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This outlines 12 ways a team working together can improve.

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Being part of a great team at work is a phenomenal feeling. You know that feeling? When your team is 'in the zone'? It's a sweet cocktail of emotions - excited, challenged, safe, successful. You're pumped to get out of bed in the morning and energized throughout the day.

If you know that feeling, hold onto it.

The fact of the matter is, a lot of workforces suffer from poor communication, lack of trust, and low engagement - all of which erode the chances of teamwork in the workplace.

But, people still teamwork. And 3 out of 4 employers consider teamwork 'very important'. It can just be a bit tricky sometimes. If it isn't happening naturally, most people are stumped by the challenge to generate it.

The key is to give your team the right conditions to develop and grow. Think about this: if you were trying to create a thriving vegetable patch, you wouldn't just throw some seeds around and command them to grow - "Hey you, become a carrot. Now!"

You would read the instructions, look at what they need (sunlight, lots of water, time) and provide them with that environment. It's the same with teamwork; you need to give your team the right conditions to develop and grow.

If nurturing a healthy team culture is important to your workplace, here are 12 teamwork "conditions" to consider:

1. The role of leaders

It starts at the top. If you don't already have good teamwork at the grassroots level, then it's time for the leadership team to, well, lead. By example. They're the ones that the rest of your company look to for guidance, so they should be establishing teamwork as the norm. Their behaviour will trickle down through the company to leaders at each level of the company, then to all members of the teams. Eventually the whole organization will come to accept and expect this mode of working.

"It is really amazing how much an organization sucks up the behaviors of the leader," said Nick Tolley CEO of Harris + Hoole, when speaking about the culture and values within his company.

"I didn't quite appreciate this until I started this business. You can very easily see this when you are having a bit of a crap day, and you are a little bit downbeat. It is infectious. Very, very infectious."

2. Communicate, every day, every way

Good communication is at the heart of great teamwork. Great teams communicate well and often, their members are happy to share ideas, brainstorm together, ask for feedback, and be contradicted.

This doesn't mean team members always agree, but they're able to communicate through their differences to settle on a sound solution and continue moving forwards as a team.

So, how to enable good communication?

Be clear: Set the tone for communication among the team. When is it acceptable to close your office door? Is it okay to contact someone after hours? How often should the whole team get together? This outline will help to keep everyone on the same page and communication flowing.

Listen: Communication is as much about listening as it is about speaking. Make sure you're listening to fellow team members and actually considering their thoughts before offering your own solutions and input.

Method: There are so many ways to reach each other in the modern age. Try to use the most suitable tool to communicate for your specific needs, whether that's email, a chat tool, phone call, or face to face. We've got an article that'll help you decide which communication tool is best for what.

Touch base: Encourage informal meetings, information sharing, and huddles between team members. People shouldn't have to wait for a weekly catch-up meeting to get together. Collaborative team members are comfortable communicating as and when they need to.

Collaboration tools: These enable workers to connect across the world, or across the office, in a group or one-to-one conversation. They also make progress on group projects at the times that are most convenient for them.

Key fact: 86% of employees cite lack of collaboration for workplace failures, according to this study.

3. Exercise together

I'm not talking about aerobics here - don't make your team complete a set of jumping jacks at your next meeting. I'm referring to team building exercise s. These don't have to be groan-inducing company retreats, they can be short and sweet tasks that take less than 10 minutes (and it may even be better that way).

Before deciding on a team building exercise, it's important to assess what specific challenges your team is facing. For example, does your team need to become more familiar with each other, or do they need to recover from a conflict? You may pick different exercises for each of these situations.

The frequency of your team building exercises should also be considered. Team building exercises are like physical exercise - if you do it often, the benefits are more long-lasting. You can't summit Everest if you train twice a year. Teamwork is similar. If you want to achieve your teamwork goals, find a way to work the exercises into your weekly/monthly contact with your team.

4. Establish team rules

"Rules?" I hear you thinking, "that doesn't sound fun at all." Think again. Rules don't have to be a dampener, but they do have to exist to keep everyone aligned.

