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This Word Literally Cramps Your Credibility
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- March 26, 2025
No CommentsStanding in the coffee shop line the other day, I couldn’t help overhearing these cringeworthy conversations around me: “OMG. I literally died laughing!” (No, you’re very much alive, I thought to myself. That’s unfortunate for those of us around you). “I’m literally freezing.” (You’re probably just cold and under-dressed I thought). “The dude’s business literally
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Long Live the Whiteboard
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- February 26, 2025
My last post (The Power of Writing Things Down) generated more comments than usual. Many of you were intrigued by research showing how writing things down by hand improves retention, clarity and commitment and also reduces stress. There’s also the accountability factor. If we take the time to write down our goals or obligations rather
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The Power of Writing Things Down
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- January 23, 2025
When I’m rushing out the door late for an appointment, my wife inevitably asks me to pick up some skim milk, real butter and jumbo eggs on the way home. “Three items. Nothing unusual. I’ve got this,” I tell myself and commit the task to memory. But then come the pesky addendums to the list
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Don’t Be a Wise Guy (or Gal)
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- December 20, 2024
Lately I’ve been hearing more and more abuse of the suffix “wise” by people trying to make themselves sound more important. During the recent World Series, a TV announcer reassured us that New York Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole hadn’t changed “demeanor-wise” after giving up a game changing grand slam to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Ditch the Duplicatives
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- November 27, 2024
Just when I thought we were eradicating cliches like “space” and “low-hanging fruit” and “it is what it is” from business communication, a new scourge has surfaced – the duplicative. That’s when you add redundant words to a simple phrase to make it sound more important. Stop doing it! I don’t have stats to back
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Suffer from Completion Anxiety?
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- October 15, 2024
During the peak of my marathon running days, there were plenty of times I’d be facing a 20-mile training run on a humid Sunday morning. My legs were still heavy from my Friday speed workout, plus I often had a slight hangover and some annoying minor injuries. Sweating out the next 2-1/2 hours alone with
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What March Madness Teaches About Our Biases
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- March 25, 2024
With the first week of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament (aka #MarchMadness) in the books, many of you are lamenting your “busted brackets.” Don’t feel bad. An estimated 30 million people painstakingly fill out their tournament picks every year, and there has never been a verified perfect bracket. The closest to perfection came in 2019, when a
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Why It’s Hard to Edit Our Own Writing?
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- March 7, 2024
Simple steps for breaking through Whether you have three books to your credit or agonize over a monthly blog post, there are at least a dozen reasons why it can be challenging to edit our own writing effectively. How many of these traps below sound like you? If you answered, yes to three or more,
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Irregardless, I Could Care Less
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- February 7, 2024
Most of you are armed with grammar apps, spell checkers and AI. But we’re still seeing plenty of grammatical fumbles in your submissions. Take the word “irregardless.” It’s frequently misused because it appears in most dictionaries and sounds more imposing than simply saying “regardless. ” By adding the prefix “ir” (which means “not”) to a
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Does Word Count Matter?
- by: Hank Berkowitz
- December 14, 2023
Rarely a week goes by when a nervous financial professional doesn’t reach to me for help with a last-minute guest column for the business media. With a deadline bearing down, the thrill of being a guest contributor has been replaced by the anxiety of “what am I going to write about and how will I/we
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