without disregarding the humour that can arise from faulty signage, my point is that we ALL need to demand–and teach–better language use.

And now it’s your turn: What errors have you found in public signage recently? How would you correct them if you found yourself teaching new learners of English? Please share your experiences; I’d be delighted to include them in a future issue.

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STORYTELLER’s CORNER . . . . 

STORYTELLER’S CORNER: Words, Stories, Riddles and Jokes on Writing and Editing . . .

This month: the case of “disconnect” with Bryan Garner

This month and in the context of the signage analyzed in Article One, I was interested to read in his recent blog, American etymologist, Bryan Garner, discuss the noun “disconnect.”

Garner says that “disconnect” is a short form of “disconnection,” that arose in the 1980s and became “ubiquitous after about 1995.” He writes that the term “is primarily used to label (1) a clash between what is expected and what happens; or (2) more mundanely, the failure of a connection, such as the internet, telephone, or utility.”

“Disconnect,” Garner writes, “typifies a popular trend in CASUALISM, by which an established noun (‘disconnection’) is truncated to form a new noun that looks the same as the corresponding verb, but differs in pronunciation.

The new noun has the accent on the (/dis-kә-nekt/), while the verb has the accent on the last (/dis-kә-nekt/). This pronunciation scheme follows the pattern of many standard verb-noun pairs, such as ‘contest’ and ‘progress’.”

Garner concludes (perhaps with annoyance?) that these “new forms” are not appropriate in formal writing. They also reflect a degree of English usage that is higher than that of literacy or foundational learners, but which native speakers should be aware of, so as not to confuse those learners.

Do you have a story, query or joke on any aspect of writing or communications? Please share it with me; I’d be delighted to use it in an upcoming issue. 
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 SHOP NEWS:

This summer, I am engaged in the certification process of studying the Canadian Centre for Language Benchmarks (CCLB)’s “Bootcamp,” on the theory and practice of literacy or “survival” ESL in Canada.

Reviewing multiple manuals of theory and examples, I look forward to applying this knowledge to both public and private classes of learners of ESL.

Special thanks also this month to Lindsay Matheson and Pat Kuzmik, of Saskatoon Open Door Society’s Language Training Unit, for discussing the discipline of survival ESL with me.

Since the fall of 2021, I have led a conversation circle at Open Door, including “Discover Canada” (for newcomers seeking citizenship); and, since last winter, a general “conversation circle” for newcomers, targeting Canadian Centre of Language Benchmark levels four to six (pre-intermediate to intermediate).

It’s heartening to witness more of the amazing work that local non-profits, supervisors and volunteers do in language traning; and also, how well that work is received by many of our newcomer population.

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Congratulations this month to two women entrepreneurial experts who are bringing better knowledge of (and engagement with) digital technology to our province and well beyond: Katrina German and her team at “Ethical Digital” recently piloted their “Social Media and Well-Being Certification,” to content creators who know the relevance of digital technology to everyday life (not to mention its challenges).

Katrina will officially launch the program at the IABC World Conference in New York on June 27th, when it will become a paid training option for communicators and other users.

And this past winter/spring, Monica Kreuger and her team launched the new program “digiSMART” for entrepreneurs, which teaches hands-on, market-ready technology training to people of all backgrounds who don’t want to fall behind on (ever-changing) technology use.

(Full disclosure: I will teach some business communication modules in the future of digiSMART; but I am not paid affiliate’s fees to promote Katrina’s or Monica’s programs.)

These are two amazing women entrepreneurs with powerful, specialized teams! Check out the programming both provide to witness the power of technology for entrepreneurs and their clients, on a world-class level.

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There are always new businesses and entrepreneurial programs to promote. Please write me to share yours. . . But for now, this is a wrap for mid-June!

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 ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I now help new immigrants to Canada to improve their English language skills, so as to secure their first or better jobs. I also help small- and medium-sized businesses to close more sales by communicating more effectively; and I write chapbooks for major companies, to promote their legacy stories.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant website (www.elizabethshih.com).

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!

Please visit my website for more information:  (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).

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STAY IN TOUCH:

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ESL learners and teachers: Do you think you know the English language? Ten eccentricities of our West Germanic tongue

English language learners, teachers, bloggers and other wordsmiths, do you think you know the English language well? English is spoken as a first language by over 400 million people. And it’s a second or third language to over a billion people, which amounts to one-seventh of the world’s population (Tefl.org, 2022). Many people internationally have already learned English or are currently doing so.