Rules are everywhere - on the sports field, in daily interactions - and they exist to keep everyone safe and on the same page. How can we more forward together if we don't know where we stand? Rules will safeguard the success and productivity of a team.

Establishing rules early is best, but be willing to consider changing them if they're hindering rather than helping the team. You can write them down or just chat about them openly. Either way, you should be clear on why they exist and ask for contributions/feedback from everyone.

Some examples:

When we meet, we're all present (no cell phones or laptops).

We'll be open about our frustrations.

We listen with intent, rather than waiting for our turn to talk.

We respect out of office hours and won't expect communication unless it's an emergency.

5. Clarify purpose

If a team doesn't understand the purpose of their work, their attention and enthusiasm can dwindle. Be clear about you're doing what you're doing - it's the key to motivation. Simon Sinek, author and marketing consultant, unravels this game-changing concept

"Your Why provides you with clarity, meaning and direction. It is a filter through which you can make decisions, every day." - Simon Sinek

So, find the "why" - the purpose - for your current project or final goal, and why you're taking each of the steps that lead you there. Not only will this keep everyone motivated and aligned, it's a great way to review your process and ensure you're taking the best steps to get to where you need to be.

6. Recognize and reward

Recognized employees are satisfied employees, according to this recent . And satisfied employees do better at work (you can find out more if you're interested). If you want a happier, stronger team, recognition is key - are this doesn't refer to a monetary reward.

Here are some of the ways employees want to be recognized and rewarded:

Company or team-wide emails recognizing individuals/teams

In-person recognition and thanks

Promotions

Key fact: 83% of employees who worked for a company with a recognition program stated that they were content with their jobs. Tools like Bonusly make this easy.

7. Office space

How constructive is your workspace for the growth of teamwork? from Herman Miller shows that the physical workspace needs to evolve to support collaboration.

"Project rooms that teams can use for months, conference rooms equipped with the latest remote conferencing tools, and areas of benching, where people can do heads-down work but also easily confer with each other support the various needs people have when collaborating."

The needs of your teams should be reflected in your workspace. Look around your office and consider what could be done to encourage impromptu huddles for productive conversation, accessibility to knowledge experts, and semi-permanent spaces for group projects.

Though, once again, the research stresses that "people must feel they have permission to linger in informal collaborative areas and that comes from watching how other people, especially managers and executives, use or ignore those areas."

8. Take a break

Team building doesn't have to happen while you're actively working. In fact, it's that taking breaks together can result in a higher level of productivity and help reevaluate goals as needed.

One week, you could round up the team and grab a coffee together, or pick-up some sweet treats for your team on the way to work and gather for a morning chat. Getting together in a less formal setting will encourage better communication, sharing, and bonding between team members. If you want to start small, break up the day by stepping outside to have one of your team meetings on foot.

9. Focus on strengths

Focusing on the weaknesses of your team members can seriously affect engagement and consequently lower the team's productivity. According to research, employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs.

Everyone is different - we have different strengths, passions, and weaknesses. One of the cornerstones of a good team leader is focusing on individuals' strengths, and bringing together a team of people that has a combined skillset to get the job done. As long as everyone contributes by bringing a strong skill to the team, their weakness should not be dwelt on.

Key fact: teams that focus on strengths every day have 12.5% higher productivity.

10. Show gratitude

How much gratitude do you show? A of 2,000 people, found that people are less likely to express gratitude at work than any other place. In fact, 60% of those people said they "either never express gratitude at work or do so perhaps once a year."

It's quite surprising then, to discover that people actually to be thanked. 70% of the surveyed people would feel better about themselves if their boss were more grateful, and 81% would work harder. Gratitude is actually to lead to an increased sense of self-worth and trust within the workplace.

So, next steps? Start saying those magical words! Be thankful for the big and the small things that your colleagues bring to the table each day. (Don't go overboard though. It's important that your thanks are genuine and timely. Think quality, not quantity.)

