By Any Other Name...

I’m all about self-expression, and of course I believe in promoting your website and by extension your cause or organization, but I think Karin Robertson, an animal-rights activist with PETA, may be taking it a bit too far. She’s so committed to her website GoVeg.com that she made it her name.

Now, according to AnimalRights.net, GoVeg.com, the person, quickly reverted back to Karin Robertson, with which moniker she continues to sign letters and give interviews. However, she may have started a trend—the website also reports that another PETA staffer, Chris Garnett, changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. I wonder if he goes by Ken for short?

I sincerely hope this trend doesn’t continue. As a fan of Celebrity Apprentice, I still stifle a giggle every time the guys call Meatloaf Meat, but at least they don’t have to add a “dot com” at the end.

Of course I want to promote my business and its website, but don’t expect to be calling me “Page&Screen.ca” any time soon. However, this may be my next tattoo:

SlutWalk Toronto: Taking to the Streets to Take Back a Word

Yesterday, over a thousand women, men, and children took the streets of Toronto in the first-ever SlutWalk. The walk was organized to protest comments made by a Toronto Police officer during a safety presentation at York University in January. The officer suggested that women could avoid being sexually assaulted if they didn’t dress like “sluts”.  Yesterday’s participants—many of whom wore tights, thongs, short skirts, and other “slutty” apparel—sought to take back the word slut and prove that rape had nothing to do with what a woman wears. One of their chants said it all: “No matter what we wear or where we go, yes means yes and no means no!”

While I wholeheartedly support the message of SlutWalk, what I am most taken with is the reappropriation of the word slut. Words have power, and much like African-Americans have taken back the “N-word” in order to eliminate at least some of its negative power, so, too, can women take back the word slut and remove many of its negative connotations, particularly those that roughly translate to “She deserved it” or “She asked for it”.

Let’s take the sting out of the word slut. And while we’re at it, let’s take back the words fag and homo and tranny and dyke, and all of those racial and religious slurs that are meant to blame people for the hatred and violence they endure, when we all know it has nothing to do with them and everything to do with the offenders.

Words are powerful, but as the history of language shows, they are also malleable—they can change meaning and connotation. All it takes is for a group of people, like those who marched yesterday (and those of us who were there in spirit), to start using the word differently—to adopt a label meant to shame and wear it as a badge of honour.

Shame doesn’t belong with the word slut; it belongs with the word rapist.

Social Media Is Bigger than Porn: Why Aren’t You on Board?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard of social media, but if you’re like many of the people who contact me, you may be wondering:

a) Is it a fad?, and

b) Is it a worth investing time and money from my business?

In answer to the first question, I often quote a number of statistics to show the growth and impact of social media, but the one that I think says it all is this: Social media has replaced porn as the #1 online activity (Reuters).

This fact alone should allay any fears that social media is a fad, but in case you’re still concerned, take note that this study was done over two years ago, and social media has only gotten bigger since then. In fact, in 2010, The Nielsen Company reported that, if all U.S. Internet time was condensed into a single hour, over 20 minutes of that hour would be spent on social media (including blogs)—up 43 percent from the year before—and over half of that hour would be spent communicating online (social media, e-mail, and IM).

Surely, these figures indicate that social media is here to stay. (And remember, certain people once thought the Internet was a fad, too.)

As for whether social media is worthwhile as a business activity, that’s a harder question to answer because it depends a lot on the business and the social media strategy. In general, though, if you’re in a business that relies on a target audience (and who isn’t?), you’ll likely find that audience online, and you’ll almost certainly find them more receptive to messages delivered via social media than to traditional marketing methods. After all, according to a Socialnomics video, 78 percent of social media users trust peer reviews, but only 14 percent of TV watchers trust ads.

You know your business, but if you don’t know social media, it’s worth doing some research and even consulting an expert to see how your business can profit from this new, growing mediasphere. After all, as Erik Qualman says, “We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.”