But should we assume that many users are experts? English as a language has an interesting and “quirky” history, the blogging team at Tefl.org writes, in its fortnightly blog:  English is “sometimes frustrating, often confusing, but never boring.” The language is West Germanic and derives a lot of influence from Latin (using the Latin alphabet), French and Old Norse.

While it might appear that English has been standardized in common use, Tefl writers say that there are actually many variations, dialects and accents that cause English to vary between places where it’s used (spoken and written). Tefl recently shared 10 fun facts that many native speakers do not know about the language and which I adapt for today’s blog posting:

  1. English has words with contradictory meanings, called “contronyms.” For instance, you can have a “variety” as a particular type of something, and also, distinctly, as a “great number of something.” So there are many “varieties” of the Haskap Berry, while a “variety” of different fruit are studied at the University of Saskatchewan’s Fruit Breeding Program.

Similarly, we can “dust” a tabletop (to remove something from it) or “dust” (i.e. add) a layer of icing sugar to a dessert. Both are very different activities.

Newcomers need to rely on context to guide them on which way a specific word is being used. This takes much practice.

2. Shakespeare, as a poet and playwright, is credited for adding more than 1000 words to the English language! He created words like “swagger,” “uncomfortable” and “bandit,” as well as phrases like “break the ice,” and many more (as undergraduate readers of his oeuvre often discover for the first time).

3. English has “ambigrams,” words that look the same from various positions on the page and looked at from different angles. For instance, the word “swims” reads as “swims” even if you turn the page upside down! So too with “big,” and, depending on the handwriting involved, “awesome” and “blessing” may look the same, either way up!

4. Our alphabet used to be longer. Over history, letters like “ash” (æ) and “ethel” (œ) have been dropped, although they are still used in Scandinavian languages. Currently, our alphabet has 26 letters, but it once had more than 29 letters.

5. In 1066, the Norman Conquest of England permanently changed our language. The Normans added new words and phrases to English, from the old French. Many words with French origins (e.g. “niche”) are common to English (writing and speaking), including “parliament” and “banquet.” Many of the words we use to communicate about food, and the game of cricket, actually derive from Norman French.

6. We have some very long words in English. Tefl reports that some may think the longest word in the language is “antidisestablishmentarianism.” But in fact, it is “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.” Even seasoned learners might do a double-take at that! The world is the name of a lung condition that comes from inhaling sand or ash! Try that at your next, post-Covid dinner party!

7. The most commonly used noun in English is “time,” which outranks other, heavily used words like “person,” “year,” “way” and “day” (who round out the top five).

8. Some words that appear simple have very complex meanings. For instance, the word “set” has an entry in the Oxford English dictionary (OED) that is 40,000 words long and has over 430 definitions! As Tefl’s writer writes,” you can set a table for a set time, you can complete a set of something” and so on.

9. Other words have surprising origins. British English refers to people lining up in “queues,” which sounds French to some users. But it comes from the tail of a beast in medieval art, so that a queue (what Canadians call a “line” or “line up”) resembles the tail of such a creature, in “either single-file” or “snaking around bends.” 

10. Do you know what is the most commonly used letter in the English language? It’s the vowel “E!” “E” can be used as many as five times in a word, such as in “beekeeper,” “effervescence” and “teleconference.” Try combining those words in a single sentence!

These quirky eccentricities about English make it easier to see why non-native English speakers can sometimes get confused. And there are variations of English, including American, Canadian and Australian English. But it has become popular internationally and is often named as the “language of business worldwide.”

New words and phrases are added to the OED yearly, whereby pop culture has a strong influence on new words, idioms and terminology.

Sharing some of these truths can help learners to recognize that English is not only complex but also fascinating; its character cannot be contained within even our best dictionaries or grammar guides!

And now it’s your turn: Did you know some of these eccentricities of the English language? Please share your word wonders in English:  I’d be delighted to use them in an upcoming posting.  

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Want to sell books to those who don’t read? Terry O’Reilly tells us how in this month’s issue of “Tell your Story Newsletter”

May 2022 Vol 4 Issue 5

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Specializing in Entrepreneurial and Organizational Storytelling

Let me tell your story!

IN THIS ISSUE:

ARTICLE 1: Want to sell or promote books to those who don’t read?! Terry O’Reilly tells us how

STORYTELLER’S CORNER:  The irritating case of “at this time,” with Bryan Garner

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US

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Welcome Mid-May 2022!