11. Accept differences

"At some point almost all of us have had that moment in the workplace where we wanted to strangle the person sitting next to us." I love because it's so very true - when you're so frustrated by one of your colleagues because their opinions, mannerisms, or approach to work seem completely alien.

But, what happens next in the scene? That's the important thing to focus on here. If your colleague next to you in a meeting is saying something you completely disagree with, do you:

In fact, it's not any of these. It's actually this secret answer:

7. Come to a compromise/understanding

At some point, there are differences of opinion in every organization - that's only natural (you're human, you know what the world is like). Differences of opinion can lead to frustration, disagreements, and sometimes even conflict. Conversely, they can also benefit a project or final product due to unique perspectives and influences. The difference is all in your approach.

Problems arise when differences of opinion aren't dealt with correctly - when people feel unheard, bullied, or disregarded. If you want to keep your team together (and stay sane) consider a few of these handy tips:

Remember the importance of balance: Think of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. They're best friends but polar opposites - one represents Chaos, the other represents Order. Our lives, workplaces, and output benefit from a mix of both of characters. A workplace with just one or the other would become monotonous and less robust.

Embrace disagreements: These are often learning opportunities. Opposite opinions should be dealt with respectfully and carefully to ensure everyone is happy and innovation is maximized.

Appreciate the differences: Both Bert and Ernie bring something to the table. One is smart and logical, the other is playful and fun. Even though your team members have different attributes, they should be recognized for the strengths they bring. Don't play favorites based on your own personality.

12. Celebrate

Woohoo! You've reached a major milestone/final deadline/end of the week; it's time to celebrate! Celebrating your success as a team will bring people closer together, encourage conversation, and boost happiness.

Like recognition and gratitude, celebrations don't have to be big, but they should be frequent. By doing this, you're weaving them into your team's culture and the benefits will become lasting and more impactful. You're also reminding people that your goals are achievable and worth striving for, which will keep motivation high.

Here are some ideas:

Have a casual Friday meeting: Chat about the small successes of the week. Use a post-it board to capture the success and get everyone involved; people write their achievements on a sticky note and put it on the board, then explain it to the group. You could also give "props" in this meeting; each person gives thanks to one other person in the team for something helpful they did that week.

Get out of the office for lunch of drinks: This can be after work or during working hours (depending on your company culture). Be clear on the purpose of this celebration, if you reached a big milestone or your team received praise from senior leadership.

Have a small token mascot: A magic eight ball, a pair of glitzy scissors, a plastic figurine - that gets passed to the team member who was most successful or helpful in the past month. Have every team member contribute to this decision through an anonymous vote.

So, there you have it - 12 ways to improve teamwork in your organization. Try sowing a few of these seeds in your organization, find out which ones serve you best, and reap the harvest of stronger teamwork. If you've got any other sweet tips, we'd love to hear from you!

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12 easy ways to improve workplace teamwork

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Being part of a great team at work is a phenomenal feeling. You know that feeling? When your team is 'in the zone'? It's a sweet cocktail of emotions - excited, challenged, safe, successful. You're pumped to get out of bed in the morning and energized throughout the day.

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This article talks about best practices to work remotely and how to do it as a team.

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Many of us are adjusting to a new work environment, while COVID-19 makes its way in and out of our lives. Working from home can be freeing and challenging, all at the same time.

The freedom to stay in your pajamas all day is not only comfortable but also convenient. However, the constant distractions are difficult to endure. From cats climbing up and down the wall to dogs bark and kids screaming, there is always something going on around you.

Our Eternity crew is remote until further notice, and we are quickly learning how to stay connected with both our team members and our clients. It has been a lesson in and of itself.

For those of you who are also adjusting to your new work from home lifestyle, here are 20 tips and tricks that are worth considering.

1. Set Up a Workspace that Works for you

Whether it is in your bed or at a desk, find a workspace at home that is productive for you. Ensure that there will be limited distractions wherever you choose to work.

2. Communicate Effectively

Utilize tools such as Slack in order to stay in touch with both your team and your clients. Slack allows you to instant message, video call, and share your screen when necessary.

