Elizabeth Shih
Long-time Saskatoon-based writers and friends, Julie Barnes, Ashlyn George (not pictured), Ashleigh Mattern, Adele Paul and Elizabeth Shih have been meeting to discuss forthcoming articles for “Freelance” magazine, published by the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild.
Topics will include how to secure clients, how to pitch effectively, how to manage time, what resources we tap into and more.
Stay tuned for updates!
Photo credit to Ashlyn George
October 2023 Vol 5 Issue 10
Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):
Specializing in Entrepreneurial and Linguistic Storytelling
Let me teach you to tell your story!
IN THIS ISSUE:
ARTICLE 1: Why the hand-wringing on handwriting? On handwriting and technology, from staff writers at “The Economist”
STORYTELLER’S CORNER:
From Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “Eleven Bookish Words for Book Lovers” (and what they mean!)–Part One
SHOP NEWS
ABOUT US
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Welcome Mid-October 2023!
As I prepare this issue of “Tell Your Story Newsletter,” Saskatoon is in the midst of several weeks of largely mild but also grey weather.
Many of us have indulged in Thanksgiving treats like turkey, ham, pumpkin pie or alternative, multicultural culinary delights. And online ads already promote Hallowe’en candy and (dare I say it, this early?) even Christmas festivities.
Yet, even thinking about these seasonal traditions shrinks before news such as the heightened conflict between Israel and Hamas; the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and other world hot-spots.
And yet also, as a part of valuing our democratic freedoms, our daily lives and the service of what we do must continue–and that includes discussing issues of communication and entrepreneurship, which are often the fare of this newsletter.
So in this month’s issue, I share findings from a recent article in “The Economist,” co-authored by staff writers (named “Johnson” after Samuel, himself), on why handwriting (even cursive) still matters: How can we say that in our digital age?
In “Storytellers’ Corner,” I cite the Merriam-Webster dictionary for six of “11 bookish words for book lovers” of all varieties.
In “Shop News,” I’m delighted to feature as “Entrepreneur of the Month” my colleague and friend, Julie Barnes, of Julie Barnes Creative Services. My “Entrepreneur of the Month” continues to feature some of the remarkable contacts and colleagues I meet in Saskatoon and surrounding communities–found as a part of entrepreneurial networking. “Shop News” is, therefore, openly and unabashedly partisan.
Julie’s cv is both fascinating and impressive. I encourage you to read her profile, sample some of her work and consider the fine mind which authored them both.
Undergirding this month’s issue is my thanks to the many (often unnamed) friends who have helped me to stagger through another year of caring for an elderly mother in SK’s collapsed senior health care system; and to those who simultaneously have encouraged my entrepreneurial pursuits.
That gratitude can extend to the changing of our seasons, too, this month. Autumn can be lovely, especially when it delivers sun that illumines our dramatic skies and mitigates the chill of nature’s unpredictable winds.
As we begin to reach further into our closets for sweaters, shawls and blankets, good readers, may we consciously turn our minds indoors again: Although Old Man Winter will shortly enter our main stage as he has for millennia past, we can plan to keep ourselves warm by much great literature (past and present); films, performances and art exhibits; food and spirits to nourish us; and even the indoor watching of outdoor sports (!).
Through these and other blessings, while we traverse the remaining weeks of autumn 2023, I wish you the very best.
Sincerely yours,
Elizabeth
Principal
Storytelling Communications
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Article One: Why the hand-wringing on handwriting? On handwriting and technology, from staff writers of “The Economist”
In a recent monthly newsletter from “The Economist,” the magazine’s collective of staff writers, “Johnson” (named after the 18th C. British man of letters, “Dr.” Samuel Johnson), writes that even in these hyper-digital days, taking “pen to paper” can intensify the impact of one’s message.
In recent years, educational psychologists have found that note-taking by hand offers learners a significant advantage (across all age groups). As Lane Greene writes in an introduction to the article, “The very inefficiency of the medium is its advantage: it seems to force writers to think and compress information as they jot, rather than mindlessly transcribing verbatim.”
