Here’s How to Write a Blog Post Like a Professional

You sit down. You stare at your screen. The cursor blinks. So do you. Anxiety sets in. Where do you begin when you want to create an article that will earn you clicks, comments, and social shares? This simple formula will show you how to write a blog post by guiding you from blank page to finished work.

1Choose your blog post topic

I know quite a few writers whose abandoned personal blogs are languishing in some dark corner of the Internet. These writers launched their blogs with joy and enthusiasm, but their momentum fizzled because they found it too hard to keep coming up with inspiring topics. Don’t let this happen to you. Here are some great ways to choose a topic that will resonate with your audience.

• Pick something you’re passionate about. When you care about your topic, you’ll write about it in a more powerful, emotionally expressive way.
• Pick something your readers are passionate about. What does your audience care about? It’s important to know so you can engage them. And don’t be afraid to go negative (e.g. Ten “Healthy” Foods You Should Always Avoid). The human negativity bias is legit.
• Get inspired by research. Some of the best articles I’ve written germinated when I grew curious about a subject and decided to explore it.
• Get inspired by other writers. No, I don’t mean you should plagiarize or blatantly copy ideas. But you can take a look at what your competition is writing about and put your own spin on these subjects. What new information or ideas can you bring to the table?

Keep a log of every topic idea that comes your way. You never know when you’re going to be stumped by the question “What should I write?”

Here’s a tip: Use a bookmarking tool like Pocket or EverNote to store clips and notes. Use your clip file for inspiration whenever your idea well runs dry.

2 Pick one clear angle.

You’ve got a topic. Awesome! Now, what’s your angle? Avoid a broad approach—get specific. You’ll get overwhelmed if you pick a huge subject like organic vegetable gardening and try to cover it all. Instead, go with “10 Budget-Friendly Ways to Start an Organic Vegetable Garden.”

Think about the best approach to your topic. If you want to explain how to do something, a step-by-step how-to article could work well. Want to write about your favorite autobiographies or offer your best tips for throwing a memorable dinner party? Consider a listicle. There’s nothing wrong with a straight-up essay, either, as long as it’s well-organized.

Speaking of which . . .

3 Get organized.

Whenever my dad had a disagreement with someone, he’d make his case and then storm off, but inevitably come back minutes later, one finger raised in proclamation, saying, “And another thing!” He did this so often that it became a running family joke.

Don’t write like my dad debated. Many bloggers make the mistake of not organizing their thoughts before they begin, which leads to “and another thing” writing. You’ll continue adding thoughts in a random, incoherent fashion. Articles like that don’t get read and shared, they get ignored.

If you’ve ever grown impatient while listening to someone tell a story, wanting them to just get to the point, then you know what it’s like to read an article that lacks organization. My dear content creators, no one wants to try to fish a few salient points out of your stream of consciousness.

— 9 Workflow Strategies That Will Make You a Faster Writer

Organize your thoughts with an outline. Here’s the outlining strategy I use. I promise it works like a charm. Not only will it make writing your blog post easier, it’ll help you make your message focused and clear for your readers.

4Open strong

If you tied a worm to the end of a fishing line, how many bluegills do you think you’d catch?

Easy answer: none. Dangling a worm alone may get you a nibble or two, but if you actually want to reel ’em in, you need a hook. Think of your opening paragraph as an advertisement for the rest of your blog post, the thing that keeps your reader on the line. Consider these examples from 5 Things That Will Make You Better at Content Writing.

Weak Hook

Writing a great opening paragraph is very important. Here are a few tips to get you on the way to hooking your readers.

Yawn. Don’t tell your reader that something’s important, show her. Why should she want “a few tips” from you?

Strong Hook

I just stopped reading your article. You had about two seconds to hook me, but your yawn-inducing opener made me surf on to something else. Writers (not to mention their websites) thrive on being read, so why do we invest so little time in crafting strong opening hooks?

Consider using a little foreshadowing in your hook. Scroll back and take a look at the opening paragraph of this article. See how it hints at what’s to come? That’s foreshadowing. Suggest what you’re going to deliver within the article so we’ll be compelled to read on.

5Write naturally

The one thing you have that other writers don’t is your voice. Cultivate it! If it works for your article, consider writing in the first person and including some relatable anecdotes. (Like my “And another thing!” tale.) Whenever you can, tell a story, whether it’s your own or someone else’s.

If you don’t have a story to relate to your readers, you can at least infuse your article with your personal style. Instead of writing like you’re churning out a dry research paper, write as though you’re telling a friend about some cool new stuff you’ve learned. Use your own natural, conversational tone. Keep your language simple and direct. In other words, just be you. No one else can.

—5 Things That Will Make You Better at Content Writing

6Write emotionally

Remember what I briefly mentioned about the human negativity bias? Our brains are wired to look for danger, and so we’re naturally drawn to warnings and other information that’s skewed toward the negative. (In fact, the media uses the negativity bias to capture our attention because it works so well.) Using negativity is a kind of emotional writing.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be a constant downer in order to keep your readers hooked. You can create interest just by using emotional language to write on topics your readers care about. PRO TIP: How do you know people will care about your topic? Because you care about it!

7 Close strong

You’ve come this far. Now, it’s time to write a killer close that will help cement your post in your reader’s mind, create engagement, and encourage social sharing. Let’s look at a few.

• Simply end at a natural stopping point. No wrap-ups, no frills—just end when you’re finished. Give it a try if it suits your post and writing style.
• Wrap it up with a summary paragraph. This is by far the most traditional approach. Summarize your conclusions and add some closing thoughts.
• Create a TL;DR. For better or worse, we skim when we read online. A TL;DR is usually a simple bulleted list that lets a reader see your conclusions at a glance. You never know—the TL;DR could inspire someone to go back and read the full article.
• Fish for comments. When you wrap up with a compelling question, you encourage your readers to have a say. This can help you build community around your blog.
• Ask for a social share. It never hurts to ask people to share your article if it resonated with them.
• Ask the reader to subscribe. The reader made it to the end of your article—they like you! Ask them to connect with you on social media or subscribe to your blog channel so they can see whenever you post new content.
• Promote a product. See below. *wink*

Now that you’ve drafted a memorable post, edit. Clean up the clutter and eliminate wordiness. And don’t forget to use Grammarly as your extra pair of eyes to help you catch typos and look for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

Comma Before And

Whether or not you put a comma before and depends on how you’re using and. There’s no single rule that applies to all situations. You usually put a comma before and when it’s connecting two independent clauses. It’s almost always optional to put a comma before and in a list.

Comma Before And in Lists

A lot of people have strong feelings about putting a comma before and in a list. Exactly why this particular quirk of comma usage stirs such passions is hard to say; it’s just one of those things. If you’ve ever heard someone arguing about serial commas or Oxford commas, this is what they were talking about.

Let’s say your dog has so many great qualities that you just have to tell the world. When you list your dog’s qualities, you have to use a comma after each quality you list except the one that comes immediately before and. That comma is optional.

The dog is young, well trained, and good natured.

The dog is young, well trained and good natured.

The sentence is correct with or without the comma before and. (There are a few exceptions that require you to use the Oxford comma in a list, but they are pretty rare.) Just be consistent. Don’t switch back and forth in the same document between using the Oxford comma and not using it.

By the way, this rule only applies to lists of three or more items. You should not use a comma before and if you’re only mentioning two qualities.

The dog is well trained, and good natured.

The dog is well trained and good natured.

This is true for proper names, ordinary nouns, verbs, or anything else.

Sam, and Sarah take excellent care of their pets.

Sam and Sarah take excellent care of their pets.

The dog barks, and plays.

The dog barks and plays.

Comma Before And That Joins Two Independent Clauses

The word and is a conjunction, and when a conjunction joins two independent clauses, you should use a comma with it. The proper place for the comma is before the conjunction.

On Monday we’ll see the Eiffel Tower, and on Tuesday we’ll visit the Louvre.

The sentence above contains two independent clauses (highlighted in green), so it requires a comma before and. (By the way, you can tell they’re independent clauses because each one could stand on its own as a complete sentence.)

Here’s a tip: Remember, when you’re joining two independent clauses, you need both a comma and a conjunction. If you use a comma without a conjunction, you’ll end up with a comma splice.

Let’s look at another example.

It’s cold outside, and I can’t find my coat.

Once again, we have two independent clauses: It’s cold outside plus I can’t find my coat. Therefore, we need a comma before and.

Don’t use a comma before and when one of the clauses it’s connecting is a dependent clause.

Sam tossed the ball, and watched the dog chase it.

The first clause, Sam tossed the ball could stand on its own as a complete sentence, which means it’s an independent clause. But the second clause, watched the dog chase it, can’t stand by itself as a complete sentence. That means it’s a dependent clause, so we should not use a comma before and.

Sam tossed the ball and watched the dog chase it.