3. Establish Healthy Boundaries

Maintaining a routine and a boundary during this time is essential. Without the normal workday signals, it will be hard to "clock out" or take a break. In addition, staying hydrating and continuing to do things for yourself, such as working out, will be difficult to maintain. Establish a routine and a boundary that works for you and your desired schedule.

4. Embrace Online Meetings

We know that it is different and a little bit uncomfortable, but you must fully embrace online meetings and be fully engaged in order to get the most out of them. This involves meetings with your team and meetings with your clients. Come prepared, and be ready to tackle everything on your to-do list.

5. Record your Meetings

Certain programs such as Zoom will allow you to record your meetings and look back on them in case of an emergency. Protect yourself and your business by recording your meetings, specifically your meetings with clients.

6. Clarify Expectations for the Team

Before you and your team go fully remote, clarify expectations and ensure that your team knows how to behave while working remotely. For example, let them know what their hours should be, how they should be communicating with one another, how they should be communicating with clients, and when they are allowed to take breaks for lunch, etc.

7. Take Scheduled Breaks

Establishing scheduled breaks throughout the day is critical for mental health. Throughout the day at work, perhaps you take an hour for lunch or get up to walk around every hour. Continue this same routine while at home, even if it is a simple walk around the yard with your dog.

8. Pay Attention to Ergonomics

While you are working from home, you must continue to consider ergonomics. Is your chair the right height? Are you slouching too much? All of these things will affect your posture, whether working from home or in the office.

9. Bring the Team Together

Play a game, discuss the peak and pit of your week, and continue to develop positive relationships with your team members during your time away from each other.

10. Utilize a White Noise Machine for Distractions

Distractions are bound to happen, even with a locked door. The kids yelling, the dog barking, whatever it may be, will distract you from the work at hand. Take advantage of a white noise machine, podcast or music in order to keep you on track throughout the day.

11. Stay On Track of Project Progress

Using tools such as Trello will allow you and your team to stay on track, and meet project deadlines. Although you are remote at this point in time, there is still work that needs to be done.

12. Create a System for Sharing Documents

Whether your team prefers Google or Dropbox, it is critical that you and your team have a system in place for sharing documents between each other and with clients.

13. Stay Aligned with Company Culture

Whether you continue to have your weekly meetings via video conferencing or phone calls, it is important to maintain a healthy and happy company culture. During your meeting, continue to discuss your weekly schedules but also add in a game or two to keep things lighthearted and fun.

14. Continue to Dress and Groom Professionally

Although it is not necessary to wear a suit and tie, we highly recommend getting up in the morning and continuing to shower, get dressed and prepare for the day. This will motivate you to perform well and have a productive day.

15. Use Video, Even if it's Uncomfortable

We all know that video chat is awkward and uncomfortable. However, we do not know how long we will be forced to work remotely, and it is important to have face-to-face interaction with your co-workers and clients.

16. Keep Up with Casual Communication Habits

While you are at work, casual conversation is constant. Continue this communication while working from home by utilizing tools such as Slack, and reaching out to your work friend to check in and see how they are doing daily.

17. Respond Promptly to Clients and Employees

We know that with the immense amount of distractions, it will be difficult to constantly stay on task. However, it is extremely important to respond on time to both your clients and your employees. Show that you are still engaged, whether remote or in the office.

18. Resolve Issues with a Phone Call or Video Chat

Issues will arrive, no matter what. Working from home may even create more problems, which is why it is critical to utilize phone calls and video conferencing to resolve any issues that arise.

19. Cut Yourself Some Slack

This is a big transition for many of us, and you might feel a combination of emotions, including lonely, stressed, frustrated, anxious and unmotivated. On the other hand, there might be some days where you feel relaxed, energized and productive. It is what it is. Play it by ear and take the time you need to adjust to your new work from home lifestyle.