Mild temperatures and, for the most part, sunshine, have been very welcome through the first half of May, including a couple of days above 20 degrees Celsius! Some Saskatonians have broken out their shorts; and many, their sandals!

Garden centres are opening, with price wars beginning over hanging flower baskets, bedding plants and perennials. . . And the “perennial” question (asked by many, including Leisha Gribinski of CBC radio’s “Saskatoon Morning” last week) is this: “Do we really have to wait for the May long weekend to get planting?”

Hungry for green leaves and flowers, I’ve noticed some shoppers keenly surveying plants from the tantalizing displays at local grocers, as well as at the Berry Barn, Dutch Growers, Floral Acres and other local companies.

And at a recent meeting of the ESL conversation circle that I co-led for newcomers (through Saskatoon Open Door Society), the topic was, appropriately, “gardening tools.” My co-leader, herself an avid gardener, asked participants questions about gardening implements, how to use compost in the garden, and even whether they had inquired about  local seed libraries. Newcomers with backyards or access to community garden plots had stories of previous success.

Open Door’s conversation circle also stressed the importance of getting outside, “drinking in the sun and the air” and digging in moist soil with one’s hands, after another long, Prairie winter. For those living in apartments or condos, I reminded our newcomers that container pot gardening can be an enjoyable alternative. Even folk who have only houseplants can take them outdoors on a balcony, allowing them to flourish in the fresh air and direct sunlight.

What really matters, I suggested to the circle, was communing with nature as much as possible, such as by sitting outdoors with a cup of tea and a good book. It’s so important to be fully conscious of the beauty of these days and to store up that feeling to draw on, in the months after spring and summer end.

And since many people don’t have (or make) time to read during the year, just which book(s) we’ll read in our gardens depends greatly on how books are marketed. So, in “Article One” of this month’s issue of TYSN, I visit Terry O’Reilly’s recent podcast on how to sell books to those who “don’t read.”

In “Storyteller’s Corner,” I return to a usage tip from American etymologist Bryan Garner, for whom the phrase “at this time” is a weed to be pulled from our linguistic garden beds.

And “Shop News” refers to details from my recent ESL teaching and to excellent programs and products from local entrepreneurs who deserve close attention and patronage.

Valued readers, may the appreciable lengthening of our daytime hours and the human respect and equality we still find in our communities help us to cope with these late Covid days and with a globe so torn by violence and strife.

I send renewed wishes for good health, personal growth and prosperity to you all.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

Principal,  Storytelling Communications

www.elizabethshih.com

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Article One: Want to sell or promote books to those who don’t read? Terry O’Reilly tells us how . . .

Recently, I listened to a fascinating episode of the CBC radio show, “Under the Influence,” hosted by Canada’s wonderful, (silver-tongued) ad-man, Terry O’Reilly. The topic was “book marketing,” so I knew I had to tune in!

In this late digital age, most ESL teachers, writers, editors, publishers and others who work with words know that promoting a book that they have written, or a bookstore, is not easy. (See Penelope Fitzgerald on this topic, The Bookshop, which for non-readers was made into a great film [lol!].)

As O’Reilly comments, 2.2 million books are published each year in English and yet most adults in North America do not read after high school. To sell a book, he says, you must have “luck, timing, word-of-mouth and some inventive marketing.”

While fewer people now read books than in previous centuries, even in our digital age, book reading is not dead. O’Reilly cites the success of the antique Portuguese bookstore, Avelar Machado (AM) which opened in 1876 and remains the oldest used bookstore in the world. It sells “almost pristine” used books, with barely noticeable imperfections, priced at a much lower rate than new ones.

AM is remarkable, however (O’Reilly tells us), because it has made advertisements to promote its used books that were “suitable for framing.” You may have seen reproductions of these ads—“improved upon” images of James Joyce, wearing taped eyeglasses; Agatha Christie, with a small bandaid on her forehead; and Mark Twain, with a shaving cut papered on his chin!

When classic authors like these bore barely noticeable imperfections, AM implied that gently used books would be just as good (not to mention cheaper) than their new counterparts. And it worked! AM’s sales spiked.

O’Reilly reported that Penguin Classics also created posters with the tagline, “Escape into a book,” with photos of people on busy subways, waiting for buses, or in airports, where remained a single empty seat on which an open book had been placed!