Exceptions

But wait! There’s an exception. (Isn’t there always?) When you have two independent clauses joined together by and, most style guides say that it’s OK to leave the comma out as long as the two independent clauses are very short and closely connected. Here’s an example:

Arthur cooked and Melvin cleaned.

It’s not wrong to add a comma before and in the sentence above, but doing so might make the sentence a little choppy.

Want to learn about other ways to use a comma? Check out our general guide to comma usage.

Dashes

A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text (not at the bottom: that’s an underscore). It’s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. Dashes are used to separate groups of words, not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. There are three forms of dashes: em, en, and the double hyphen.

The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—). A good way to remember the difference between these two dashes is to visualize the en dash as the length of the letter N and the em dash as the length of the letter M. These dashes not only differ in length; they also serve different functions within a sentence.

Em Dashes

Em dashes save the day when other punctuation would be awkward. For instance, em dashes can replace parentheses at the end of a sentence or when multiple commas appear in a parenthetical phrase.

After a split second of hesitation, the second baseman leaped for the ball (or, rather, limped for it).

After a split second of hesitation, the second baseman leaped for the ball—or, rather, limped for it.

Colons enable a writer to introduce a clause that amplifies whatever came before the colon. They are more formal than dashes. However, em dashes are more emphatic than colons. When you want to generate strong emotion in your writing or create a more casual tone, use em dashes. Compare these sentences:

He is afraid of two things: spiders and senior prom.

He is afraid of two things—spiders and senior prom.

Writers and transcriptionists replace unknown, censored, or intentionally omitted letters with em dashes. In these cases, em dashes appear in pairs or threesomes.

A former employee of the accused company, ———, offered a statement off the record.

“H—— are all the same. They cause trouble wherever they go.”

Carved into the dresser drawer was a faded inscription: “Made for Kristina, by your de——ted sailor.”

 

En Dashes

Recall that en dashes are slightly shorter in length than em dashes. En dashes may look similar to em dashes, but they function in a much different way.

Using the En Dash to Indicate Spans of Time or Ranges of Numbers

The en dash is often used to indicate spans of time or ranges of numbers. In this context, the dash should be interpreted as meaning either “to” or “through.” Consider the examples below:

The teacher assigned pages 101–181 for tonight’s reading material.

The scheduled window for the cable installation is 1:00–3:00pm.

The 2015–2016 fiscal year was the most profitable year for the new business.

Using the En Dash to Denote a Connection

The en dash may also be used to indicate a connection between two words. Use an en dash when you need to connect terms that are already hyphenated or when you are using a two-word phrase as a modifier. When the dash is used in this way, it creates a compound adjective. See the following examples:

The pro-choice–pro-life argument is always a heated one.

The Nobel Prize–winning author will be reading from her book at the library tonight.

7 Productivity Apps That Will Make Your Life More Efficient

Ever reach the end of the day and wonder where all your time went?

I keep reading articles where the author points out that all of us—from millionaires to humble knowledge workers—have the same twenty-four hours in the day.

Sure, this is meant to be inspiring (you too can achieve your dreams!), but when it’s already noon and I’ve barely started my to-do list . . . it just feels depressing.

Fortunately, there is hope for those of us struggling with productivity. If you’re frustrated and ready to get more out of your time, here are seven productivity apps that will make your life more efficient. (Grammarly’s Mobile Keyboard for iOS is also a must-have).

1Asana

Ever struggle to keep track of all your To-Dos? Asana is the perfect productivity app for managing your million and one tasks.

Visually organize your projects in lists or as boards, break projects into tasks and subtasks, set due dates, include notes and attachments, and even assign tasks to collaborators.

Asana is great for organizing complex projects, like taking your novel from concept to publication, as well as ongoing tasks like posting to your blog each week.

And there’s no end to the type of projects it can help you manage. Launching your new side hustle, coordinating the ultimate weekend getaway, organizing your group presentation with classmates—Asana has you covered.

Teasing you all here: This is how I schedule my content using @asana H/T to @dottotech for the brilliant idea. #Content #Productivity pic.twitter.com/AxLcgkzBv5

— Carl Pullein (@carl_pullein) November 10, 2017

2Rescue Time

In the immortal words of management guru Peter Drucker, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

RescueTime helps you improve your time management by automatically tracking how you spend your computer time. It runs silently in the background, then creates handy graphs of your time-use statistics so you can see exactly where your time is going each day.

The Premium version also includes the FocusTime feature which allows you to block “distracting” sites (wow!), and pop up alerts if you’ve been spending your time unproductively.

#RescueTime is great for holding yourself accountable to staying focused and not slipping onto #Facebook. https://t.co/YYSOwN7t0G pic.twitter.com/tghZOAz7Sp

— Endless Events (@helloendless) April 2, 2017

3Timepage

Need a better way to manage your schedule? There are a lot of calendar apps out there, but few come close to the elegance and simplicity of Moleskin’s Timepage.

Notable features include: detailed weather forecasts, driving/travel time estimates, a heatmap of your month’s busiest days, event countdown clocks, and a daily briefing. Not to mention the aesthetics are gorgeous, the design is super user-friendly, and details like colors and fonts are endlessly customizable.

Show up to your next event on time, stress-free, and rain-free.

#Timepage turns time planning into a visual pleasure. Discover our first calendar app: https://t.co/cwAYI3YU3r pic.twitter.com/g93rV7Azwg

— Moleskine (@moleskine) May 21, 2016

4IFTTT

This ingenious app connects your favorite apps and services, allowing you to automate simple tasks, thus saving time and freeing up your brain power for more important things.

IFTTT stands for “If This, Then That.” For example, “If I post a picture on Instagram, save it to Dropbox.”

You can choose from hundreds of pre-made “applets” or create your own. Some popular IFTTT applets:

Automatically send my partner a text when I leave work. Share my Instagram photos as native photos on Twitter. Turn on porch lights when I get close to home. Add new movie releases (US) to Google calendar.

There’s no excuse to tweet Instagram links! Here’s how to tweet your Instagrams as native photos on Twitter @IFTTT https://t.co/9sMByPUYZP

— Meruschka (@MzansiGirl) October 26, 2017

51Password

Are you still using the same password for all your accounts? Or going crazy hunting for the password you wrote on a sticky note somewhere?

Stop wasting time and jeopardizing your security! 1Password generates unique passwords for all of your logins and protects them with a triple encryption protocol. All you have to do is remember your Master Password.

1Password is integrated with your browser, syncs automatically with your devices, and can even save other sensitive information like credit card numbers.

Oh look! I’m on Product Hunt! �� https://t.co/EOGwiuv0OY

— 1Password (@1Password) November 3, 2017

6Strides

Want to get more sleep? Eat more veggies? Spend less time on social media? Spend more time writing?

Use Strides to track your progress on any habit or goal. There’s a library of popular goals to choose from, or you can create your own.

Similar to RescueTime, the magic of Strides is in its ability to measure your progress and keep you motivated.

I just paid money for this app in the hopes it will help me get my life together @StridesApp #StridesApp pic.twitter.com/yS4AEjvXUL

— Kathryn (@Future_Goddess) September 15, 2016

7Evernote

Our important information tends to be scattered across many devices and platforms. Meeting notes in Word documents, images in random computer folders, articles bookmarked in your browser, voice recordings of podcast ideas saved to your iPhone.

Trying to find the knowledge you need can be a huge hassle. Evernote allows you to save everything in one place that’s instantly accessible from all your devices and is highly searchable.

Every time you add a web clipping, image, video, etc., Evernote saves it as a new “note” which you can organize into “notebooks” or search for as needed. Never lose a great idea again!

Some weekends look like this. And that’s ��.

⏰ Set alarm

�� Ignore & sleep in

�� Think about making a green smoothie

�� Eat pancakes instead

���� Think about going to the gym

⭕️ Go to @Target instead

�� Make plans to go out

�� Cancel & order takeout

�� Watch @netflix until ��

— Evernote (@evernote) November 25, 2017

What’s your favorite productivity app for saving time and boosting efficiency?

How to Improve Writing Skills in 15 Easy Steps

Learning a variety of writing skills isn’t as difficult as you may think. We’ve put together a list of steps to help you make dramatic improvements to the quality of your writing in short order.

Becoming a better writer takes practice, and you’re already practicing. No, seriously—you write a lot. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you put thoughts into text more often than you realize. At the very least, you write emails—a lot of emails—post on social media, make updates to your résumé and LinkedIn profile, and message your friends. If your job requires it, you also create things like reports, presentations, newsletters . . . it’s a long list.

So, you’re already writing. Now, improving your writing skills is just a matter of becoming conscious of the things you can do to give your text more structure and make your copy crisp and readable with a conversational style.

Give Your Writing Structure

It’s fine to rattle off a stream of consciousness when you’re writing in your journal, but if you actually want to communicate with others you’ll need to bring some order to those rambling thoughts. Here are some tips.