20. Ask for Feedback on your Remote Work

Last but not least, if you are new to working remote and looking for feedback, simply ask for it. Ask your boss or your colleagues, and determine what is easier and what is more difficult when working remotely. Make improvements where you can, and continue to communicate as much as possible as you move forward.

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Many of us are adjusting to a new work environment, while COVID-19 makes its way in and out of our lives. Working from home can be freeing and challenging, all at the same time. The freedom to stay in your pajamas all day is not only comfortable but also convenient.

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This is about 5 things to help teams when working together on a project.

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The success of any project is highly influenced by the project team tasked with delivering it. Even the best planned projects may fail to meet their objectives if the project team does not perform to the best of their ability. The effective development and integration of the project team is essential in the successes of a project, as it is the project team who will be responsible for delivery of the scope throughout the project life cycle. The following five steps will lead to a winning project team.

STEP ONE - Establish the Team

The first step is to establish the project management team. The best project teams include stakeholders at all levels, from executives to those individuals at the front line. These individuals have the inside knowledge that will be critical to the success of technical experts from external organisations.

The most important element about team composition is having a team that is effective working together. Collaboration and communication skills are two of the most critical personal skills demanded of all members. The ability and willingness to recognise and value the different roles and contributions of team members is essential. Every team needs problem solving, influence, process and compliance behaviours and values if it is to be successful. People possessing those different requirements for group success have very different behaviours and conflict can be a product of their interactions. Team development at the very start of the project should include training in communication skills, and the recognition and valuing of the different behaviours, values and personal skills needed for team success.

STEP TWO - Facilitate Effective Communication

Accurate, useful, timely and credible communication is crucial to maintaining a cohesive team environment and achieving project success. All project information should be communicated consistently throughout each stage of the process so all team members are equally informed. Open sharing of information should be encouraged and a no surprises attitude must be adopted to create a trusting work environment. A variety of communication mediums should also be used. Team members will respond differently to written (email, text, memo etc), verbal (telephone, radio, face to face etc) methods of communication.

Busy schedules and multiple projects can become obstacles to effective communication. Recurrent face to face meetings must be scheduled to encourage ongoing discussions and ensure that deliverables are completed within project time frames.

STEP THREE - Encourage Collaboration

Groups that plan together are typically more successful, therefore project leaders must realise the importance of collaborative planning and goal setting. This collaborative goal setting allows team members to achieve individual successes, while contributing to the overall project goals.

Collaboration is the vehicle which:

Generates the most creative solutions

Gets the greatest membership support

Produces the greatest amount of personal growth

By matching each team member's incentive to the overall goals, the entire team is motivated further to achieve success. It is also the project manager's responsibility to manage the team's development to ensure a cohesive integrated team is founded.

STEP FOUR - Accept and Manage Problems

It should be noted that bringing a group of people together does not necessarily constitute a team, especially not an effective working team. One of the biggest mistakes made by project managers is not recognising this as a fact and then expecting their project team to hit the ground running from day one.

Project leaders are challenged to facilitate relationships among people of very different backgrounds. However, they all share the common goal of the project. Conflict within projects can manifest itself in many different ways but a good project manager will intercept and take action when conflict occurs. Despite the variables that might contribute to project challenges, by communicating team goals and expectations openly and effectively, these barriers can be overcome.

STEP FIVE - Recognition and Reward

A recognition and reward scheme will help reinforce the importance of the key project deliverables and focus the team on the important aspects of the project. Completion of a project and the steps along the way can be very rewarding for team members. Outwardly celebrating these successes can be very motivating for the team. When project milestones are reached, they should be communicated to the project team members and stakeholders. Rewards can come in various forms. They should be established and communicated at the start of the project, as they may impact on other areas to the project, such as cost and time.

The project management team needs to clearly understand the requirements and deliverables of the project as well as being aware of the organisation's overall strategy, objectives and drivers. It is also essential for the project management team to understand the organisation,s professional and ethical requirements and subscribe to them and ensure that the project complies with them.

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The success of any project is highly influenced by the project team tasked with delivering it. Even the best planned projects may fail to meet their objectives if the project team does not perform to the best of their ability.