I’d Like to Buy a Vowel: E-mails Are No Place for Text Speak

Yesterday, I received the following e-mail:

Hello! Do u hlp w/ writting [sic] essays? I have ppr due nxt wk n rly need hlp. Pls let me no [sic]!

Honestly, my first thought was, “I can’t help you!” Not that I didn’t think I could assist this person with essay writing, and not that I didn’t have time to do so, but I really didn’t have the inclination. Seeing how this e-mail was written, I had an instant vision of struggling through pages and pages of text speak, and I didn’t have high hopes for the author’s ability to put together a cogent argument, either.

Now, I’ll admit, that may not be a fair assessment, but honestly, how could I not draw that conclusion? I know e-mails aren’t the most formal means of communication, but still, when you’re contacting someone in a professional capacity, especially someone you don’t know, the least you can do is take the time to craft a proper e-mail, complete with vowels. If you don't, you run the risk of looking unprofessional or even illiterate. It doesn’t matter if I can “get the gist” from text speak (or is that txt spk?)—you should be demonstrating your ability to use the English language and communicate effectively, and text speak just doesn’t do that.

Once upon a time, I didn’t think there was any room for text speak even in texting—I was very upset to learn my cell phone didn’t offer an apostrophe or the ability to capitalize any but the first word of the message. I’ve since relaxed some and now, though begrudgingly, type “dont” or lowercase a proper noun if I have to. But I don’t text very often, and I certainly don’t transfer those habits, dictated by the constraints of cell phones, into other forms of communication. E-mail may not be the most formal mode of communication (though I would argue it isn’t as casual as most people seem to think), but it still deserves a certain amount of thought and respect—at least enough to use all of the wonderful elements of language so thoughtfully provided on the standard keyboard. And that includes vowels.

Five Words or Phrases to Eliminate from Your Vocabulary NOW

Business has long been a breeding ground for jargon and clichés, so it’s wise to review your vocabulary (both written and oral) every now and then to weed out any words or phrases that have become tired and overused. Here are five such words to start with:

• Synergy/Synergistic: This may have once been a novel word to describe the blending of seemingly disparate concepts, products, or companies, but at this point, it’s just another buzz word. When the word is applied to the relationship between computers and peripherals, it’s time to retire it.

• Outside the box: This phrase used to describe or encourage creative thinking is anything but creative. Time for this cliché to go back in the box—and stay there.

• Wow factor: You may want to add wow factor to your product or service, but this tired phrase adds nothing to your vocabulary. Try wowing listeners by finding a new term.

• My two cents: A cliché by almost any standard, this phrase isn’t worth even one cent anymore.

• At the end of the day: Just a variation on the well-known cliché when all is said and done, it’s time for this phrase to meet its own end.

Three Words to Use More Carefully

Literally, seriously, and interesting were all in contention for the above list, but these words don’t necessarily need to be eliminated—they just need to be used more carefully. Each word has a precise meaning but is often used outside of this meaning as conversation filler. Here’s a reminder of when these words are (and aren’t) appropriate:

• Literally: Literally means actually, not virtually. You may have literally fallen asleep in your boots, but you only virtually died laughing (unless, of course, you’re actually dead).

• Seriously: Meant to indicate gravity or sincerity, seriously is now often used as filler, much like really, or to denote the opposite, such as when someone says honestly before relaying something dubious.

• Interesting: This seems to be the go-to adjective, much like nice was (and, for some people, still is). Something interesting actually piques interest, makes you curious to know more. As with seriously, and honestly before it, interesting now seems to be used when something is, in fact, rather boring or otherwise unremarkable.

Take note of your use of these words and help save them from elimination by using them only when they truly fit the context. Otherwise, they, too, may have to go the way of the dinosaurs. (Okay, you caught us, that’s a cliché, too, but it's not nearly as overdone nowadays.)

Professionalism vs. Personality: Is Swearing Ever Okay?