Despite the rush in recent years to digitize human activity, this research has been noticed: Many education programs in Europe now reduce the amount of technology in the classroom, especially for students in their early years, and have increased the teaching of handwriting, including cursive.
The “Johnson” writers note ironically that “two and a half millennia ago, Socrates complained that writing [i.e. handwriting] would harm students,” because it would provide a way to store ideas “permanently and externally,” so the need to memorize would evaporate!
But in our times, a related (now very familiar) debate has developed about the negative effects of using and typing on computers. Students ranging from kindergarten to PhD levels rely heavily (more than ever) on computers to take notes and write their papers.
Families of young students also express alarm that in some American classrooms, laptops have become compulsory for young children. Meantime, university-based academics complain that students are distracted when they should be listening to lectures, because they’re reading and sending email, text or social media messages, instead.
Add to this the power of generative AI (particularly for college and university students) and educators’ hand-wringing, over what medium/media we need to learn by, and how, intensifies.
But as the “Johnson” writers report, one area of pedagogical research shows that long before computers were built, handwriting was revolutionary: “Studies have found that writing on paper can improve everything from recalling a random series of words to imparting a better conceptual grasp of complicated ideas.”
“Johnson” adds that whether forming “the shapes of letters to the quirks of English spelling, the benefits of using a pen or pencil lie in how the motor and sensory memory of putting words on paper reinforces that material.” Even how and where one makes “squiggles on a page feeds into visual memory.” I can remember distinctly, as an undergraduate, putting stars in the margins of my handwritten lecture notes, to mark an idea that I wanted to explore more deeply, possibly for a course essay assignment.
Writing by hand underpins “superior note-taking,” the “Johnson” writers say, in contrast to typing, where students have been found to input nearly twice as many words and more verbatim passages from lectures. This reflects the sad reality that when typing, students often do not understand, but simply copy, what they are hearing.
Due to the time required to write by hand, students’ handwriting compels them to synthesize the lecturer’s ideas in “their own words,” which increases their understanding, even as they write.
Studies also show that hand note-takers “perform better on tests when students are later able to study from their notes.” By contrast, students who typed verbatim did not understand the lecture material, so much as regurgitate it.
The “Johnson” writers say that many studies have demonstrated the benefits of handwriting and so have influenced education policy, due to the “campaigning” of researchers. Half of the states in America have reported that they teach handwriting after the first grade, although the country’s “Common Core” curriculum has not required it, since 2010. I’d like to know (but haven’t yet located) an accurate statistic for Canadian (and especially SK) primary schools.
In the UK, curriculum already prescribes teaching cursive before children turn seven. And in Sweden, there is pressure from educators to work more with handwriting and books–and less with digital technology.
But typing will still be a skill needed by nearly everyone, because (as the “Johnson” writers say) it can “improve the quality of writing: being able to get ideas down quickly, before they are forgotten, can obviously be beneficial.” The greater legibility of typing also weighs as a factor in its longevity, for writers like me.
Handwriting researchers add that students need to learn to slow their typing to process what they hear, thereby improving their understanding.
Not only cursive, but also “ ‘manuscript’ print-style writing” and typing all have proven benefits, the article notes. And handwriting can be reviewed and “tuned up,” even though current school and university/college students continue to increase their use of digital devices, as they age.
Consider, too, how much what we write (i.e. our “message”) will intensify, when we understand it more deeply as part of sharing it with others.
The “Johnson” group (at “The Economist”) aptly concludes that whether Socrates was right or wrong about the threat that handwriting poses to education, “no one would remember, much less care, if his student Plato had not noted it down for . . . posterity.”
And now it’s your turn: What value do you give handwriting in the learning process, in this increasingly digital age?
Should there be hand-wringing over handwriting? Please write in: I’d be delighted to hear from you.
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STORYTELLER’S CORNER . . . .
STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: Words, Stories, Riddles and Jokes on Writing and Editing . . .
This month:
From Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
“Eleven Bookish Words for Book Lovers”
(and what they mean!)
Merriam-Webster dictionary periodically makes the news for its quirky and fun blog postings. Last May, their house writers collected a posting called “Eleven Bookish Words for Book Lovers,” the first six of which I’ll share in this month”s issue of “Storytellers’ Corner” (with fictional examples of my own):
(1) “Bibliomania” = “an extreme preoccupation with collecting books.”
