When it comes to great writing, less is more. But even if you’re familiar with the mantra to “omit needless words,” tightening your writing is harder that it looks. Which words should you omit? How can you write more clearly? am sorry. Let me do that again. Actually, let me try this one more time. Now, that’s better. MORE >>

With headlines like Study: Congressional Speech Drops Grade Level and Congress quite literally talks like a bunch of 15-year-olds , you could almost hear the laughter and head-shaking going on as people learned about the Sunlight Foundation's annual study of what it calls "the complexity of congressional speech patterns." Mick Mulvaney. MORE >>

I really like slides with a solid background, usually white or black. They’re neat and clean. They don’t distract from the message. Obviously, they’re easy to create. They work better with images. For example, you can remove the background of images and get a result like this. See instructions here. But what about the first slide? MORE >>

I attended a networking event last week that introduced me to a couple of new "networking no-nos." Most people are courteous, friendly, and truly interested in what others have to say at a networking event. But some networkers are missing this critical piece of the puzzle. And I don't think they realize what they're doing (or not doing). Really? MORE >>

The Conquest of Kong: By Paul Lima. It was on the congested fair grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition that Father conquered the world-famous ape. The huge, stuffed, glassy-eyed creature, wearing a New York Yankee baseball cap, glared down at the midway masses from his perch in the Strike Out tent. My Books creative writing MORE >>