Today, I had the incredible privilege of attending a webinar on social media techniques led by Lewis Howes and Sean Malarkey. (I will probably build on some of what I learned in later posts, but that is not the focus of this post.) During the course of the presentation, Sean used a blog post of his titled “How I Get Massive Amounts of Sh*t Done” as an example, and he happened to mention that this post received a bit of backlash from readers who felt that the use of the word “Sh*t” was unprofessional, followed by an even bigger outpouring of support for Sean’s choice as a reasonable way to add personality to his content. Which got me thinking: Where do we draw the line between professionalism and personality?

I, for one, was not in the least offended by Melissa Leo’s cursing in her Oscar acceptance speech—she was in the moment, and I enjoyed seeing her carried away by the thrill of victory. I far preferred it to the myriad other dry, bland speeches in which winners simply thanked everyone they’d ever met in their lives. And, as the actress told Ellen DeGeneres a few days later, the F-word is a part of her vocabulary, so she wasn’t really thinking when it came out—it was just her personality (and to her credit, she apologized to those who found the word offensive). What I wonder is why people found the word so offensive when the movie Leo won the Oscar for is rife with so much cursing that her fellow actress Amy Adams apparently had trouble finding new curse words to use. Perhaps the answer is that this was primetime television, not a movie theatre, or perhaps it’s that Leo was not performing a role but was appearing in a professional capacity. Which brings me back to my original question: Where’s the line between acting professionally and displaying personality?

Personally, I think the occasional curse word can be perfectly appropriate, especially when it’s tempered by asterisks and the like. Of course, this depends entirely on context, but in general, swearing can be an effective way to spice up a blog post, an article, or even a speech (to the right audience and on the right topic). However, it can be overdone, and it can also become gimmicky. I remember having to give a speech in school and being told to “grab people’s attention” with the opening, and more than one person got on stage and simply shouted “SEX!” before launching into whatever quotidian topic they were discussing. Including a curse word in your content just for the attention or controversy it may garner is never appropriate—it’s cheap and most definitely unprofessional.

In the end, it really boils down to the rules of good communication: Know your audience, choose words thoughtfully, and don’t overuse any word or device.

A Shake-y Start: Handshake Etiquette for the Best First Impression

As a small business owner, I regularly attend networking functions, client meetings, and many other events that begin with, end with, or otherwise involve a handshake (and sometimes several). Having spent the last few years working in-house for the same company, it’s been a while since I’ve really had to consider first impressions, but I’ve learned quickly just how important a handshake can be in that regard. A good handshake marks you as professional, confident, and polite, while a bad one singles you out as sloppy, weak, or even rude.

If you’re concerned your handshake might be saying the wrong thing about you, here are five top tips for delivering a proper, good-first-impression-making handshake:

1. Look, then touch: The start of a good handshake is actually eye contact. It wouldn’t hurt to throw in a little smile, either. 
2. Go all the way: Many people make the mistake of simply touching or squeezing fingers, but this gesture does not a handshake make. For a proper handshake—one that says, “I’m a confident, suave professional, and you want to know me”—your thumbs should interlock. When you reach out, keep your fingers together, pinky toward the floor, and extend your thumb. Make sure the flesh between your thumb and forefinger touches the flesh between the other person’s thumb and forefinger so that your hands are fully palm to palm. 
3. Think pressure, not power: A handshake should be firm, but you shouldn’t be squeezing the other person’s hand like it’s a stress ball. Give it a slight squeeze, the way you might a piece of fruit in the supermarket. (Note: This takes practice, and most often requires you to take cues from the other person—one person’s squeeze is another person’s death grip.) 
4. Shake it easy: The other person’s hand is not a water pump; there’s no need to move it frantically up and down. A single, short up-and-down movement should be enough. Three is the maximum. 
5. Keep it brief: A handshake need only last 2 or 3 seconds—any more, and it begins to feel more like holding hands. This is an introduction, not a relationship.

As with most things, practice makes perfect, so don’t be afraid to ask friends or colleagues to give you some feedback and help you master the art of shaking hands. Odds are, they could use your feedback, too.

A handshake may not be all it takes to do business these days, but it’s still an important part of the transaction. Whether you’re making first contact or sealing the deal, your handshake is telling others something about who you are and how you do business—make sure it’s saying something positive.