However busy you are, the marketing said, there is still time to escape into a great book. Similarly, Penguin posted images of well-worn, heavily annotated classics owned by famous contemporary authors. Those ads also succeeded.

More evidence that book reading is not dead, O’Reilly reports, comes from India, where the average reader reads 10 hours and 42 minutes per week; contrast that to Canada and the US, where we clock in less than six hours for that period!

How is it that Indians out-read us? In part it’s because more than 70 million people in India buy English language books. However, this has a troubled underbelly, O’Reilly says, since nearly 40% of those books are pirated copies, sold on the streets by gangs for “less than half of the cover price.” Most of the buyers don’t even know their copies are pirated, because the covers and bindings look legitimate. Publishers lose $620 million (USD) each year to such piracy.

Another example of book or arts-related marketing that O’Reilly shares is Netflix’s development of the “Because You Watched” tool, which appears at the end of any movie or show you view on the streaming service. The tool (which has an 85% response rate from viewers) recommends to viewers the next movie or show they should watch.

But, O’Reilly reports, the problem is that often the recommended next movie usually has no relevance to the one you just saw! Analyzing the nature of the new (suggested) show reveals only vague similarities in theme or casting to what you’ve just seen. Accuracy is not the promo’s strong suit, and yet the response rate flourishes.

More relevant still, when Brazil’s bookstore “Librarie Cultura” (LC) saw this “Netflix” effect, it decided to try it with its own spin: LC featured in-store posters and graphics on its social media accounts, connecting movies and TV shows to books.

For instance, one poster said, “Because you watched ‘House of Cards,’ next try reading Othello.” Shakespeare’s themes of politics, murder and betrayal, it implied, make it a good pairing with the Netflix series.

Similarly, O’Reilly reports that LC connected the supernatural, science fiction and horror of another Netflix series, “Stranger Things,” with books or stories by Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe. Similarly, “The Matrix” was paired with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

In such campaigns, O’Reilly observes, marketers “connect the dots” between Hollywood and classic books, creating a “powerful gateway to binge reading” among people who would never otherwise read.

In a similar vein, the “Carrefore” supermarket chain in Europe boosted the sales of its “discounted grocery store books” by displaying them near the food they featured: Moby Dick appeared in a stand near the fresh fish section, Snow White next to fresh apples and Bram Stoker’s Dracula near the garlic display! It’s hard to deny the appeal . . .

O’Reilly cites another case of book marketing that (literally and figuratively) takes the cake: a restaurant in Union, CT, which has lined its walls with 9000 books—the “side-order” of any meal ordered there. For every dinner you eat, you can take up to three books home, at no further charge.

Diners are known to peruse the book collection for hours, and the menu is thematically clever, featuring Catcher in the Rye (for a sandwich on rye bread) and a “Charles Dickens’ wrap.” The restaurant’s owners regularly scour used bookstores and sales to stock the restaurant’s bookcases. Movie and music stars Robert Redford and Bruce Springsteen are among the celebrities who have visited, such is the restaurant’s quirky and fun reputation.

In all this marketing, savvy strategists like O’Reilly know, paradoxically, “If you want to reach people who don’t usually buy books, you have to reach people who don’t usually buy books.”

That is, you need to find new ways to reach this audience.

Finally (and the most dynamic story from O’Reilly’s show) is that of “Editora Carambaia” (EC), a Brazilian publisher that has mounted a bookselling campaign like no other. They teamed up with a local college professor, who was leading a bookclub at a nearby prison.

The publisher donated books to the prison to help inmates develop their analytical and communication skills. Soon the prison inmates were found to have read nine times more books than civilians!

So the National Justice Council and EC created a program called “The Prison Reviews,” which turned prison inmates into literary critics by giving them 30 days to read a book, write and submit a review on it.

Some inmates were surprisingly insightful. A committee evaluated their submissions and found the reviews so remarkable that Carambaia turned them into an ad campaign!

Ads appeared over social media, radio commercials and on bookstore posters, bookmarks and other stationery, including videos of inmates reading online. These and a documentary were uploaded to YouTube.

“The Prison Reviews” program also improved inmates’ reading and writing skills, “alongside [their] hope and dignity”: each well-written review took four days off their sentences. (Inmates exchanged one kind of sentence for another!) The program gave a voice back to the most marginalized in Brazilian society and, as O’Reilly puts it, “allowed them to rewrite their destinies.”

So Terry O’Reilly asks, how does a publisher get a book noticed, in a sea of new releases? And how do you get people who don’t read (much) to pick up a book?