This word is said to date to at least the early 1700s, and comes from the French term “bibliomanie” (with “biblio” meaning book; and “manie” meaning mania).
E.g. “The Symphony Booksale in Saskatoon each year benefits from the bibliomania of those who donate to it, and even more, from that of those who buy the books!”
(2) “Florilegium” = “a volume of writings; an anthology.”
This word comes from the Latin word “florilegus,” which means “culling flowers.” So it refers to a “bouquet of writings, specially selected and arranged for your enjoyment,” the writers say.
E.g. “The romantic Willoughby left a posy of flowers and a florilegium of poetry for the lovesick Marianne.”
(3) “Librocubicularist” = “someone who likes to read in bed.”
This word comes from the Latin “libr-, libre” (meaning “book” ) and “cubiculum,” (meaning “bedroom”). Writer Christopher Morley is credited with the coinage of “librocubicularist” in his 1919 novel, The Haunted Bookshop:
E.g. ” ‘All right,’ said the bookseller, amiably. ‘Miss Chapman, you take the book up with you and read it in bed if you want to. Are you a librocubicularist?’ ” (Morley).
(4) “Dithyramb” = The writers define this as “a usually short poem in an inspired, wild, irregular strain.” The term is not new to English literary critics. But while it currently refers to “any short irregular poem,” the word dithyramb comes from the Greek “dithyrambos,” which was the name for wild and irregular verse that honoured Dionysus, the Classical god of wine. He was widely associated with Greek festivals.
E.g. “The poet who had hitherto been known for her ordered, highly structured verse, suddenly rose and, throwing caution to the wind, read a dithyramb about the the chaotic emotions of unrequited love.”
(5) “Book-Bosomed” = means “carrying a book at all times,” metaphorically (or literally) near one’s bosom. The term is attributed to the early 19th-century verse of Sir Walter Scott.
E.g. “The book-bosomed teenager whiled away the afternoon by reading a well-thumbed collection of Shakespearean sonnets.”
(6) “Bibliotherapy” = “the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy.” The word dates to at least 1914.
E.g. “After trying many forms of treatment, the man found that his depression lifted only through bibliotherapy–especially focusing on Alexander McCall-Smith’s life- affirming mysteries.”
Stay tuned to next month’s issue for another five “bookish” words from Merriam-Webster!
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SHOP NEWS:
“Entrepreneur of the Month”: This month, featuring Julie Barnes of Julie Barnes’ Creative Services:
Julie Barnes is a full-time freelance writer and a regular contributor to Saskatoon HOME magazine, where she writes about everything from agriculture to architecture, composting to cohousing.
Her recent article about Radiance Cohousing was born out of several conversations with friends about how to create a better sense of community and belonging.
For anyone who is seeking to strengthen their own community ties, Julie recommends reading Mia Birdsong’s excellent book, How we show up: Reclaiming family, friendship and community.
Nine years ago, Julie and her husband, Josh, installed a green roof on their detached garage in Saskatoon. Brimming with succulents and native grasses, and buzzing with bees each summer, the roof has thrived, but green roofs in Saskatchewan never really took root. Curious about why green roofs have gained popularity in other places, but not in her home province, Julie investigated how other cities have encouraged their uptake for a recent article for CBC Saskatoon.
Julie has also written about travel, environmental stewardship, gardening, urban planning and more for a variety of publications including the Ottawa Citizen, Prairies North magazine, Cottage Life West and the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s quarterly magazine.
In addition to writing, Julie is also a talent agent for the folksinger/song writer/public speaker Eric Paetkau, the former conductor and music director of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (2015-2022).
Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Julie spent a year in Dublin after university, followed up by five years in Ottawa, before moving to Saskatoon in 2011.
She’s happy to have found a community of local freelance writers, who meet monthly to share ideas, advice, referrals and more over coffee. “When you work in a solitary field, like writing, it’s important to find time to get out of the house and connect with others,” she says.
(Nepotism Alert: Julie is a friend and colleague whom I met more than 10 years ago through Saskatoon’s branch of the International Association of Business Communicators [IABC]).