1 Make sure you’re clear on the concepts you’re writing about.

Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” Before you start writing, take a moment to mentally explain the concept to the six-year-old who lives inside your head. (We all have one, don’t we?) If your writing goal is to achieve a specific result, ask yourself what that result should be. Before you dive into writing, have a clear purpose. Then stick to it.

via GIPHY

2 If the message is complex, outline it.

It doesn’t take much thought-organizing to compose the average text message, but if you’re writing something more complex, with multiple angles, questions, or requests, get all that stuff sorted before you sit down to write. Making an outline, or even just some quick notes about the topics you want to cover, can save you time answering clarifying questions later. And speaking of questions . . .

3 Anticipate your readers’ questions.

Put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Do they have enough context to understand what you’ve written for them? If not, fill in the blanks. But . . .

4 Don’t over-explain everything.

If you’ve taken the time to organize your thoughts in advance, you should be able to keep things simple. The idea is to give readers just enough to understand what you’re communicating without overwhelming them with trivial details. If you find yourself getting in the weeds with more details than you need, look at each piece of information and ask whether it’s essential to help your reader understand your message. If not, get rid of it.

Tighten Your Writing

We sometimes write like we talk, and that can be a good thing. It keeps our writing conversational (more on that in a moment.) But rambling, wordy writing makes your text hard to read, and it can make you sound as though you lack conviction. Start practicing these skills to streamline your writing.

5 Go easy on the prepositional phrases

When I was a neophyte writer, someone showed me how prepositional phrases made my writing unnecessarily wordy and complex. It was an epiphany!

via GIPHY

Prepositions aren’t difficult to understand, but the concept does require some explanation. Get smart about prepositions here, and then try to simplify them whenever it makes sense. Your writing will get a much-needed clarity boost.

6 Eliminate the filler words and phrases

Some words show up in our writing all the time, and yet they don’t contribute much of anything. Although these filler words and phrases sometimes add color or even meaning, most of the time they contribute nothing but clutter. Here are thirty-one of them you can eliminate right now.

Here’s even more help.

7 Don’t pad weak words with adverbs.

Adverbs—those words that often end in -ly—modify verbs and sometimes adjectives. They’re okay once in a while, but when you find yourself using them all the time, you’re probably making weak word choices. Instead of “ran really fast” write “sprinted.” Was something “extremely funny”? Nah, it was “hilarious.” The scenery may have been “very beautiful,” but your writing’s going to shine if you refer to it as “gorgeous,” “lush,” “verdant,” or “bucolic.”

Make Your Writing More Conversational

8 Stick with simple words.

Bestselling author John Grisham said, “There are three types of words: (1) words we know; (2) words we should know; (3) words nobody knows. Forget those in the third category and use restraint with those in the second.” There’s a difference between having a rich vocabulary and dropping million-dollar words into your writing just to show off. Unless it’s your intent to be poetic, keep your language simple and direct.

I’m certain sure you are able to can deliver the quality of work we’re looking for. Let’s discuss talk about it in our meeting next week.

9 Use contractions.

English speakers use contractions—you’re, I’m, we’re, they’re, can’t, didn’t. Your writing will sound stiff and formal without them. For example:

I am sure you are able to deliver the quality of work we are looking for. Let us discuss it in our meeting next week.

Now, let’s add some contractions. Doesn’t this sound less stuffy?

I’m sure you can deliver the quality of work we’re looking for. Let’s talk about it in our meeting next week.

10Try transcribing yourself.

Record yourself talking. You can learn a lot about conversational writing using this one weird trick! (Sorry, Buzzfeed, we tease because we care.)

Try transcribing a conversation you’ve recorded (with the other person’s permission, of course). Transcribe a couple of minutes of the conversation word-for-word. Then, fix or remove any false starts and remove filler (um, uh, like, you know)—et voila!—you’ve got yourself some conversational writing. The process of transcribing and editing will help you learn what to do and what not to.

11Throw away the grammar rule book . . . within reason.

We, the Grammarly team, give you permission to start sentences with conjunctions. And (see what we did there?) unless you’re writing something formal, we’re perfectly okay with you ending some sentences with prepositions. Write naturally, human! It’s all good.

12Keep your sentences simple.

Literary greats can write long, complex sentences with flair. Why not you? Well, for starters you’re probably not trying to write like Tolstoy, Nabokov, or Faulkner. Short, less complicated sentences are easier to read. Keep it simple, silly! But do vary your sentence length so your writing has a nice flow.

13Read it out loud.

Speaking of flow, reading your writing aloud can help you determine whether it flows smoothly. If it sounds choppy and clipped, add a few longer sentences to break up that steady, monotonous beat. If you find yourself stumbling over parts, you’ve probably found an overly complex sentence that needs rewriting. I always recommend reading your work out loud . . . because it works!

14Infuse your personality into your writing

Letting your personality shine through is the best way to develop a writing style. Use the phrases and slang that you would normally use (within reason). When it’s appropriate, throw in a relevant personal anecdote. In all but the most formal or professional writing settings, be yourself when you write.

15Practice, practice, practice!

The ultimate way to make your writing better is to learn what weakens it in the first place, and then set your mind to fixing (and eventually preventing) the glitches. The more you write, edit, and proofread, the better you get at it.

Here’s When to Say ‘Happy Holidays’ Instead of ‘Merry Christmas’

It’s that time of year… when you dread every interaction because you don’t know whether to say “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” “Season’s Greetings,” or maybe some secret salutation you don’t even know yet. So what are you supposed to say?

In general, “Happy Holidays” is accepted as the broadest and most inclusive greeting at this time of year. If you know someone celebrates Christmas you can go with “Merry Christmas,” but ‘tis the season for interacting with strangers (selling to them, buying from them, bumping into them on your way out of Target). And when the time comes to wish them well, it’s usually best to go for general.

Why does the “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” debate exist?

The period from late November until early January is lumped together as “the holiday season.” You’ve got your biggies like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s, plus dates that get not quite so much attention, like Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, Boxing Day, and Festivus. With that many holidays crammed into a few weeks, it makes sense to go for the general holiday wish.

True, there aren’t too many people who celebrate all of those holidays. But the point is to acknowledge that different people celebrate different holidays

Also, this debate isn’t just about words: it’s about being politically correct and inclusive of diverse beliefs and traditions across the country.

“Holidays” are more inclusive

Although Christmas has been the most widely celebrated holiday in the United States for decades, the U.S. is more diverse than it’s ever been before, so not everyone celebrates Christmas. Some people get a Christmas tree, but don’t have any traditions associated with Christianity. And plenty of people have a different religious tradition, or no religious tradition at all.

If you say “Merry Christmas” to someone who celebrates Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or nothing at all, you could make them feel marginalized: like their own beliefs aren’t valued or respected by society. And that’s not a good way to feel around the holidays.

What about saying “Happy Holidays” to someone who celebrates Christmas—won’t that make them feel bad, too? Unfortunately, there’s a chance of that, especially because Christmas is still so widely celebrated. But one holiday being more popular than the others doesn’t mean you should ignore the other ones.

Think of it this way: “Happy Holidays” includes Christmas as one of those holidays, and “Merry Christmas” leaves out everything other than Christmas.

If you live in an area with mostly Christians, or if you know someone has a Menorah and not a Christmas tree, you can generally feel safe with a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah.” But if you don’t know, or aren’t quite sure, it’s probably best to stay general rather than taking a guess and potentially making someone feel bad.

So, “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”?

A good rule of thumb: if you don’t know what someone celebrates, use the broader term. It’s as easy as that.

It’s not an insult to Christmas. It’s an inclusive way of wishing someone well and showing that you respect and value whatever tradition they observe. Actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg agrees:

″‘Happy Holidays’ allows everybody to be included…When you’re walking past somebody, you don’t know what their religious beliefs are or whether they have them. If they have religious beliefs and you can’t tell what they are, say ’Happy holidays.”

If Whoopi says so, there’s got to be something to it.

In a time of year that’s already hectic, wondering what to wish people can be yet another stress. But don’t forget that even with all the errands, tasks, and projects that need to be finished up by the end of the year, this is also a season that’s supposed to be happy or merry. You’re wishing someone a positive time of year. What matters most is the sentiment, not the specific holiday they celebrate.

Sure, there’s the occasional stickler who demands specificity—“What holidays do you mean?” Still, most people will see your attempt at sharing seasonal cheer and shoot you a smile, rather than insisting you clarify exactly which holiday you have in mind. Even if you celebrate one holiday and the person you’re talking to observes another one, by using the inclusive term, you’re doing your part to make sure everyone’s holiday actually is as happy as it can be.

Yes, You Can Make a Complex Point Over Text

Making a point in a clear, assertive email is one thing. But doing it in a text? LOL, way 2 much 4 txtspk.

