Make Email Your Servant (Not Your Master)

Let's be clear.  Your email is not your work; it is simply a tool to help you do your work.  But like any tool it can be ineffective or even dangerous when used wrongly.  Here is how to make email your servant not your master.1.  Check your email inbox at set intervals. Do not have your email on and active in front of you all the time.  For most people… Continue reading

November 4 2009 | By Paul | Tagged: contact, email, folder, message, outlook, twitter | 16 comments»

How to Give a Great Speech, Part 1: Preparation

If you have to give a keynote speech, an after-dinner talk, or an address to a group of customers or colleagues then preparation leads to success. Here are some key tips: 1. Investigate the audience. Find out as much as you can about your audience, their interests and their likely mood. What is it that they will want from your session - information, entertainment, tips, ideas, guidance? What will they have heard… Continue reading

October 19 2009 | By Paul | Tagged: presentation, public-speaking, speech | 19 comments»

12 Tips for Better Business Writing

Today’s business world is almost entirely information-driven. Whether you run a small business or occupy a small corner of the org-chart at a massive multinational corporation, chances are that the bulk of your job consists of communicating with others, most often in writing. Of course there’s email and the traditional business letter, but most business people are also called on to write presentations, memos, proposals, business requirements, training materials, promotional… Continue reading

September 10 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: business, business-writing, freelance, writing | 28 comments»

Back to School: Talk to Your Professor!

For university students around the US it’s time to go back to school, or go for the first time for freshmen. European and other students might have a while before the next school year starts up, but this advice is for them, too.Talk to your professors!In one of my earliest posts here at Lifehack, I explained how to talk to a professor – today, I want to talk about… Continue reading

August 26 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: back-to-school, college, conversation, education, learning, student | 10 comments»

5 Ways to Make Sure You’re Asking Well

I wrote a post here last week called "Can't-Miss Marketing: Just Ask" that got a lot of interesting responses. Sure, people said, asking is all well and good, but what does "asking well" actually mean?It's an interesting, and important, question to consider. If, as I've seen time and time again, good things really come to those who ask, what do they do right? What traits do they have in… Continue reading

July 6 2009 | By David | Tagged: ask, career, favor, marketing, request, work | 12 comments»

How to Be Offended

I teach things that many find offensive. Whether it's articles containing racist language in my "Gender, Race, and Class" course or descriptions of oral insemination as part of the Sembia male's coming-of-age rituals in my anthropology course, I know that some students are going to be offended, sometimes deeply.

Over the years, I've come to view offense as a particularly useful state of being – but only when the offense one… Continue reading

May 11 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: conflict, learning, offense, personal growth | 25 comments»