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Ten years ago, along with the freelance writer and web designer, Asheigh Mattern, Julie and I co-founded a writers’ group (aka “Saskatoon Freelancers’ Roundtable”) and encourage other creatives to do the same.
For more information about our group and what we do, please check our collective article in the “Writers Ask” section,” forthcoming in the next (quarterly) issue of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild magazine, “Freelance.”
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Hearty thanks also go out (albeit belatedly) to William Wang, Director, Alberta China Offices, Intergovernmental Relations, Executive Council, Government of AB, for discussing with me potential markets for teaching the English language to newcomers, particularly in SK.
William once led China Offices for the Government of SK and still calls Regina home (huzzah)!
I’m deeply indebted to him for sharing with me his time, strategy and even an introduction to “WeChat.” I am now past due to host an authentic Chinese lunch when you next visit Saskatoon, William!
And thank you again to my long-term mentor and dear friend, Monica Kreuger, for introducing me, last summer, to William! There will be more collaborations to come . . . .
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And a final “Thank You” in this issue goes not least to the extraordinary women leaders of SK who spoke at “Women in the Lead: Navigating the Political Labyrinth” (October 4th), spearheaded by Monica Kreuger, in affiliation with Business and Professional Women of SK (BPW), the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce and Equal Voice (the latter, a not-for-profit organization that encourages women to serve in politics).
It was fortifying to hear eight talented and successful women, who have served in either municipal, provincial or federal politics, discuss the urgent need for more women to enter leadership roles in our province; and the related challenges of defining our own priorities, since we usually balance the demands of family with those of our careers.
Special thanks to speakers and panellists Claire Card, Vicki Mowat, Tracy Muggli, Lenore Swystun, Tiffany Paulsen, Bev Dubois, Colleen Young and Pat Atkinson, for renewing this discussion for us.
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Would you like to improve your English language skills?
Are you a newcomer whose language skills have not gotten you traction in the job market?
Do you have language-related “career blues” and don’t know how to move through them?
Starting in December, I will take one or two more students for my in-person language lessons, most of which occur in one or other local library.
If you (or someone you know) are interested, or for more information, please don’t hesitate to email me here:
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ABOUT US:
This month, I’m particularly grateful to close friends, several of whom have provided me with emotional support and encouragement, as I move (perhaps for the last time) an aging family member into a care facility for disabled seniors.
The list of these friends’ names is long (and I wish to preserve their privacy), but they know who they are, even as I strive to thank and acknowledge them, in-person.
Good friends have often been said to be “the family we would like to have chosen.” So this issue of TYSN is dedicated to all of the truly wonderful friends out there–whether mine or yours, good reader. Blessings on them, for personifying generosity, support and kindness.
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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 Canadian newcomers secure better jobs by improving their language skills; I help small- and medium-sized businesses close more sales by communicating more effectively; and I also write the legacy stories of major companies.
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).
In the late afternoon, last Wednesday, October 4th, a group of about 60+ women (and, at last count, two men) gathered to combine both roundtable and a panel discussions on how change can come to Saskatchewan, through our political and cultural leaders. 
Event co-sponsors, Business & Professional Women (BPW), equal voice, and the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, invited eight women trailblazers in our province to discuss their life and career experiences, leadership strategies and sources of inspiration with an audience of career professionals. The audience included lawyers, entrepreneurs, educators, doctors and other medical practitioners, to name a few. 
Invited speakers were Claire Card, Vicki Mowat, Tracy Muggli, Lenore Swystun, Tiffany Paulsen, Bev Dubois, Colleen Young and Pat Atkinson.
If much needed change is to come to political and other institutions in Saskatchewan, then we need to grow the number of women (comprising 50.3% of our population) who lead, strategize and support difference in our communities: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” (Margaret Mead)
It was wonderful connecting with fellow entrepreneurs at the 27th Annual Raj Manek Memorial Banquet (Saskatoon Prairieland Park). I appreciated speaking with friends and mentors, including Angela Jamieson, Karla Combres, Lauren Penner, Mario Dima, Kirk Backstrom, Bin Yang, and, of course, Monica Kreuger!
