Cursed Be AI for Giving Em-Dashes Bad PR
07.29.2026 – Are you one of those who automatically think AI wrote something if you see an em-dash? Well, you need to stop this knee-jerk reaction. Now. Let me demonstrate why. I’m sitting in front of my iMac at this very moment — and I can 100% assure you that the em-dash I just inserted was done live by me at this very moment.
Finding the Untold Stories of Your Organization
08.16.2024 – Every organization has stories waiting to be discovered. It’s your (or your communications professional’s) job to uncover these stories
Noise vs. Clarity – How Are Your Communications Perceived?
05.30.2024 – Here’s how I start my elevator pitch in networking meetings: Anytime you communicate, whether it’s via the written or spoken word, the recipients of your message will do one of two things: they’ll either tune in because it’s interesting or they’ll tune OUT because they’ll classify it as NOISE.
It’s Time to Slay the Possessive Its
01.24.2014 – One of the most embarrassing moments I witnessed in my professional career occurred in about 2003. While employed at The Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, CA, the head of the PR department occasionally gave his staff permission to leave the premises and partake of professional development (yes, it was a very “controlling” culture there). I decided to attend an advanced public relations writing course given by PR pro Fraser P. Seitel, author of The Practice of Public Relations (a great PR textbook; I recently ordered the new 12th edition) in Los Angeles.