Or is it?

Sure, you don’t have as much leeway in a text as in an email because of sheer lack of space, but it is possible to make a point, ask for something important, or express a serious idea in a text message. Here are some tips for how to make it so.

Use real words

As in, “you,” “for,” “today,” “thanks.” Writing in real-speak instead of text-speak shows that you’re serious. For example:

Thx 4 mtg w me 2day. U r rly helpful. WML 4 interview 2moro!

Not quite as effective as:

Thank you for meeting with me today. You were really helpful. Wish me luck for the interview tomorrow!

Sure, it depends on who you’re writing: if it’s your best friend and you always swap “you” for “u,” no need to make things unexpectedly formal. But before you type out your message, think about what you’re trying to say, who’s going to read it, and whether your point will be more effective with actual words.

Start with “Hey”

When people are about to say something important in conversation, they often start with “listen” or “look.” Those senses don’t exactly make sense over text, but a casual “hey” can have the same effect. Plus, it signals that you’re about to get a bit more serious than normal, and even pads the blow a little.

Hey, I wanted to apologize for taking my bad mood out on you earlier.

Without the hey, it sounds stiff, even insincere. With the hey, you get a casual, human touch that leads neatly into the point.

Don’t write a novel

We get it: it’s hard to make a point in a couple lines. But if the message is longer than the phone screen and you have to scroll to see the whole thing, it’s probably too much for the person to digest. Just like in other forms of writing, you’ll make a stronger point if you avoid filler words and get directly to the issue.

Compare these two texts to a coworker:

Hey Karen, I’m really sorry, but I think I ate something weird last night and I’m feeling really sick. I know we were supposed to prep for our big presentation today, but I’m just feeling too sick to leave the house today. Hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow and we can figure things out then. Sorry again, but thanks for understanding!

Then, you take out the (digital) red pen:

Hey Karen, so sorry, but I’ve got food poisoning. We’ll have to do our meeting prep when I’m back. I’ll follow up by email when possible.

More succinct, and more professional, too.

Sum up your argument

What is this, expository essay class? It may sound like even more added weight, but if you have to say something complicated, one way to keep it clean is to write the main point in one text, and send your “conclusion” as a separate text. For example:

Text 1: Hey, I understand that you have a lot going on right now and can’t make it to the dinner tonight, but I’ve got to say I’m disappointed. I planned it months ago and was really counting on you being there. Even with everything you have on your plate, I thought this would be a priority for you.

Text 2: Anyway, sorry for being upset and I do understand you’ve got a lot happening, but wanted you to know.

Heavy stuff—maybe even better over the phone or in person. Still, there are times when you need to have your say, and text is the only venue for doing it. And in those cases, a final line—sometimes with an extra “thanks” or “sorry”—can make the message more personal and caring.

Offer a follow-up

The tips so far have given you some fuel for your serious, thoughtful, or bad-news texts. But there are some conversations that should be had in person. You can lay the groundwork in your text and then plug for a different venue to keep the discussion going. For example:

• Hey, our presentation is coming along, but I think it needs more work. Let’s set up some time to talk about moving it forward.
• Hey, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings with that stupid joke earlier. Can I call you?
• Hi Mom, guess what? I got the job offer! Too many details to text but I’ll tell you more over dinner tomorrow.

With this kind of message, you can say what you need to say but not overburden your text recipient with information.

Send a gif

Caveat: Maybe you don’t send a white rabbit gif to your boss to explain you’re running late for your very important date—er, meeting.

But if you think the person you’re writing will respond well to a bit of levity, adding a gif or a meme is a great way to lighten the mood of a serious message. Technology has given us the gift of sending moving cats to people by phone, so why not take advantage of it?

Here are some ways to make it go purringly:

• Things are pretty tough right now (cat getting a bath)
• I didn’t mean to lash out at you (cat lashing out at its balloon lookalike)
• What you said hurt my feelings (cat hanging its head with a wounded air)
• I’m really sorry I messed up this time (cat falling off a chair)
• I’m sorry I can’t make it. Just can’t handle a party tonight (cat looking like it can’t handle a party any night. Even with the sombrero.)

As with emails, conversations in person, or other forms of communication, if you’re saying something important in a text message, think through how best to say it. Make sure you plan your words based on the person you’re writing to (e.g., you’ll be more formal in professional settings than personal ones), and before you tap Send, read your message through to make sure it doesn’t sound aggressive, whiny, or mean.

And nine times out of ten, animal gifs are your friend.

How to Best Introduce Yourself at a Job Interview

You’re sitting in a reception area, dressed in a carefully chosen outfit. You’re showered and polished. Your hair is perfect. Your hands are manicured. Now, if only your palms would stop sweating!

Few things are quite as unnerving as job interviews. You approach them knowing that unless you match the employer’s expectations you’re not going to land that sweet gig. Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to ensure you’ll make a good impression when the stakes are high.

Introduce yourself in a professional way

First impressions start here, so make sure you get it right. Your next career move could well begin with a hello and a handshake. In the reception area, introduce yourself.

Hi, I’m Jill Jackson. I’m here for my 10:30 interview with Jane Smith.

When you meet the person who’ll be interviewing you, extend a hand, say hello, and introduce yourself again.

Hi, Ms. Smith. I’m Jill Jackson. Thanks for inviting me to meet with you today.

Here’s a tip: Keep a folded napkin or handkerchief in your pocket. It’ll be helpful if you need to dry your hands quickly before you meet the interviewer. It’s harder to make a good impression with sweaty palms.

Make sure you’ve done your homework up front

The single best thing you can do to ace an interview is to conduct some research ahead of time. Learn as much as you can about the company you’re interviewing with. Visit their website and look for things like a careers or culture page. Scan their social media accounts to get a feel for their brand voice. Visit Glassdoor to see what employees are saying about them, which might give you more culture clues as well as insight into their strengths and challenges. When you’re armed with information, you’ll feel less vulnerable, and when the time comes, you’ll be able to demonstrate your insight into the company.

I noticed that The ABC Corporation’s blog focuses on content for working professionals. Can you tell me more about how that plays into your branding strategy?

ABC’s website has a great culture page! It gave me a real sense of what drives your team.

Answer the dreaded “Tell me about yourself” with style

There’s no more open-ended question than the one every job seeker loves to hate—“Tell me about yourself.” How do you project an image of confidence without arrogance? Do you mention anything personal or stick to business?

It’s a good idea to prepare your answer to this question ahead of time. It’s often used as an ice-breaker, so go ahead and begin with a few bits of personal information.

I moved cross-country to the west coast two years ago—I love it here! I’ve been spending time adventuring and getting to know the area cuisine. I’m a foodie at heart.

Make sure you avoid politics or anything potentially controversial. Even relating something like your enthusiasm for hunting can go wrong if you come across an interviewer who’s opposed to the practice. By all means, be interesting—if you have an unusual hobby like paragliding or snake charming, make yourself memorable by sharing it. (Well, maybe hold off on sharing the snake charming thing. You don’t want to come off as that much of a risk taker.)

Don’t dwell on the personal for more than a couple of beats. Segue into talking about your professional life.

I ventured out west because marketing is my passion, and I saw so many opportunities in Silicon Valley. I’d love to tell you about some of the strengths I’d bring to this position.

Don’t overdo it. Before the interview, consider three or four personality assets or skills you believe the hiring manager will value. Outline them briefly. (Remember that the interviewer can always ask more questions if one of your points intrigues her.)

I enjoy networking. I attended three professional conferences last year, and not only did I get valuable insights, but I also connected with some solid new leads.

Good communication is important to me, so I’m always sharpening my writing skills. I wrote my company’s top-performing blog article last quarter.

Be concrete. Show how your skills have made a difference in your professional life. But also, be concise. Nattering on about your talents for too long can make you seem arrogant or self-absorbed.

Here’s a tip: You’ll have the advantage if you know what the hiring manager is looking for in advance. If you used a keyword strategy to craft your resume, apply that to your understanding of the topics you should focus on during your interview.

Be prepared to take charge of the interview

Interviewers may be in positions of power, but that doesn’t mean most are good at interviewing. In fact, many interviewers struggle with it. They overestimate their intuitive sense of you and make snap judgments. They may overvalue things like how articulate you are, your assertiveness, and even your technical chops without really asking the questions that will determine how fit you are for the position.

If the interviewer isn’t asking the right questions and assessing you in a way that lets you show your best angles, be prepared to step in and demonstrate your strengths.

Most interviewers ask questions unrelated to real job requirements. As the person being interviewed, you need to take control to ensure you’re being evaluated properly. This starts by asking the person to describe the job in terms of real objectives and challenges. Then you need to describe work you’ve done that’s most related.

—Lou Adler for Inc.