Thank you to Kanchan Manek and the Manek family for their service to the entrepreneurs of our province!
Boardwalk CEO, Sam Kolias on how to succeed in entrepreneurship
Discussing entrepreneurial strategy with Angela Jamieson and Karla Combres
Reconnecting with long-time friends and principals of Kinemek Design, Kirk Backstrom and Bing Yan
September 2023 Vol 5 Issue 9
As I prepare this issue of “Tell Your Story Newsletter,” the heat waves of July and August have passed, and more of the brisk autumnal air we associate with September has come!
I hope that the new program and academic year has begun well for you, good readers.
Last night, entrepreneurs, including proteges and mentors, gathered to celebrate the 27th Annual Raj Manek Memorial Banquet at Prairieland Park. Some details follow in “Shop News” and in future blog postings!
In “Article One” of this issue, I share from Montreal copywriter (and blogger) Nick Usborne five reasons that we must balance our use of AI (e.g. ChatGPT) with Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Whatever tech developments arise, EQ remains indispensable to our work as communicators.
In “Storytellers’ Corner,” I forward Penny McKinlay’s recommendation on the importance of reading from contemporary Italian poet, Alba Donati.
And in “Shop News,” I feature “Entrepreneur of the Month,” Barry Frain, who specializes in customs consulting and education resource development for highway carriers (to meet the reporting obligations of US Customs and Border Protection; and of Canadian Border Services Agency). I also thank fellow entrepreneurs and service providers for sharing their time and resources with me.
May the best of autumn–the crisp fall air, crimson leaves, compelling new books, programs and more–be with you, good readers, as we complete the final third of our revolution around the sun. (Where did 2023 go?)
And may each of us feel gratitude for the blessings that we sometimes fail to notice, but which continue to grace our lives, even (or especially) in challenging times.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Principal,
Storytelling Communications
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IN THIS ISSUE:
ARTICLE 1:Why does AI need Emotional Intelligence? Five reasons that creatives should know, from Nick Usborne
STORYTELLERS’ CORNER:
Why bother reading? A response from Italian poet, Alba Donati
SHOP NEWS
ABOUT US
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Article One: “Why does AI need Emotional Intelligence? Five reasons that creatives should know, from Nick Usborne”
Back in the years 2010 and 2011, I trained as a copywriter through online programming of the American Writers and Artists’ Institute (AWAI), based in Florida.
One of AWAI’s chief training copywriters (and program developers) at the time was Montreal-based Nick Usborne.
Fast-forward about 13 years and Usborne continues to share his ever-current insights on marketing copy for our digital world.
In several of his recent blog postings, he has argued that we cannot afford to ignore Artificial Intelligence (AI). Its influence on communications, marketing (and pretty much everything) is huge.
But Usborne equally insists that we must add Emotional Intelligence (EQ) when we use AI:
While tools like ChatGPT can provide us with great and creative ideas, Usborne contends that “there’s one thing [AI is] really, really bad at: Emotion.”
The “bots” simply don’t handle emotion. So they don’t know how to write with “Emotional Intelligence” (EQ).
Usborne says that AI has “no first-hand experience of emotions. Lines of code can’t fall in love or laugh.”
So they can’t feel empathy for others: “Lines of code don’t care about people, and how they feel.” In theory, then, AI code could remind you of media reports on the hollowed-out personalities of psychopaths.
We really can’t rely heavily on ChatGPT or other sources of AI as they stand, because content that does not emotionally connect with readers has little use to us.
But Usborne says the antidote to soulless bot-generated, unmodified (AI) copy is “Emotionally Intelligent writing.”
He shares five (5) ways in which Emotional Intelligence can “raise the bar way above what AI alone can achieve.”
I highlight and amplify his points with examples from my reading and copywriting:
#1 – Emotionally Intelligent writing empathizes with its readers.
Empathy rather than AI is magical, Usborne contends. When you recognize how your audience feels, you can show that you hear and understand them. You can write in ways that respect and mirror those feelings. That empathy sells. And it can’t be displaced. Usborne calls it “future-proofing” marketing.
