Author Archives: Marie Antaya

Here is a fabulous structure for an excellent email! Do you sometimes pause before you send out an email because you don’t know where to start, or how to start? You will no longer have these concerns if you follow … Continue reading →

You may have been told that you shouldn’t use a comma before the word and. However, you need to be careful – this statement is not always true. Here’s an example of where it’s important to use a comma before … Continue reading →

For those who are interested, The Plain Language Association InterNational has a great section on its website that links you to many resources about the use of plain language in legal documents. It’s definitely worth a read!

Hello Arctic Co-op Participants, Thanks for the great session! The Purdue Online Writing Lab is the resource I recommended in class. It’s a great online source for grammar and usage. Best of luck! Marie

Hello City of Calgary Participants! As promised, here are the two book titles by June Casagrande… Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun and Spite Mortal Syntax: 101 Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered … Continue reading →

Did your last set of minutes take you hours to prepare? One way to reduce the time it takes for you to prepare your meeting minutes is to use a template. However, the trick is to use a template not only … Continue reading →

Hello U of W Students! Here is the excerpt from George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, written in 1946. (i) Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. … Continue reading →

Visuals are important to a presentation because they allow you to emphasis the main points to your audience both orally and visually. And using PowerPoint as a presentation tool can do that for you; however, misusing the tool can also … Continue reading →

Hello MIT Participants, Here is the information on the book that I had mentioned in class – Hypnotic Writing: How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words – by Joe Vitale. I also suggest – The Language of … Continue reading →

Hello MHCA Participants, Here are the plain language bylaws the City of Calgary has put together. And remember, email me any questions you have in the coming weeks as you start writing documents that create impact and show results!