Preparation is the key to knocking your interview out of the park. Take time to rehearse your answers to popular interview questions. Stay positive, smile, and try to relax. You’ve got this!

Verbs

There are up to five forms for each verb: root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.

Root Form of the Verb

The root form of a verb is the base form of the word. Roots have not been conjugated and do not include prefixes or suffixes.

The root form of the verb is the same as the infinitive form with “to” removed. See the examples below: to see – see

to be – be

to wear – wear

to go – go

The root form of a verb is used to create other forms of the verb when conjugated. This is always true with regular verbs, but may not apply with irregular verbs, depending on the tense. The examples below illustrate this concept.

I am going to school.

(Root: go)

What did you do yesterday?

(Root: do)

The girl showed her mother the picture she drew in school.

(Root: show)

He had eaten three hamburgers.

(Root: eat)

Third Person Singular Form of a Verb

The third person singular (he/she/it/one) conjugation is the verb form that tends to be different from other conjugations. For regular verbs, this verb form end in ‑s (or sometimes ‑es). Consider the examples below: he sees

she watches

it shrinks

one does

Present Participle Form of a Verb

The present participle verb form is created by adding -ing to the root word. It’s used in the past, present, and future progressive verb tenses. Look at the examples below:

We’re coming to the party tonight.

(come – coming)

They have been drawing for hours.

(draw – drawing)

We will be washing the car before vacation.

(wash – washing)

Past and Past Participle Forms of the Verb

The past and past participle verb form for regular verbs is the root word + ‑ed. It’s only used with the past tenses. Consider the examples below:

We shopped for hours on Saturday afternoon.

(shop – shopped)

The books were stacked on the shelf.

(stack – stacked)

He had played computer games for the whole weekend.

(play – played)

The past participle can be difficult to determine for some irregular verbs. It’s best to look these up in a dictionary if you’re at all unsure of the past participle. Here are a few examples of irregular verbs:

Root	Simple Past	Past Participle
Sing	Sang	Sung
See	Saw	Seen
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Give	Gave	Given
Go	Went	Gone

I had forgiven him for his unkind words.

Simon had lit candles all around the room.

And the Oscar for Best Grammar Goes to. . .

Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences creates a Hollywood spectacle to honor the best films, actors, screenwriters, directors, and more. Before the Academy rolls out the red carpet on February 28 to announce 2016’s Oscar winners, we decided to roll out the red pen (metaphorically speaking) and rank the movies, actors, and actresses by how well their fans write when they’re buzzing about them online.

First, we looked at fan-written movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. We gathered the most recent one hundred four- and five-star reviews of at least fifteen words for each film, analyzed them with Grammarly, and then verified them with a team of live proofreaders. We counted only black-and-white mistakes, such as misspellings, wrong and missing punctuation, misused or missing words, and subject-verb disagreement. We ignored stylistic variations, such as common slang words, nicknames, serial commas, or the use of numerals instead of spelled-out numbers.

Then, we set out for IMDb and followed the same procedure to rank the Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress nominees according to how well IMDb commenters wrote when they discussed them in the forums. We also searched out the top three adjectives or phrases commenters used to describe the celebs.

Leonardo DiCaprio may be the odds-on favorite to win an Oscar for The Revenant, but the “amazing, desperate guy,” who has yet to score an Oscar, didn’t fare well in our research, coming in second-to-last—just above Sylvester Stallone, who’s nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Creed. Although Variety predicts that The Big Short will walk away with the gleaming golden statue for Best Picture, where fan grammar is concerned, Brooklyn takes the win.

Of course, our research is all in the name of fun and good grammar. To see who really gets to step up to the microphone and say “I’d like to thank the Academy,” you’ll have to tune in to the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday, February 28.

11 Delectable Holiday Words to Celebrate LitMas Eve

Merry LitMas Eve!

If you recall, LitMas is our made-up bookish holiday to celebrate all things nerdy and word-related before the holidays. So far, we’ve given you everything from winter quotes to Christmas grammar fails, and we’ve loved every minute of it. Although we’re sad to see this nerdy holiday season come to a close, our penultimate gift will be sweet. Literally.

Because we know food is a large part of any holiday, we’ve collected some of our favorite holiday food words. As you read through this list, try to imagine a food that you could describe with each word. Or, if you’d like an extra challenge, try complimenting (or critiquing) your neighbor’s cookies, your coworker’s pie, or your mom’s Christmas dinner with these words!

1 Toothsome, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Temptingly tasty.

2 Flaky, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Easy to break into pieces.

3 Saccharine, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Sickly sweet.

4 Piquant, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Having a pleasantly spicy taste or appetizing flavor.

5 Verdant, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Lush with green foliage.

6 Treacly, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Having traits of molasses (treacle).

7 Acerbic, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Sour, bitter, or sharp.

8 Ambrosial, n.

via GIPHY

Definition: Tasty enough to be served to the gods.

9 Rich, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Full of flavor, sweetness, or fat.

10 Edulcorate, v.

via GIPHY

To make something more palatable.

11 Sapid, adj.

via GIPHY

Definition: Having a strong, great taste.

Did we miss one of your tasty Christmas word favorites? Tweet your favorites with #LitMas.

5 Writing Mistakes You’re Making on Your LinkedIn Profile

On Twitter, we let our wit loose into the world. On Facebook, we showcase our social selves. On dating websites, we focus on our romantic side. And on LinkedIn, we carefully construct an image we wouldn’t mind an employer seeing—no photos from parties, no funny cat videos, no wisecracks. After all, it’s the professional social network, and using it means we consent to the general notion that it should be used for serious pursuits. Serious social networks and serious pursuits require serious profiles. Yes, your LinkedIn profile picture counts and you should definitely look professional in it. Words count for a lot on LinkedIn as well. Let’s look at a few common problems and talk about ways to fix them.

Your Style Is All Over the Place

The way you write in your LinkedIn profile should be uniform. You should be able to write consistently in each section, using the same style conventions to avoid inconsistencies. Numbers, spaces after a period, punctuation marks before or after a closing quotation mark—all of these things and many more have to be the same throughout your profile. If you’re having problems with consistency, try using a style guide. Almost any of them will do, so just pick one and stick with it.

You’re Using Too Many Words

Even if you’re a novelist, you shouldn’t write novels in your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is not a place for anecdotes or flowery language. Think about it—the people you want to look at your LinkedIn profile are probably a business owners, managers, or recruiters. Don’t make them slog through a lot of unimportant stuff before they get the information they need (because they won’t bother). Put that information front and center so that it’s clearly visible and easy to read.

You’re Not Proofreading Your Profile

You cannot have spelling mistakes in your LinkedIn profile. We’re not just saying that because this is Grammarly and we have an awesome, free proofreading tool we’d like you to try out. You really can’t have any mistakes. If you can’t take the time to proofread your own profile, or if you’re not willing to invest in software or human proofreaders to look through your profile for mistakes, what kind of message do you think you’ll be sending to potential employers?

You’re Not Thinking About Keywords

Keywords are important. Search engines use keywords to determine whether to include your profile in search results. Keywords are also very easy to figure out—the most relevant ones are usually the title of your profession plus a variation or two, or maybe a word that’s closely related to your field of work. Here’s an example: you’re a flower arranger, and that’s your most important keyword. You can also add “flower arrangement” because that’s what you produce. That’s it—you have two good keywords. Now that you have your keywords, make sure you mention them throughout your profile, but not too many times—it’s counterproductive and it might actually lower your rank in search results. The most important keyword should be listed as one of your skills. It should also be in your headline and mentioned once or twice in your summary. Make sure you include the other keywords here and there.

You’re Not Using LinkedIn to Its Fullest Potential

There are plenty of tricks that can help you make the most out of your LinkedIn profile. You can edit your profile URL so that it contains, let’s say, your first and last names and your profession. You can also edit the anchor text for the blog and website links on your profile. You can rearrange the sections of your profile to put the most important and impressive ones at the top. If you build your LinkedIn profile really well, you can convert it into a resume using the Resume Builder tool. There are plenty of additional tips and tricks for using LinkedIn. The more of them you know, the more useful the website will be for you.

11 Words and Phrases to Use in Salary Negotiations if You Want to Succeed

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a magic word you could say in order to get people to agree with you? If, for example, a simple utterance of “abracadabra” could instantly convince your employer to see things your way, salary negotiations would be a whole lot easier.

Unfortunately, we live in the real world, and those magic words that guarantee instant success don’t quite exist — but the good news is, we’ve got the next best thing. The following words and phrases are expert-level ways to demonstrate the confidence, congeniality, and knowledge necessary to secure a higher salary.

Use these in your next negotiation, and you might just see a bump in your paycheck sooner than you can say “alakazam.”

1 “I am excited by the opportunity to work together.”

Too often, people think of salary negotiation as a battle: you, trying to get as much as you possibly can, versus your employer, trying to stay within budget. However, this type of thinking can be counterproductive, explains Roy Cohen, career coach and author of The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide.

