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One major English grammar challenge is figuring out when to use either who or whom. A good number of professional communicators (myself included) have done fairly decent impressions of owls as they glare at their computer screens trying to decide which of these two pronouns sounds right in a particular sentence. Trouble is, what sounds rightRead more

Case studies provide all the appeal of a good story while sharing solutions for overcoming challenges or achieving objectives. The promise of practical tips draws readers’ interest, and if they can identify with the people described within the case study, they become emotionally involved and you’ll hold their attention. In order for your case studyRead more

You probably remember the terms comma splice (also called a comma fault) and fused sentence (aka a run-on sentence) from some point in English class. For those of you who need a refresher, these terms refer to sentences in which two independent clauses have been improperly linked. An independent clause is  a group of words thatRead more

Storytelling techniques have a lot of advocates (including me). However, some storytelling advocates suggest that  the traditional  writing structure of the inverted pyramid  is a thing of the past. In the inverted pyramid format, the most important facts are presented up front and the least essential information is placed at the end of the piece.Read more

While editing a client’s proposal, I noticed that the program’s agenda was described as “complimenting” the public school curriculum. Recently, a friend received a flier from a public relations department offering “complementary” beverages at a special event. I’ve seen these two words misused so often that I occasionally check the dictionary just to keep thingsRead more