Penmanship is a fading skill

Lindsey Fleck

When I was younger, I can recall working very hard to write “perfect” letters. For one, I was a little girl and little girls were supposed to have better handwriting than boys, and also, my mother had the most beautiful penmanship; I could have sworn she was a letter artist.  When I began to learn cursive in third grade, I practiced my letters at every opportunity. I even asked my mother to teach me my capital letters ahead of class because I was too impatient to wait until my teacher got to the letter “L.” I also recall throwing a tantrum about the fact that no matter how pretty my letters were, my name didn’t look as pretty as some of the girls, but that was just because the letter “S” had some awesome loops.

Today, I think penmanship has become one of the more underappreciated skills. A lot of this has to do with the education leaders coming out in support of nixing cursive from the curriculum, in favor of providing children with the time to learn how to type quickly. Personally, I think moving away from penmanship will have a negative impact on the students. Research has proven that improved handwriting benefits cognitive development and motor skills. Longhand can also provide people with a symbol for their personality. Granted, you could spend your time going through the various fonts in Word to give you different effects, but it doesn’t come from you.

One of the biggest reasons to keep your penmanship nice and neat is that the world is, in many ways, still based on first impressions. When you have to fill out a resume by hand and your handwriting is barely legible, the recruiter will most likely be unimpressed. Furthermore, if you have to sign your name somewhere and you print your name rather than write it in cursive, your odds aren’t looking any better. If you leave a list for someone to do and your handwriting is so bad that the person can hardly make out what you have instructed, you can’t be upset if they do a task wrong because they couldn’t make out the requests. And not long ago, CNN reported on a study that showed physician penmanship errors had caused more than 7,000 deaths.

Loving to type is not a crime, but there are still times in the world where you have to write long-handed. It’s important to make sure that when you do, you are writing well. Taking the time to make a list on paper every now and then can give you enough practice that you don’t have to worry about turning into a person whose penmanship mirrors that of a toddler’s scribbles. 

No Punctuation Marks Were Harmed In Writing This Blog

Thomas Whitehead

During the holidays, I used some of my spare time to catch up on reading anything I could get my hands on – articles, periodicals, books, etc. Of everything I read, an article in the New Republic was probably the most interesting, telling and, possibly the most, alarming story I have read that could greatly impact interpersonal communication for years to come. 

The New Republic published an article discussing how, perhaps, the simplest punctuation mark, the period, has been transformed into a subtext that can indicate anger or disappointment when used in electronic conversations, especially texting. Yes, you read that correctly. A punctuation mark used to finish a declarative sentence (which in itself is merely a “declaration” of a statement) has now entered a place in culture where it, if used, can imply anger or frustration. 

The article indicated that the extra effort (and Twitter real estate) needed in adding a period to a sentence in written electronic communication was intended to imply aggression about the discussion, whereas a punctuation-free sentence (and I hear English teachers asking if this is even possible as I type this) is a casual, care-free zone.

Even further, the stats provided were telling. According to the article, a study by American University found that less than 50 percent of college students use periods at the end of both text messages and online chat conversations. 

Personally, I find this quite disappointing.  Without using punctuation to indicate the end of a thought or statement in written communication, especially when it segues into another statement, I feel that my absorption and understanding of the message becomes difficult to comprehend. It creates a distraction to the flow of how I read what is given to me. I could go on and on about how this is a further destruction of the English language, but instead, I am going to go a different direction. 

The reality is, if this is entering our culture, we have to at least be mindful of it, as well as the messages that periods or no periods can imply when we communicate. 

As communicators, especially those of us who still insist on using periods, we have to be aware, especially with younger audiences, that the period could mean to them that there is anger behind the statement, even if that is not our intent. 

We may not be able to always have people communicate in the ways we want them to, traditional or not.  However, if we are aware of different interpretations that exist in our society, we can strengthen our communication skills for the generations to come See what I mean 

Behind the Headline

Lauren Hannaford

If you’re a PR professional, you know that strategic media relations is one of the most well-known aspects of our discipline. What some clients may not know is the process we go through to help garner those news stories, radio interviews, blog mentions and TV segments. Well, it all starts with a headline.

When our clients present us with newsworthy content that should be pitched to news media, one of the very first things we do is visualize the headline for the news release or subject line for a pitch email. With some news, it’s really easy and fun to think of that headline. With other news, it can be a bit more challenging. Whatever that content may be, producing a very strong headline is the key to grabbing the attention of your news contact.

I’m sure many of you have heard this a thousand times. “Make sure you write a good headline, so you get noticed!” That sounds simple, but many times, professionals can get into a rush and don’t spend enough time writing a clear, strong headline.
 
Lackluster headline:
“Students to run laps as part of fundraising initiative”

Enticing headline/email subject:
“500 students to do the Hokey Pokey while running for a cause”

My hope is that a reporter reading this would think, “What? They are going to do the Hokey Pokey and run at the same time? AND raise money?” Then, get to the point in the body of your email and give them the usual suspects: Who, What, When, Where, Why. Spending just a little more time on your headline could result in some great coverage for your client. And, we love when that happens!

On a funny note, here are some pretty awful headline fails. Does anyone remember “Missippi’s literacy program…?”