“Never engage in negotiation as an ultimatum — an either/or — but rather as a collaborative process and a unique opportunity to create a compensation package that makes sense for both you and for them. Establish priorities as to what is most important to you and what items you are willing to trade off,” Cohen advises.

“Unless you know for sure that you are indispensable, and few of us ever are, successful negotiation should never become adversarial. That is a bad sign that the process has broken down or will,” Cohen continues.

2 “Based on my research…”

It’s only natural to see if you can get a higher salary than the one that you were offered, but it needs to be grounded in reality. Rather than just throwing out a number that you think sounds nice, you need to do your homework on what your skills are worth in order to provide a compelling case for your employer to compensate you accordingly.

“One phrase to use is something along the lines of ‘based on my research.’ That shows the other person you’ve done your homework and know what you’re talking about when negotiating,” says David Bakke, Writer/Contributor at Money Crashers.

One tip to come to the negotiation table prepared: get a free, personalized salary estimate from Glassdoor’s Know Your Worth™ calculator.

3 “Market”

As part of your research, make sure you know what the market for your job is, says Labor & Employment Attorney Alex Granovsky of Granovsky & Sundaresh PLLC. “Market refers to what the employee can earn if he or she went out on the job market and found a new, similar position,” Granovsky says. “If you are making $80,000, but could get a job around the corner making $100,000, the ‘market’ suggests that you are being underpaid.” And since companies presumably don’t want to lose you to the competition, they take that number seriously.

4 “Value” Value, on the other hand, “refers to what you bring to your employer,” Granovsky says. “From an employer’s perspective, each employee has to either (1) increase revenue, or (2) increase margin (ideally both). While probably not as compelling as the job market, if you can show to your employer how you are bringing ‘value’ to the company (in the form of increased revenue and/or increased margin), you can make a compelling case for a raise.”

So if, for example, you can prove that a new initiative you implemented earned the company $100,000, asking for a $5,000 raise sounds a lot more palatable to your employer.

5 “Similarly situated employees”

Forget any advice you’ve received about not snooping into your coworkers’ salaries — it can be a powerful data point in negotiations.

“‘Similarly situated employees’ are people who do what you do within the company,” Granovsky says. “If your position is ‘senior account manager’ and every other ‘senior account manager’ is making more money than you, this is something you should explore too.”

While you certainly don’t want to force any of your colleagues to disclose information they’re not comfortable sharing, you can use tools like Glassdoor to find out what they’re making, and therefore, whether or not you’re being fairly compensated.

6 “Is that number flexible at all?”

If an employer offers a number that’s below your desired range, pushing back is essential — but you want to make sure you handle it with tact. Saying “is that number flexible at all” is a graceful way to “[give] the employer the opportunity to offer more, or even mention other perks you might be able to gain if a higher salary isn’t in the picture,” Bakke says.

7 “I would be more comfortable if…”

Blunt phrasing like “I need” or “I want” can be a turn-off to employers. But expressing your desired salary with this phrase “is a collaborative way to let the recruiter or hiring manager know specifically what you’re looking for so they can focus on that dimension of your job offer,” says Josh Doody, author of Fearless Salary Negotiation.

“The rest of this sentence should be a specific ask. For example, the rest of this sentence might be ‘…we can settle on a base salary of $60,000.’ or ‘…we can increase the Restricted Stock Unit allotment to 100 units.’ Contrast this with something like, ‘Do you have any wiggle room?’, which is vague and allows them to say ‘No’ and short-circuit the negotiation,” Doody continues.

8 “If you can do that, I’m on board.”

We’ll let you in on a little secret — often times, recruiters are just as anxious as you for salary negotiations to come to a close. So if you can specifically spell out what it would take for you to accept an offer, you’ll be doing recruiters and hiring managers a favor.

“When you get to this phase of the negotiation, you want to make it clear to the recruiter or hiring manager that saying ‘Yes’ will end the negotiation so they’re more comfortable acquiescing,” Doody says. For example, you may want to say, “I understand you can’t come all the way up to $60,000. It would be great to add an additional week of paid vacation along with the $55,000 you suggested. If you can do that, I’m on board,” he suggests.

9 “I would prefer not to leave.”

This is a good one for employees who are negotiating raises to keep in their back pocket. Why? It comes down to the fact that it’s part of a defensible strategy, Cohen says.

“A defensible strategy explains what you want, why you want it, and how it is a win/win for both your boss and for you. The goal is to show value and benefit,” Cohen says. If a low salary at work is truly a dealbreaker for you, “get an offer that you would be willing to accept, but prefer not to,” Cohen advises. “Tell your boss that you have received an offer, that it is attractive, [but] that you prefer not to leave… It is far cheaper to give you a raise than to recruit and train a new candidate.”

But be warned: this phrase should not be taken lightly. “Know that this is a risky proposition: It could backfire. So please don’t use it if you don’t really want to leave or don’t have a bona fide offer on the table,” Cohen cautions.

10 “Do you mind if I take a couple of days to consider your offer?”

Even if a job offer exceeds your expectations, try to play it cool. “The first thing you should do when you receive a job offer is ask for time to consider it,” Doody says. “This little phrase accomplishes several things. Primarily, it buys you time to consider the offer, determine the appropriate counter offer, and begin building your case to support your counter offer. [But] it also enables you to move the negotiation to email if it’s not already there,” Doody says. This, he says, is a key to successfully pulling off a counter-offer.

“You want to counter offer over email whenever possible because you can be very deliberate with exactly what you say. Your salary negotiation will be more successful if you carefully choose your counter offer amount and clearly articulate why you’re worth it,” he explains.

11 “Thank you.”

Your pleases and thank-yous didn’t stop becoming important after you learned them in preschool — in the business setting, manners can mean everything.

“At the end of the salary discussion, be sure to thank the person for taking the time to sit down with you, just to maintain your professionalism,” Bakke says.

Not only is it simply the right thing to do — an employer is much more likely to accommodate the wants and needs of somebody who shows them respect.

A version of this post originally appeared on Glassdoor’s blog.

What Are the Most Effective Communication Skills to Have?

The ability to communicate is a valuable asset. Good communicators make more money. Studies show that oral communication is one of the most important competencies for college grads entering the workforce. Successful entrepreneurs are more likely to be excellent communicators, and that’s no coincidence.

A family member of mine once had an amazing idea for a gadget. In fact, it was such a good idea that he worked on perfecting it until he was able to secure a U.S. patent. We were all convinced his invention was a winner. In fact, it seemed to have a lot of intriguing applications. What a goldmine!

But, as it turns out, the invention never reached its potential, and the inventor is not rich. Why? There are multiple reasons, but a large part of the problem was that he wasn’t able to communicate his idea to manufacturers effectively. No one seemed to understand why they should pick up this brilliant gadget and put it into production.

For contrast, let’s consider Michael Faraday, the nineteenth-century English scientist who discovered many of the fundamental laws of physics and chemistry. Although he had little formal education, he was a great communicator. He could simplify complex scientific explanations so that even a child could understand them. Between 1827 and 1860, Faraday gave a series of nineteen Christmas lectures for young people at the Royal Institution in London, a series which continues today. His efforts to communicate clearly made him one of the most influential voices in scientific history.

Communication matters. Here are a few of the most important communication skills to hone.

Listening

You might not think of listening as a communication skill, but it’s at the top of this list for a reason. Have you ever chatted with a person who rattled on and never gave you the chance to get a word in edgewise? That person might be a world class talker, but they’re certainly not a good communicator.

Listening to a person teaches us how to communicate with them. Their contributions to the conversation provide important insights and context. It’s a good rule of thumb to listen more than you talk. When you find common ground, speak up and share your own thoughts and stories. Just resist going on too long. If you want to be interesting to others, you have to be interested in them.

Don’t forget to ask clarifying questions. When someone offloads a lot of information at once, you might simply say “Okay, let me run this back to be sure I have it straight” and then reiterate what the speaker said. Repeating pertinent parts of a conversation shows that you were listening. It also helps you get things clear in your own head so you’re less likely to misunderstand or forget what was said. This skill is especially valuable when it comes to technical matters or instructions.

Clarity

Clarity is huge. It’s important—it prevents your listener from having to ask “Say what, now?” (And it’s critical in writing, where the reader can’t interrupt to ask for clarification.) Often, what we say makes sense in our own heads but we fail to consider that our listener doesn’t have the same context. Every time you use a pronoun like he, she, or they, make certain the listener knows who that pronoun refers to. Ditto for other nonspecific words like it and this.

I was hoping we could get a better handle on this.

This phrase might leave the listener asking, “Get a better handle on what?”

I was hoping we could get a better handle on pronoun reference rules.