Remember Maya Angelou’s statement on the power of emotion: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
When you acknowledge readers’ feelings, Usborne writes, you “validate” their experience, and from there, you’ll have them eating out of your proverbial hand.
Writing with EQ (emotional intelligence) allows you to secure readers’ engagement, attention and memory.
#2 – Emotionally Intelligent writing stimulates readers’ trust.
When people feel heard and understood, they trust you more deeply than they did before.
Building trust (recall Cialdini’s writing on persuasion) is essential to the processes of marketing. Even if you have a great service and amazing ideas for marketing it, if your reader doesn’t trust you, you’ll flounder. Prospects will only buy when they know, like and TRUST you.
As Usborne writes, “Emotional Intelligence comes to the rescue. Emotionally intelligent writing connects with readers at a deep level and fosters and communicates a sense of authenticity and sincerity. It builds trust.”
#3 – Emotionally Intelligent writing is more easily remembered.
Usborne reminds us that emotions play a large role in how human memory is formed and then repeat in our minds, often for many years.
So when we read slick direct marketing promotions, our memory of that material “disappears within minutes, if not seconds.”
But when marketing captures a prospect’s emotions, it lodges in their memories in more lasting ways. If we remember commercials from our childhood or youth, Usborne observes, we know they were emotionally intensive to us.
Remember some of the favourites (such as those featured by Terry O’Reilly’s program, “Under the Influence?”)?
Such as “Mikey” who liked “Life” cereal? (“He likes it! Mikey likes it!” circa 1971-1984).
Or Michelin tires, “Because so much is riding on your tires” (circa 1987).
Life cereal’s ad powerfully connects a pleasant taste with habit formation for children; and the Michelin tagline connects tires with the safe travel of children, for anxious parents. In both cases, the marketing plucks on our heartstrings. We remember those advertisements, 20+ years later.
Now think about the lack of emotional connection we feel when skim-reading a Readers’ Digest sweepstakes’ direct mail letter (sent via email)—we forget such promotions, a mere 10 seconds later.
#4 – Emotionally Intelligent writing builds a reader’s sense of community.
Usborne says that when we share feelings with others, we connect with them, and feel we belong to a family or group with them. Why else are there book clubs and online dating websites, and social media like TikTok and texting services like WeChat and What’sApp?
Why is it that most online English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are based on conversation, instead of traditional instruction of grammar or writing?
Why do we labour so hard to develop (and maintain) a prospect list for our marketing messages? When we feel empathy for our prospects, we share community with them.
This is why emotionally intelligent writing is so powerful when you’re trying to build community.
And when people feel they are part of a community, they allow that belonging to influence their purchasing decisions. We all know that we’re more likely to buy products and services recommended by our colleagues.
In 2019 When Jenn Sharp launched her book Taste of Saskatchewan partly online (due to Covid), we found our wish for belonging fulfilled by the heartwarming stories she tells of Saskatchewan farmers and foodies. After listening to Sharp read some of her profiles, I remember calling the book “a love letter” to the SK food industry–and the tagline stuck! The book is all about emotions and community.
#5 – Emotionally intelligent writing better persuades your readers.
Copywriting 101 tells us that we best persuade others to buy our products or services by appealing to their feelings.
“At its most basic level,” Usborne says, “we buy something because it makes us feel good.” The marketing of products and services must convince us that we should buy these things because they’ll make us look better and be healthier and happier.
So we pay extra for that salon shampoo or the name-brand anti-sensitivity toothpaste.
Writing with emotional intelligence intensifies the emotional lure of our marketing. Writing with EQ “increases conversation rates ” beyond what AI can do, Usborne says.
“AI writing alone can achieve NONE of this,” he says. Tools like ChatGPT are now a daily reality for copywriters and content writers.
He concludes: “And that’s fine… just so long as we understand that relying exclusively on AI isn’t the answer. . . . . AI has zero Emotional Intelligence.
That’s why the future lies with writers who combine the efficiencies and other benefits of AI with the emotional power of Emotional Intelligence.
To master this winning combination, you need to learn how to fuse AI with EQ.”
