How to Emoji at Work: A Guide

Elon Musk is a visionary in many areas, but his memo on acronyms at SpaceX will be forever remembered as one of the greatest workplace satires of all time. The memo, aptly titled “Acronyms Seriously Suck,” explained that “excessive use of made up acronyms is a significant impediment to communication.” Musk then goes on for four paragraphs on why acronyms are ruining the culture at SpaceX.

Stop Making Contraction Mistakes Now. Here’s How.

 

Contractions. Everyone has messed up a contraction at one time or another. Sometimes these errors happen because a writer misunderstands the purpose of contractions, but most of the time they’re simply typos. Whatever the reason for your mistakes, we’ve got you covered.

If you don’t quite know the rules for contractions, you can brush up with our handbook.

If typos are your problem, try our free browser extension for help catching those keyboard slips (plus many other  types of writing errors).

How Do Creative People Overcome Imposter Syndrome?

Last night, I performed at a local open mike. I’ve been singing forever. Performing was even a legitimate side hustle for me for about seventeen years. But at the open mike, I was sitting at the piano in front of a group of talented fellow musicians, and I was nervous as hell.

Even so, I got up there under the lights, sat down at the piano, and surrendered to the music.

Period

The period, called a full stop in British English, is one of the first punctuation marks we learn about when we begin reading and writing. Compared to commas or semicolons, the rules for using periods are blessedly simple.

What Does a Period Do?

The most common use of the period is, of course, to end a declarative sentence. Interrogative sentences (questions) end with a question mark.

8 Things You Should Really Delete from Your LinkedIn Profile

There’s a lot you can do to make your LinkedIn profile shine. You list your greatest achievements. You make connections. You take the time to write a great LinkedIn summary.

But for everything you do to make your profile stand out from the crowd, there are a lot of mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn, too. Whether you’re looking for a job or just giving your LinkedIn profile its monthly polish, here are eight problems to avoid.

Please Advise: When to Use “Please Advise”

That email is sitting in your inbox. You know the answer to the question it’s asking, but those two words are still haunting you: “please advise.” It can show up in the subject line, somewhere in the middle of a message, or, most frequently, right before the signature at the end of the email. But what do you do with it?

The good news: if you know the answer to the main question in the email, just write your reply and boom!

5 Things to Avoid When Writing a Letter of Recommendation

So, you’ve been asked to write a letter of recommendation.

Aside from the immediate awkwardness of having to articulate how we think and feel about another person’s work, figuring out how to write a letter of recommendation often induces anxiety that a poorly written letter will weaken your contact’s chance at success.

Whether you are writing a letter for an employee, co-worker, or student, there are some essential Do’s and Don’ts for how to write an effective letter of recommendation.

Quiz: How Understandable Is Your Writing?

Plain language is a style of communication that ensures readers (or listeners) can understand a message quickly, easily, and completely.

But how do you know if you’re actually using plain language? Surely, just being able to decipher business jargon isn’t good enough on its own. How do you know if the language you use is “plain enough”?

To overcome complex jargon, understandable writing and communication

7 Essential Time Management Skills That Will Improve Your Life

Time is the great equalizer—everybody gets the same twenty-four hours each day. Making productive use of that time can mean the difference between getting things done and scrambling to keep up. These time management tips will help you streamline your day and work smarter.

1Do a time audit.

Do you get to the end of every workday and wonder where the time went? Maybe you wonder why you didn’t manage to accomplish as much as you’d hoped you would.

Tell us what you think about traditional language rules.

This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!

If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.

Monday Motivation Hack: Focus on Self-Improvement

Are you better this week than you were last week?

There’s only one way to guarantee an affirmative answer to that question: Set a self-improvement goal at the beginning of the week.

Why the beginning?

What Research Says

Long-term goals encourage procrastination rather than action.

In a study published in 2015, Daphna Oyserman of the USC Dornsife Mind and Society Center and Neil Lewis of the University of Michigan found that for goals to be motivating, the future (the deadline) must feel imminent.

4 Interview Tips for Introverts That Will Make You Comfortable in Any Setting

Introverts are energized by solitude rather than social activities. We value deep connections. We’re better listeners than we are talkers, at least where chatty small talk is concerned. Unfortunately, job interviews require us to be gregarious, make only a superficial connection, and chit-chat. About ourselves. The horror!

I was well into adulthood before my extroverted dad admitted that, despite my preferring solitude and books over people, I turned out pretty okay.

Welcome to LitMas, the Bookish Holiday Season

’Tis the season . . . to read! The holiday season means colder nights and more time inside for some, so why not spend it with your nose buried in a book?

We know the winter season can be tough for many people, with its short days and long nights. We also know bibiliotherapy is both real and wonderful. So, in the spirit of the holidays and bookishness, we’ve decided to create a new holiday focused on bibliophiles, bookworms, and jokesters of all sorts.

Grammarly Reviews – Where to Find Them

For every product conceivable, there are hundreds of reviews. You can find 5-star reviews as easily as 1-star reviews for the same product. The problem is, many reviews are unverified. Most websites allow anyone to post their opinions. As a consumer, wouldn’t you like to be sure that reviews are based on the experiences of real customers? How can you find trustworthy customer feedback for products like Grammarly?

It’s Time to End Grammar Trolling

During a recent discussion here at Grammarly HQ, someone on the team asked a very good question: is there actually a difference between correcting someone’s grammar and being a grammar troll?

As a copy editor by trade, I have a strong opinion on this one. Yes! Of course there’s a difference!

A good editor, a caring teacher, or an upstanding grammar lover offers corrections that are helpful, polite, and appropriate.

Is Being a Perfectionist Really a Good Thing?

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.

—Anne Lamott

“I’m such a perfectionist!”

People sometimes utter that phrase with pride, wearing the title as a badge of honor, but I’ve never understood why anyone would think perfectionism is something to be pleased about. I’ve cried myself to sleep over a mistake, and I remember my embarrassing gaffes for years after everyone else involved has forgotten them.

From Pens to Keys–The Complete History of Writing Tools

Writing isn’t what it used to be.

That is, writing is no longer an ink-stained task of scrawling on parchment. Getting your thoughts down is faster and easier than ever. Indeed, as voice-recognition software continues to improve, using your fingers to bang out sentences on a keyboard may soon look charmingly quaint.

Here, at a glance, is the evolution of the technology that shapes how we write.

How to Take Feedback, Even When It’s Hard

Getting feedback in the workplace can be a difficult experience. We each crave success, aspiring for praise from our leaders and peers that will, in turn, make us feel recognized and valuable at work. In reality, constructive criticism will be doled out more often and will play a more significant role in the dynamics of our relationships with co-workers and in our individual performance.

Is spelling important to you when shopping? Take the poll!

This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!

If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.