The correct example gets specific, so we don’t have to ask what. That’s clarity in action. Use it in speaking and perfect it in writing and you’ll be far less likely to be misunderstood.

Openness

Have you ever encountered a person who kept their arms folded and didn’t make eye contact when you approached? That person may have simply been distracted or preoccupied, but odds are you read their body language as unfriendly and you didn’t make an effort to talk.

If you want to communicate, you have to look open to it. Uncross those arms! Make eye contact. Smile. Although I tend to be on the quiet side until I get to know a person, I became great friends with someone in a singing group I belong to all because he took a moment to shoot me a smile and a friendly nod, which made me feel he was someone I could approach and say hello to. You never know where a little openness might lead!

Empathy

One of my favorite fictional characters, Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

That’s what empathy is, and it’s essential to good communication. We all walk around in our own little worlds, but to make a connection with someone requires the ability to put yourself in that person’s place and try to understand their point of view. When you do that, the snippy sales clerk becomes a person who might be slogging through a difficult day, the bratty toddler in the next line becomes a tired and overstimulated child, and his wheedling parent becomes an exhausted mom at the end of her tether.

When you’re able to empathize, you can approach conversations calmly and rationally. You might wish the sales clerk a good day and offer the weary mom a smile, or even a helping hand, when everyone else is glaring daggers. Whether you’re at work, at home, or hanging out with friends, empathy skills can help you defuse emotionally charged situations.

Energy

Think of some of your favorite people to talk with. Odds are, they’re usually upbeat and full of life. We’re naturally drawn to people who lift our moods. If you’re capable of it, try to be just a little more energetic than the person you’re speaking with. It’s possible to show enthusiasm for a topic even if it happens to be difficult. Be engaged. Lean in. Listen intently. We naturally like people who can elevate a conversation rather than bring it down.

Communicating effectively doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Some of us have to work at it. And working at it means being conscious of the things we can do to improve. Communication didn’t come naturally to Michael Faraday—he took notes and observed other lecturers and worked hard to improve. But he proved that developing good communication skills enables a person’s intelligence and ideas to shine through. It’s worth the effort.

3 Salary Negotiation Scripts You Can Use for Any Job

Ask any job seeker or employee about salary negotiations and one of the most popular responses is, “I would negotiate but I don’t know what to say.” Having the right words to say, or write, during a salary negotiation is vital. Communication can make or break discussions and impact your ability to get paid fairly.

First things first, determine your current worth in the job market. Use Know Your Worth to receive a custom salary estimate based on your title, company, location and experience. Once you have the information, it’s time to advocate for yourself.

Josh Doody, author of Fearless Salary Negotiation, knows how challenging it can be to learn to financially advocate for oneself. He took his first job without negotiating his salary. Once he got hip to the dance, he doubled that salary.

We teamed with Doody to equip job seekers and employees with the knowledge they need to tackle tricky salary negotiation conversations.

Situation #1: Prying During the Prescreen

How should you respond when you’re asked about salary right off the bat? You want to demonstrate that you’re enthusiastic and cooperative, but you don’t want to tip your hand. Doody explains: “It’s a salary negotiation tactic disguised as a gatekeeper-type interview question.”

Suggested Script:

Recruiter: What’s your current salary?

You: “I’m not really comfortable sharing that information. I would prefer to focus on the value I can add to this company and not what I’m paid at my current job.”

If the interview team doesn’t know your salary, they can’t use it as their starting point. Doody writes, “that’s probably going to mean a higher initial offer for you.”

Recruiter: What’s your expected salary?

You: “I want this move to be a big step forward for me in terms of both responsibility and compensation.”

Doody points out, “sharing your current salary or your expected salary is not in your best interest. . . They’re interviewing you because you’re a qualified candidate, and they need a qualified candidate. . . They would also like to get a good deal. They’re not going to stop interviewing you just because you don’t make it easier for them to get a good deal on you.”

If they pass because you won’t acquiesce, that’s a red flag. Doody says, “then they’re extremely motivated to get a bargain… That’s bad news for you even if you get the job.”

One last thing: resist the temptation to try reading the interviewer’s mind. If you underestimate what they’re willing to pay, you’re leaving money on the table. If the real answer is that they would compensate someone like you up to $75,000 dollars, and you guess they would pay a salary of only $65,000, you very literally may have just cost yourself $10,000.

If you overestimate and tell them your salary expectation is $85,000, you may set off red flags that cause them to rethink the interview process altogether. This is pretty rare, but you could disqualify yourself by being “too expensive” for them. If your expected salary is well above their budgeted pay range, they may just move on to other candidates with lower salary expectations.

The bottom line is you probably aren’t going to guess what their salary structure looks like, and if you try to guess you may cost yourself a lot of money.

Situation #2: Savvy Counter Offering

After you’ve secured an offer, Doody recommends using this formula:

“The counter offer calculator accounts for four factors—the base salary of your job offer, your minimum acceptable salary (“walk away” number), how badly the company needs you to accept the job offer, and how badly you need the job.”

Use “firm and neutral” language like this:

Suggested Script

“Tom offered $50,000 and I would be more comfortable if we could settle on $56,000. I feel that amount reflects the importance and expectations of the position for ACME Corp’s business, and my qualifications and experience as they relate to this particular position.”

Or, if you had a competing offer:

“Thank you so much for the offer. As I mentioned during my interview process, I am speaking with a couple of other companies. If you’re able to move the pay to [insert your number], I’d be eager to accept.”

Doody explains that email is the perfect medium for this message. This way, the hiring manager can share it in a format that clearly makes your case to each person with whom it’s shared. Your case won’t get the same treatment if it’s restated recollections of a conversation.

The hiring manager will likely come back with a figure between your base salary and your counter offer. For Doody, the distance between these figures represents your “salary negotiation window.” He recommends compartmentalizing this window into increments. In the example above, the window is $6,000, so he recommends devising a response for each possible offer. If, for example, the offer is $55,000 or above, Doody says it’s a taker.

“If the company comes back with $53,000, then you say ‘If you can do $54,000, I’m on board!’ If they stick with $53,000, then you would say, ‘I understand the best you can do is $53,000 and you can’t come up to $54,000. If you can do $53,000 and offer an extra week of paid vacation each year, then I’m on board.’”

Decide which benefits, like vacation time or flexible working hours, are most important so that you can apply them to bolster the deal. Rank those benefits in your mind and use those in your bargaining.

1. Extra vacation time 2. Work from home 3. Signing bonus

If they do not accept your second-priority benefit, you move on to your third-priority benefit. Regardless of whether they accept your final response, then you’re finished; don’t get nit-picky or greedy. You have maximized your base salary and maximized your benefits as well.

Situation #3: Raises & Promotions

Doody explains: “Your primary reason for requesting a raise is that the salary you’re being paid doesn’t reflect your current value to the company. That salary was set sometime in the past, so your argument is that you are more valuable now than you were.” You have a fair justification. Now you need the right plan.

Start by mentioning, via email, to your manager that you’d like to discuss compensation in your next private meeting. After that conversation, Doody advises preparing a strategically constructed, easily sharable salary increase letter.

Suggested Email Script:

“As we discussed, it has been [amount of time] since [my last significant salary adjustment OR since I was hired], and I would like to revisit my salary now that I’m contributing much more to the company. I’ve been researching salaries for [job title] in [industry] industry, and it looks like the mid-point is around [mid-point from your research]. So I would like to request a raise to [target salary].”

The letter should also highlight your accomplishments and accolades. Doody notes that if your proposal isn’t accepted on the first try, you can work with your manager to create an action plan.

“I would love to work with you to put together a clear action plan and timeline so we can continue this discussion and monitor my progress as I work toward my goal.”

Always remember, your talent is precious, and you deserve to be compensated for it. Learning to foster conversations about compensation is a vital skill that yields rewards.

A version of this post originally appeared on Glassdoor’s blog.

When Should I Spell Out Numbers?

It is generally best to write out numbers from zero to one hundred in nontechnical writing. In scientific and technical writing, the prevailing style is to write out numbers under ten. While there are exceptions to these rules, your predominant concern should be expressing numbers consistently.

Numbers can disrupt readability in a paragraph, so for most writing purposes, it is best to flex those fingers and type out numbers less than 101 as fully spelled words.

Sophie said there are ninety-nine reasons why she adores Justin Bieber, not ten.

According to census records, there were 53,364 people over the age of one hundred in the U.S. in 2010.

When writing out numbers between forty and forty-nine, be sure to remember that forty has no u in it (this is a common spelling error).

The rules demonstrated in the examples above are simply rules of thumb and there are exceptions to them. For example, round numbers such as hundreds, thousands, or hundred thousands should be written out in full. Numbers that are not conveniently round will read better written as numerals.

It was said that there were five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand men.

This year’s parade brought in 123,675 attendees.

When a number begins a sentence, that number should always be spelled out. That said, writers often choose to restructure their sentences when the numbers become cumbersome for the reader.

