Reading & Writing – It’s Elementary!

I’ve often heard technical professionals say, “We don’t need to learn to write. That’s the marketer’s job.”

Anyone rolling their eyes at this? I thought so.

I don’t care who you are, what your job title is, or what you’re writing; it’s always critical to have good writing skills. Proposals, emails, articles, and even Post-It notes—if you can’t write coherently, your credibility and your success go right out the window. It’s true for marketers, principals, and technical staff alike. Even if you have the most brilliant, MIT-educated brain in the bunch, we all need to practice good grammar or our ideas won’t be heard.

Do you think clients won’t throw out proposals with grammatical errors? Or stop sharing your content and ideas online if they find too many errors?

They absolutely will.

I’ve seen many DOT proposal review comments citing “too many errors” as a basis for low scoring. And when you have a field of equally qualified technical firms, things like grammar can win or lose a job.

• The good news: Grammar is the easiest thing to correct in our daily communications.
• The better news: Technical professionals tend to follow directions really well (Translation: they are type A), and that’s all grammar is—a set of directions. If you give your team a few rules to follow, they usually will (and they’ll probably start to correct YOU as well… for better or worse).
• The best news: Good grammar doesn’t mean stuffy writing. Read on, and you’ll see why.

From www.copyblogger.com, one of my favorite sources for content marketing tips, here are a few quick links and some fun infographics with simple grammar lessons we all can use.

15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly
11 Compound Word Errors that Might Make you Look like a Numbskull
The Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words
10 Grammar Mistakes that Can Keep Your Content from Spreading

Read through and see if there are any that surprise you or any you know you’ve used before. Share them with your staff and colleagues. You can even make it a game; to give the staff at Bettisworth North some practice, I’m offering prizes to any staff who can spot these errors in our communications.

Signed,
The Grammar Nerd!
A.K.A. Leah Boltz
SMPS Alaska Chapter President
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Click here to learn more about these members in our new Member Spotlight section.

SMPS Alaska-Executive Summary Worksheets 02-12

Completed applications must be received by April 9, 2013. Applications are available by contacting Sarah Thompson, Director of Scholarships, or go to the scholarship webpage for more information. Award of scholarship will be made on April 16, 2013 at the Graceworks Workshop.

SWE Greatland has asked Christian Muntean from Beyond Borders to help explore the difficulties faced in conflict and how to best manage our own responses to help reach a mutual agreement. This will be a four hour training (4 CEUs) with a 30 minute break in which a continental breakfast will be provided. Registration closes Wednesday, March 20th. Class size is limited, so register early!

Click for more information and/or registration form. If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Mormilo.

SAME-JointEngineerTrainingSymposium2013

Bill Popp of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) identified trends in funding for A/E/C projects and provided SMPS Alaska Chapter with an economic forecast of the State of Alaska’s built environment at October’s luncheon. He also discussed AEDC’s Live.Work.Play. initiative, which aims to make Anchorage the #1 city in America to live, work, and play by 2025. Follow this link to view his presentation.

Join the SMPS Alaska Chapter on November 14th for a special program with The Foraker Group. Whether you already work with The Foraker Group, or if you would like to, you are invited to a special breakfast presentation to learn about Foraker and the Pre-Development Program for community projects around the state. Chris Kowalczewski will share what’s new with Foraker, help our firms navigate the Pre-Develpment program, and give us tips on how to win work with Foraker. Take this opportunity to network with the client and get your questions answered during an interactive discussion.

This discussion and client networking breakfast will be held at The Foraker Group’s office at 8-9:30 am. 161 Klevin Street, Suite 101; Anchorage, AK 99508. Cost: $25 members, $35 non-members.

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