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This video gives 7 idea on how to collaborate.

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10 Ways to Build a Collaborative Work Environment

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10 Ways to Build a Collaborative Work Environment

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This article has some ideas on how to strengthen the way a team works.

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7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Collaboration is a key factor in building a small business because it works. People thrive in environments which free them to communicate and work together. When the company environment is focused on collaboration, team members naturally feel a part of something bigger than themselves. The best way to transition from an individual to a collaborative mindset is to equip each team member for active participation in the group dynamic.

Here are 10 simply ways to cultivate team cohesion:

1. Create a clear and compelling cause.

To create a cohesion, team members must be provided with a convincing reason to be a part of the company mission. The more compelling and exciting the mission, the easier it is to inspire team members to want to be a part of what the company aspires to accomplish. When they are given a clear and gripping cause to be involved with, team members naturally become as passionate about the goals and objectives as their leaders. If team members do not care or are unclear about the goals and objectives presented to them, they will find all kinds of reasons not to work together. For collaboration to work, the vision and purpose must be clear.
Related: 10 Elements Needed to Create Effective Collaboration Between Your Brand and Your Influencer
2. Communicate expectations.

Collaboration must be communicated to team members as the minimum standard. To foster this, team members must be provided with defined individual and collective roles and responsibilities they will hold within the team. When they have a clear understanding of their position, each team member will work more effectively and without accidentally stepping on another person's toes creating unforeseen conflicts. In a collaborative environment, each team member experiences what it means to take part in the shared responsibility of results. With this type of focus, what starts out as a goal becomes a crusade with the experience of success changing from an individual achievement into a bonded group experience building comrade and morale.
Related: 4 Ways Co-Working Spaces Inspire Innovation and Collaboration
3. Establish team goals.

To drive success in team members it's important to set measurable goals for each on a quarterly basis. The purpose of these goals is to provide team members with achievable wins. These wins have a magical way of breaking down barriers and creating positive momentum individually and collectively. Further, it's imperative to re-evaluate goals and redirect whenever necessary. At each quarter's end, the outcomes of quarterly goals must be made available to the whole team as a way to measure and celebrate progress, and to determine where improvements need to be made. Working with this type of transparency decreases confusion, finger-pointing and the disintegration of team cohesion.
Related: Genius Loves Company: 4 Ways to Cultivate Creative Collaboration
4. Leverage team-member strengths.

To empower each team member, it is a great strategy to work with their strengths rather than working around their weaknesses. It is a good idea to have each member take a personality test such as the Myers-Briggs, and hold a team roundtable to share results. This is a great bonding exercise because the results allow each person to get to know themselves and their team members in a much deeper way. It also gives team members information about who to go to and for what based upon each person's individual strengths. When teams are connected in this way, each member is set up for success because they are each assigned tasks that play to their respective strengths.
Related: Build Your Business on Your Strengths, Hire Your Team to Cover Your Weaknesses
5. Foster cohesion between team members.

Cohesive teams are more successful. They are successful because each person on the team is included in as many large decisions as possible. When team members feel this type of inclusion, they feel the perceived significance of their role, causing them to naturally perform better. To be the most effective, teams should to participate in daily huddles where each member discusses their goals and objectives for day. This helps to avoid duplication of effort and competition between team members. These huddles keep everyone on the same playbook and enables team members to re-direct their efforts as needed.
Related: 6 Leadership Practices to Strengthen Virtual Team Cohesion
6. Encourage innovation.

For teams to grow they must be encouraged to brainstorm and question the status quo in an open and non-judgmental environment. Team members must be coached and led to believe the challenges and obstacles they face can and will be overcome. When a "can-do" attitude is instilled it motivates team members to live up to those "can-do" expectations. It is also important to ask team members for their thoughts, their reasoning and ideas on a regular basis. The more connected and understood they feel to their manager or leader, the more motivated they will be to perform, impress, be creative and to exceed expectations.
Related: The Lifeblood of Success: How to Encourage Innovation at Your Company
7. Keep promises and honor requests.