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If the development of AI has you feeling queasy about the future marketing of your product or service, please consider picking up Usborne’s new course, Futureproof Copywriting. (Please note: Although I’ve met Usborne and studied his “Web Copywriting” program, I am not affiliated with him and do not benefit from the sales of his training materials or coaching.)
You’ll want to avoid relying on lists of “Killer Prompts” (reminiscent of keyword stuffing for SEO).
Instead, we all need to develop a “writing process” and practice that includes both ChatGPT and Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
Otherwise, our copy will be predictable, bland and will discourage customers from engaging. Your features and benefits won’t be remembered, discussed or shared—at the cost of engagement, trust and community.
The answer to “future-proof” your copywriting, Usborne concludes, is to infuse AI with EQ… Emotional Intelligence.
He testifies that he uses “ChatGPT and GPT-4 to help with research and audience analysis. I use [AI] to outline articles, presentations, and reports. I even use it – sometimes – to write and rewrite early drafts.
But I NEVER use ChatGPT to write a final draft.”
We know that computers can recognize and respond to consumers’ emotions by gathering and evaluating data like facial expressions, gestures, tones of voice, the force of one’s keyboarding and so on.
But AI cannot itself create those emotions.
So whatever anxiety AI brings us as creatives, not to mention those of us familiar with publishing both business and academic articles or books, Usborne insists that we can (and must) learn how to tap into AI without it replacing us, “today or in the future.”
And now it’s your turn: Have you noticed the emotionless quality of AI-generated writing?
Do you agree with Usborne that we must change it, if we want to appeal to our readers and create work that matters?
What strategies have you used to infuse AI with EQ?
Please write in; 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, Reading and Editing . . .
This month: Why bother reading? A response from contemporary Italian poet, Alba Donati
With the new program (and academic) year just begun, many of us (not only students) are delving into libraries and bookstores to fuel our reading habits!
Reader, blogger and European house-sitter, Penny McKinlay, recently recommended a memoir by Italian poet, Alba Donati, who opened a bookstore in a small Italian village on the cusp of the Covid Pandemic. Facing that challenge, the store only “stayed open thanks to booklovers and local residents” (writes McKinlay).
Donati’s book, Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop: A Memoir, collects her “thoughts about books, community and family” that help us to renew our love of books (McKinlay). Donati takes “an inward look at what we value most in life.”
What better pursuit could any art form prompt?
While I haven’t yet read Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop, you can be sure it’s on my “to do” reading list for this fall! I will pair Donati with Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel, The Bookshop, which was made into an exquisite film (one of my favourite adaptations of all time!) starring Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy.
McKinlay’s posting about Donati’s memoir caught my attention, since she cites Donati for saying that a good bookshop matters, because it promotes thoughtful reading:
“A bookshop is a school—a window looking out on a world that we only think we know. But to really understand the world we have to read, because those who write are always inspired by something that doesn’t quite fit the mold. And when things don’t add up, authors must face the paradox of life and venture into the darkness of the human mind—become at one with that darkness, even—there is no other way” (Donati).
Donati could be thinking of some of the novels of British Modernism, including those of Virginia Woolf, who wrote that her focus was on “the dark places of psychology.”
An individual book and an individual bookshop may not seem like much in the larger scale of human life, especially in these tech-intense days. But in reality, both are essential to our understanding of the world and the places we hold in it.
We’d be hard-pressed to get more relevant than that.
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SHOP NEWS:
Barry Frain brings more than 30 years of customs and transportation experience in the highway carrier, customs broker and importer and exporter sides of the shipping world.
He worked for more than 10 years for Expert Customs Brokers, George H. Young and Monarch Industries; and then for 17 additional years for TransX Ltd. and N Yanke Transfer—all before launching his own company, “eManifest Express,” in 2016.
He launched his company through the “startSMART” training program of the Praxis School of Entrepreneurship (Nepotism alert–haha!—I facilitated writing workshops for the cohort that included Barry in 2017).
So what is “eManifest”? It is a mandatory screening tool used by customs to assess the risk of shipments, conveyances (i.e. means of transportation or carrying goods), drivers & passengers that enter into the U.S. or Canada.
“eManifest Express” provides a powerful web-based software as a service (SaaS), customs consulting and education resources that highway carriers use to meet both their US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reporting obligations.