5 finalists will qualify for the next round of the competition.

Five finalists will qualify for the next round of the competition.

Seventeen seventy-six was the year America became a nation.

In 1776, America became a nation.

Spelling Out Numbers in Technical, Scientific, and Complex Writing

Scientific and technical journals, and even news reports, often adhere to the rule that only numbers less than ten should be written out in full, except when fractions or decimals are involved. This can be a sensible approach to ensuring the readability of texts that refer to numbers and figures frequently.

The color blue was preferred by five out of 11 experiment participants.

Did you know the average snail moves at 0.029 miles per hour?

Fractional quantities of larger numbers, such as those in the millions and billions, are most easily read when abbreviated as decimals in combination with the word “million” or “billion” where possible. Whole millions and billions (and in American usage, trillions) can be expressed as a whole number plus the word “million,” “billion,” etc.

The Milky Way is approximately 13.6 billion years old.

Canada has a population of nearly 36 million.

When using abbreviations for units of measurement in your writing, always express numbers as numerals. Similarly, when writing about money, use numerals in connection with the dollar sign or other currency symbols. Infrequent references to money read best when written out as spelled-out numbers plus the word for the currency involved.

One inch is equal to 2.54 cm.

The weight of an average hippopotamus is 1,500 kg.

Patients expressed a desire to take the medication occasionally, but were hesitant to pay the fifty-dollar fee.

The actual cost of the medication to patients is $51.75.

Deciding whether to write out numbers in full can be tricky, but the key is to use the correct style for your audience and to use it consistently.

10 Grammarly Blog Posts from 2017 That You Need to See

There’s a lot of writing on the Internet, our blog included.

For the past 12 months, we’ve offered writing tips, advice for job- and promotion-seeking members of the workforce, quizzes to test your lust for language, and much, much more.

Out of the hundreds of posts authored on this here blog, we’ve picked out ten of our staff’s favorite posts. They represent the breadth of content you can find on our blog and our in our weekly newsletter. They also show the value of mistake-free writing and the value Grammarly can provide however you’re looking to improve your writing and communication skills.

And now, (drumroll please), let’s take a look at ten posts we hope you didn’t miss. And if you did, it’s OK, we forgive you, but you should check them out now because it’s December and this is a great time to recap the year.

1 Bear With Me or Bare With Me?

Worth your time because … There are so many confusing phrases in our English language. If it’s not whom or who, or even affect vs. effect, we can all stand to know the absolute difference between these common phrases that are constantly confused. Our “Grammar Tips” section also you covered for any grammar deep-dive you feel like taking during the holidays.

Text to remember … “Here’s an easy way to differentiate bear from bare. You learned that bear as a verb means “to endure.” In its noun form, bear refers to a large furry animal. Combining these two definitions into a silly sentence will help you remember that the correct phrase is “bear with me,” not “bare with me.” A patient bear will always bear with you, but an impatient bear just might devour you!”

2 5 Other Ways to Write “I Hope You Are Doing Well” in Your Email

Worth your time because … We all write emails. Lots of them. Raise your hand if you’re guilty of using a throwaway line like “I hope you are doing well” to introduce your email. Yup, my hand is up, too. We don’t have to live this way anymore. Our blog offers valuable thoughts on how to diversify your standard email icebreaker.

Text to remember … “Anyone who gets a lot of email is familiar with the stock “I hope you are doing well.” It’s the business email equivalent of small talk that begins with “How are you?” We all know that etiquette requires us to answer with “I’m fine. How are you?” Although this back-and-forth exchange is a rather meaningless part of face-to-face conversation, it’s become socially mandated. In email, however, “hope you’re well” comes across as extraneous at best and insincere at worst.”

3 10 Things You Should Avoid Saying in a Job Interview

Worth your time because … Landing a job interview is an accomplishment. Be proud! But also, you should know that it’s easy to ruin your candidacy with a flippant comment. Our “Workplace” posts provide quality advice on how to approach all angles of the job-search process, including things to avoid saying at your next job interview.

Text to remember … “Could the things you’re saying during job interviews be costing you offers? Knowing the right things to say requires practice and a little finesse. But accidentally saying the wrong thing is all too easy to do. Interviews are stressful, and it can be challenging to keep a cool head when your palms are sweating and your heart is beating double-time.”

4 11 Tips to Clean Up Your Dirty, Wordy Writing

Worth your time because … Brevity is your friend in writing. Don’t waste time getting to a very very important point with some kind of worthless phrases and words that like seemingly delay your reader from really and truly understanding the point you’re trying to make. Wasteful words can appear in anyone’s document or text. This post aims to rid the world of a few added phrases.

Text to remember … “Weasel words are qualifiers that make you sound unsure of yourself, like you’re trying to create wiggle room. Don’t get us wrong: in some cases, you need these words. But if you want to convey an idea or make an argument, remove words that make your readers think of slimy politicians trying to avoid stating something directly. Maybe it can make a difference. No, really: it makes a difference.”

5 How Game of Thrones Characters Would Approach a Writing Assignment

Worth your time because … You don’t have to be a GoT fan to enjoy lifestyle-inspired writing tips. Well, in this case, you have to know a few things about the famous HBO show to get the gist of what we’re getting at. Even so, making connections between famous authors and significant moments in pop culture happens often on our blog.

Text to remember … “Jon Snow begins his journey as an underappreciated bastard of House Stark and hesitatingly rises to lead the Night’s Watch. Eventually, he is elected Lord of Winterfell. Jon Snow, guided by a sense of duty and loyalty to his team rather than by ambition, seeks counsel and consensus almost to a fault. This tendency to rely on his support network and the wisdom of his council helps him to lead well, however. This is exemplified in both his election as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and Lord of Winterfell, when supporters speak on his behalf. Improve your writing the same way by regularly seeking feedback from respected peers.”

6 How to Improve Writing Skills in 15 Easy Steps

Worth your time because … Many of our readers visit the G blog for grammar tips, career advice, and—what else?—actionable tips on how to become a better writer. This post features fifteen ways to vastly improve your skills every time you put pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard.

Text to remember … “Becoming a better writer takes practice, and you’re already practicing. No, seriously—you write a lot. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you put thoughts into text more often than you realize. At the very least, you write emails—a lot of emails—post on social media, make updates to your résumé and LinkedIn profile, and message your friends. If your job requires it, you also create things like reports, presentations, newsletters . . . it’s a long list.”

7 Why Mistake-free Writing on Your Phone Is So Valuable

Worth your time because … You might be reading this blog on your phone right now. If you’re not, you have surely read something and written something very important on your mobile device at one time or another. So improve your writing on the go with this post. Now you know.

Text to remember … “Remember when phones were used exclusively for making phone calls? (Hard to believe, right?) Now we use our smartphones for all sorts of fun things . . . like sending text messages, answering emails, posting on Facebook, commenting on our favorite cat videos, and even finding true love. While the freedom and flexibility of using a mobile device is awesome—the frustration that comes from typing on a tiny touch screen is not so great.”

8 5 Basic Proofreading Habits for a More Productive 2017

Worth your time because … Re-writing is writing. The same goes for editing or proofreading. However you want to call it, the truth is that behind every great piece of writing is someone with a keen eye for details. Sharpen your skills with these five, dare we say, basic, proofin’ tips.

Text to remember … “If you can, walk away and do something else for a little while. Then come back and read it again. The more time that passes between writing and proofreading, the better you’ll be at spotting mistakes your brain skipped over the first time through.”

9 “Do You Write Like an Introvert?” Quiz

Worth your time because … Grammarly’s quizzes can test your knowledge in a number of capacities. Are your grammar skills legit? Can you interview like a pro? Or in this case, do you write like an introvert or extrovert? There’s only one way to know. Test yourself.

Text to remember … “Have you ever wondered how introverted or extroverted your work style is? This short quiz will help you understand whether your writing personality tends toward introversion or extroversion.”

10 We Studied 750 Top LinkedIn Profiles. Here’s How to Write Yours Better.

Worth your time because … LinkedIn profiles are quite common these days. Knowing how to create a strong presence on LI will do wonders for your networking and job pursuits. We gained a ton of amazing insights from analyzing 750 profiles from Fortune 500 companies.

Text to remember … “Filling out your profile summary matters, but only 42 percent of the entry-level employees we analyzed seemed to bother. Managers and directors both did so a bit more often—closer to half in our study. We suspect people overlook the profile summary because they’re often busy describing their work experience further down their profile—or waiting until they’re actually looking for a new job to make a proper introduction atop their page. In fact, regardless of their experience level, people proved more likely to fill out the work experience section. Especially among managers, 65 percent did so, cranking out a robust 192 words on average for each job they described.”

Did we miss your favorite blog post of the year? Let us know why you loved it in the comments section of this post. Thanks for reading!