Inventive marketing, in his estimation, answers both of these questions.

He says—and all of the above stories confirm this—”the best marketing is rooted in insight and emotion.”

And now it’s your turn. When did you last read a book? And how would you try to market a book you like to non-readers?

Please write me on my “contact” page. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

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STORYTELLER’s CORNER . . . . 

STORYTELLER’S CORNER: Words, Stories, Riddles and Jokes on Writing and Editing . . .

This month: The irritating case of “at this time” 

The phrase “at this time” drew particular outrage from American etymologist, Bryan Garner, in one of his recent blog postings.

Using the phrase, “at this time,” he writes, “smacks of waffling OFFICIALESE, especially when the phrase comes at a SENTENCE END—e.g.: ‘We don’t have any comments at this time,’ said Disney spokesman Ken Green. . . .‘Our revenues and profits are record-setting at this time,’ Mr. Green said (Christine Wicker, ‘Giant Against Giant,’ Dallas Morning News, 14 June 1997, at G1.)”

The expression “at this time” is certainly verbal filler. But how else can we express something in the present?

Garner responds: “The more natural wording would be something like this: ‘We don’t have any comments right now.’” Or: “Our revenues and profits are currently setting records.”

Garner also cautions of the worse case of “at this point in time” or “at this present time,” which detract even further from concise (and therefore powerful) writing, which is always our writerly goal. (One imagines Garner even more outraged by these phrases!)

And now it’s your turn: Do you find many examples of  similar “filler” phrases like “at this time” in your reading and writing?

Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you. 

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SHOP NEWS:

I’ve been delighted first to co-lead and now to lead solo a conversation circle  for English language learners at Saskatoon Open Door Society (ODS).  These circles are currently held online (due to our current Covid patterns) but soon will be held outdoors in some of Saskatoon’s most picturesque parks! Many thanks to coordinator Lisa Focardi for her organizing skills.

New immigrants to Saskatoon and area flock to these classes to improve their English language skills, so as to advance their education and/or to secure better jobs.

ODS works hard through many outreach activities  to meet the needs of newcomers to Saskatoon, often in very challenging circumstances. Thanks also to Sukhman Kaur and Kira Epp for the development of the conversation circle program.

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Some hot-off-the-press news: Have you heard about the latest program offering from Saskatoon’s Praxis School of Entrepreneurship?

It’s called “digiSMART”, and it provides FREE classes on many aspects of digital technology to business owners, facilitated by team directors Monica and Brent Kreuger, chief facilitator, Deanna Litz, and selected alumni of the school’s earlier programs (me included).

I’ve attended some of digiSMART’s modules and they’ve been amazing –first rate learning and networking opportunities!

digiSMART even includes customized coaching that will assist entrepreneurs in integrating technology into their pre-existing businesses.

An intake is already underway and the program is currently FREE to attend! So call or email program administrator, Elaine Mantyka, NOW, for more information: (306) 664-0500 and elainem@globalinfobrokers.ca

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Later this summer, valued colleagues and I will present through digiSMART modules on communication methods:

Christina Cherneskey will teach a powerful podcasting seminar. Read more about her work at PodcastBlast.cc and find her on Twitter and on TikTok @ccherneskey.

Megan Kent’s videography firm, “Little Ox Film Company” will facilitate classes on video production, which has become central to so much of today’s marketing.

And I’ll happily reprise a revised seminar on blogging, also as part of digiSMART. I look forward to helping established entrepreneurs write more of their own marketing materials.

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I’m also delighted to promote this month a great local business–Prairie Office Moving and Installation (POMI). It’s located at Unit 6–56th Street East (between Miners and Millar Avenues) in Saskatoon. It’s worth the call and the short drive!

POMI sells gently used office furniture (filing cabinets, desks, shelving units, etc.)  from their storage bay, which is open to the public to view. Its receptionist, Wanda, is knowledgeable and welcoming to clients and positive about phone contact, even after hours.

I found a first-class lateral filing cabinet but also saw other, gently used, pieces at prices far lower than their competitors’! And this, amidst Covid-related shipping supply problems that are said to have inflated the cost of metal furniture.

So for great deals on gently used, office or home office furnishings, visit POMI’s website or call Wanda first:  (306) 477-7778!

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There are always more local entrepreneurs and small businesses to promote (and I receive NO affiliate fees for doing so). So please contact me with your good news supplier stories!