Most requests and promises are held sacred within a team, but considered optional between other company units or customers. Taking a request from a customer seriously and demonstrating that the team is working to do what they say they are going to do, goes a long way towards building trust and blurring boundaries. The question every customer and every business unit asks of another is, can I count on you? Will you be there when I need you? Do you care about this as much as we do? When team members and customers feel they can depend upon you and your team to deliver what they expect, business grows, relationships grow as does revenue.
Related: A Promise Is A Promise: Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
9. Encourage people to socialize outside of work.

We all lead busy personal lives and the thought of having one more corporate event we are obligated to attend can add stress. However, socializing with co-workers outside the office is an effective way to open channels of communication, to create a better understanding and break down any walls of pre-judgemental or mistrust between team members. When team members learn they share common interests or wrestle with some of the same challenges outside of work as others, they experience their team members as more real, which helps to decrease individual bias, stereotyping and false objectifying. When we see our team members as human, it makes it more difficult to point the finger at them.
Related: 7 Ways to Create Harmony In the Office
10. Recognize, reward and celebrate collaborative behavior.

The legends of athletic dynasties or standout corporate successes consist of incredible collaborative efforts. Team members often sit in conversation reminiscing over how it all came together. Whether shared through video, newsletter, podcast, annual report or seminar, stories of great collaboration break down the walls of individualism and honor the collective accomplishment. Attaching performance rewards and bonuses to collaborative efforts sends the right message to team members about the values that are driving the business.

Establishing a collaborative environment is just the beginning of a more successful venture. For collaboration to work it must be consistent and purposeful, with resources and rewards dedicated to its success. You may have many standout successes in your company already; but you can increase your productivity exponentially by getting them to work as a collaborative team. When team members feel they are a part of something exceptional they are more than willing to work together to get the ball across the goal line. Collaboration works because there is nothing more meaningful, bonding or growth promoting than a shared win.

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10 Simple Ways to Build a Collaborative, Successful Work Environment

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7 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Collaboration is a key factor in building a small business because it works. People thrive in environments which free them to communicate and work together. When the company environment is focused on collaboration, team members naturally feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

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This mini-lesson will help you and your group review the basics of conducting surveys through info slides and activities.

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7 Steps to Create Effective Surveys and Collect Community Feedback

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7 Steps to Create Effective Surveys and Collect Community Feedback

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Get the latest insights on measuring the value of your community in CMX's free 2017 Community Value and Metrics Report.
Do you know what your members want? Does your community give you its opinions, or have you ever asked? Surveys are an excellent way to gather feedback en masse to inform the business decisions that affect your community.

When planning a complete redesign of Smiley360.com, a community of consumers who experience brands for free and share their opinions, getting the input of members was essential. After all, our community lives on our site and our site lives because of our community, so members should have a say in any major changes we make to it.

We knew we needed to rebuild the site from the ground up, but how could we do that without upsetting or disregarding the 400,000 members who had joined us over four years?

A Community Built On Feedback

We launched Smiley360 in December 2009 to meet a big need for brands looking for ways to get people talking about them in an open and honest way. People join Smiley360 for fun, to experience new products, services and content, and to share their experience with friends-and brands want the feedback Smiley members can provide.

Smiley members receive products in the mail for free.

As the community grew steadily, it became apparent that we had outgrown the original site. We decided to rebuild our application, but not before asking members what they wanted (therefore preventing community backlash down the line). To start this process the right way, we launched a Community Feedback survey for members to have their say in the future of Smiley360.

This could work for any community builder at any point in their journey: pre-launch, before a big change, even just an ongoing survey in order to let your members know that you're listening.