Developing educational resources requires a “measured approach,” Barry says, since carrier regulations have moving parts, and in some cases, knowledge can be elusive. He suggests a course developer should consider the laws and regulations; directives; specific procedures and timelines; port policies and potential customs penalties when creating a course.
On the other hand, Barry has developed one module in an area that helps carriers meet customs requirements: His “Improve Your Customs Declaration” course provides course participants with a background on the declaration requirements and strategies which can help them meet their obligations.
Of this challenging field of carrier and cross-border transportation and customs, Barry says it’s for “the health, safety and security of Canadian and U.S. citizens that these processes are in place.”
Known for the precision of his technical knowledge, as well as his sense of humour and penchant for satire (e.g. “The Beaverton”), Barry is a family man who recently spent summer holidays among adult kids and grandkids in Northern Saskatchewan.
His only regret, as summer ends, is that he “didn’t have an opportunity to get on the wave runner!”
For more information about Barry’s online courses, please visit: https://customsforcarriers.ca/
Or reach Barry directly at barry.frain@emanifest.express .
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In other news this month, I also benefited from (and greatly enjoyed) sharing conversation with Angela Jamieson and her mother, Mrs. Yen Fung (a leader in our province’s Chinese community and former long-time owner of Saskatoon’s “Genesis” restaurant).
Both friends discussed entrepreneurial ventures and family developments with me, over coffee on a busy afternoon in early September.
Of particular interest was Angela’s commitment to memoir writing (spawned by years of travelling the world as an engineer with her young family); her “Transformational” consulting program; and other publishing ventures.
I was also delighted to have Angela join me last night at the 27th Annual Raj Manek Memorial Banquet (September 14th)! It’s hard to imagine that we have been (long distance) friends since we met as 14 year-olds at Aden Bowman Collegiate!
And we resumed our friendship six or seven years ago, after connecting at a prior Raj Manek Memorial Banquet, when Angela’s husband, Pat Jamieson, was in the program. (Small world!)
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Special thanks this month to Kanchan Manek, and the Manek family (including Raj, Sona and Kinjal) for organizing and hosting the 27th annual Raj Manek Memorial Banquet last night (at Prairieland Park). The keynote speaker, Sam Kolias, CEO of Boardwalk REIT, said that entrepreneurs should never focus on the “bottom line,” because “if you focus on profit, you’ll fail.”
Kolias spoke of the “Four Ps” as essential to all entrepreneurs: (i) Purpose (being motivated by love for all); (ii) People (caring for and serving others, including the homeless and those without health); (iii) Our Planet (caring for our environment); and (iv) Place (valuing our communities and understanding and accepting others, instead of judging them).
One year, many of us proteges would delight in hearing Kent Smith-Windsor give the keynote address, and ditto for Monica Kreuger and Silvia Martini!
At the banquet, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with mentors and proteges, past and present—including Monica Kreuger (as always), Deanna Litz and Rick Cumbers, Kirk Backstrom and Bing Yan, Lauren Penner, Gabriela Leal, Jolene Watson, Karla Combres and Mario Dima.
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I’m happy these days to be teaching ESL students from various parts of Africa and Asia. In that context, I’m especially grateful to the IT support staff at the Saskatoon Public Library, who actively support newcomers in using the library’s digital resources.
These include showing and helping them download apps to improve newcomers’ English skills (e.g. “Hoopla,” “Libby” and “Mango Languages”).
And various branches of our public library also provide common meeting space for language classes, with great Wi-Fi and welcoming staff.
Under the organization of Saskatoon Open Door Society’s Lisa Focardi, the J.S. Wood branch, for instance, has hosted one of the organization’s most popular “Conversation Circles.”
Thank you to the staff of Saskatoon’s Public Libraries, who strive to accomplish much in our communities, including for newcomers.
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There are always new entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial success stories to celebrate. Please send me yours to share in future issues!
But for now, this is a wrap for mid-September!
| 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 and economic immigrants to secure better jobs by improving their language skills: I assist SMEs in closing more sales by communicating more effectively; and I help major companies write 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.
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