But this is a wrap for mid-May!
ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I now assist SMEs in closing more sales by communicating more effectively; I help Canadian newcomers land better jobs by improving their language skills; and I write the legacy stories of major companies.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant website. After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!

Please visit my website for more information:

www.storytellingcommunications.ca .

 

 

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“Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to . . .” paid accounts (to teach ESL online)?

Any adults who have become parents or otherwise worked with young children in the past 20 years, will likely be familiar with that “earworm” of a song, “Zoom, zoom, zoom; we’re going to the moon.” Small children everywhere (or so it seems) have been singing (sometimes shouting) the lyrics, while playing, eating, and—well, pretty well everything else. Often children sing these words at a pace double or triple that of the YouTube video (above)!

Did you miss the “Zoom” song? Consider yourself lucky, as it has “earworm” potential rivalled only by “Baby Shark, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo” and the Muppets’ classic ditty (that no one has ever really understood), “Mah Na Mah Na, doo doo da doo doo” (capitalization, original).  But I digress.

The rest of the world envies you, if the “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom song” song has escaped your ears and mind. Consider yourself blessed!

Of course, the word “zoom” itself (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) historically has meant “to move or travel very quickly.” And certainly the online meeting software, “Zoom.us” is a platform that “very quickly” connects individuals across the globe, after they take a few short steps. “Zoom” has connected millions of people professionally and personally through Covid times.

Covid has made it especially urgent that entrepreneurs and learners of all kinds meet via online platforms, such as Google Hangouts, FaceTime, MS Teams, Skype, etc.,  and other custom-made software platforms that many companies use.  But for my teaching and meeting purposes, I’ve found that Zoom outperforms most  if not all of these.

As a certified ESL instructor with about a year’s experience teaching online, I frequently rely on Zoom to meet my students (of all ages and areas of specialization) from around the globe. Some of these meetings have lasted only 30-40 minutes. Others have run over one hour. 

Even if my interviewees haven’t known the platform, Zoom is so user-friendly and intuitive that most of them have run with it, from the start. It is true, of course, that you need a webcam and a microphone (built into most small devices, these days) to use this software. (And it needs to be said that for ESL students who are refugees or other newcomers to Canada and who find themselves short of funds, the cost of tech equipment and  software subscriptions can be prohibitive.)

Even prior to working as an online ESL teacher, I used Zoom to record interviews with various people for writing projects, such as for the 30th anniversary of the local Praxis School of Entrepreneurship (PSE).

So, for more than two years, then, I’ve thoroughly benefited from using a “basic” account on Zoom: meeting anyone one-on-one for an hour or longer was totally free and seamless.

Then recently, Regina tech consultant Brandi Good, of BLG Business Solutions, burst that bubble by warning Zoom users over Facebook that effective May 2nd, 2022, Zoom would impose a $20/month charge to “basic” account holders even for one-hour, one-on-one meetings (i.e. not to be cut off after a new 40 minute limit). The next level above the free (“basic”) account would be the “Pro” ($20/month to subscribe to).

Zoom explains its policy here:

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/5809097508109-May-2-2022-Free-account-meeting-duration-changes

A paid account on the “Zoom” platform will not quite take you “to the moon” (as the song goes, although space tourism with the likes of Elon Musk and Richard Branson are trying), Zoom is (imho) the best online meeting software out there and is intuitively designed for those who lack technical prowess.

Zoom has received a lot of messages from users (including me) complaining about the new charge. As a PR strategy, the company initially offered a small, temporary discount (now passed), so that subscribing to a “Pro” account this week cost only $10/month (until November 2022, when the cost will double).

For those of us on budgets, the situation is disappointing, but we all know that in this digital age, subscription fees for software are to be expected. Revenue from advertising was Zoom’s earlier way to pay for our free accounts. Now the company wants more. Inevitably, other online meeting software companies will follow suit, if they don’t already charge.

So, as the children’s song has it, we just may have to get “onboard” Zoom’s “Pro” account rocket, if we want the work we do, to ignite off our launch pads:

“Zoom, zoom, zoom. We’re going to the moon! Zoom, zoom zoom. We’re leaving very soon. So if you’d like to take a trip, come aboard my rocket ship. Zoom, zoom, zoom. We’re going to the moon:

5, 4, 3, 2, 1: BLAST OFF!”

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And now it’s your turn. What do you think about the costs of subscribing to tech software for pandemic friendly teaching and meetings? Please weigh in; I’d be delighted to hear from you!