Thousands of our most vocal and opinionated members took this survey. A thriving community of members who love to talk... a community manager's dream. But collecting this feedback is no easy feat.
Here we share our process for how to create a survey to collect useful, unbiased, and actionable feedback from community members to help inform major decisions for developers, clients, or your own internal team. Related: Preventing Backlashes: How to Communicate Big Changes to Your Community
7 Steps to Create a Community Feedback Survey

1. Set your objectives

2. Write your survey questions (the right way)

3. Test internally and then on a pilot group

4. Deploy the survey to members

5. Collect responses

6. Analyze the responses

7. Act on the results

Now we'll go into each step in detail so you can collect the data you need and act right away for the benefit of your community.

1. Set Your Objectives

Before you begin writing questions for your survey, ask yourself and your team what your objectives are:

What do we want to learn?

How is this survey data going to help us?

What do our members want from us?

How do members feel about the community? What do they love and what would they change?

How can we provide a better experience for the entire community?

Make assumptions about the answers you expect to see, and write survey questions that will either confirm or reject your assumptions. For the re-launch of Smiley360.com, we focused on what features our users spent the most and least time on, what new features they wanted us to introduce next and how they felt about the design and layout, text content, and ease of use of the website.

In your community, you might run a survey to define or redefine your community guidelines, validate an idea you're thinking of launching, or simply measure satisfaction and utility of the community.

2. Write Your Survey Questions

There are a number of things to keep in mind to ensure that your survey is easy for your members to complete, and gives you the most useful results.

Watch Out For Bias

Unless you have a survey professional at your disposal who knows what she's doing, be extra careful when writing your questions so that survey questions do not lead members to answer in any particular way.

You might be tempted to write:

Instead, keep your options balanced, with a neutral opinion in the middle:

It's important to choose your words carefully so that you do not influence the member. Consider this example of how leading questions can influence the testimony from an eyewitness of a car accident:

How fast was the car going when it smashed into the other car?

How fast was the car going when it hit the other car?

How fast was the car going when it made contact with the other car?

Which of these questions have leading language, and which one is bias-free?

Choose the Right Question Types

There is more than one way to ask a question. There's also a right way and a wrong way. Consider this example:

You might want to know where your members spend the most time on your site, but the problem is that this question is anything but specific. It does not account for people who visit only the FAQ pages but not the blog, or vice versa. Furthermore, analyzing the responses from this question would not give you any real insights. Instead, rephrase this question as:

We asked a question just like this to learn where our members spent the most time. The results? We were able to cut the least-used parts of our website and focus on the areas our members value the most.

It's A Numbers Game

When asking questions around numbers, you must make sure that everyone can fit into only one box. For example, consider this question:

What about someone who spent $20 or $40 exactly? That person doesn't know which box to pick, but they have to choose one. This will muddle your data, and you would be surprised at how often this mistake is made. Instead, make sure that a person can fit into only one range, or better yet, ask for exact numbers -this way you can calculate means, modes and other statistically relevant information.

Beware Of Open-Ended Questions

Maybe you really need to know your community's ice cream flavor preferences, but a question like this will make analyzing the responses a nightmare. Why? You're probably not managing a community of grammar-obsessed English teachers, and your members will most likely have a hundred-and-one different ways of spelling Chocolate Fudge Brownie (Choc Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Browny, Fudgy Brownie, that one with the brownie bits inside...)

The lesson? Never use an open-ended field when you can get specific. In the basic ice cream example above, give users a dropdown menu of all delicious Ben & Jerry's flavors. The results will give you statistically accurate preferences-meaning you can treat your members to their favorite flavors.

In some cases, you will have to use an open-ended-question type. In all of our surveys, we like to end with something like:

It is always the final question, so if any thoughts popped into respondents' minds throughout the survey, now is their chance to share.

Don't Skip Over Skip Logic

Skip logic means designing a custom path through a survey that changes based on a participant's responses. If a portion of your survey is about being a parent, the important question to ask is Do you have children? If the participant answers no, do not send him through 10 questions about children. Send him to the next portion of the survey that is not about having kids. That is skip logic-and you should use it at every available opportunity.

When writing a survey, your goal is to keep it as short as possible for members. If you're asking question after question that is not relevant to the member, don't ask it. You will waste your participant's time, and risk not receiving any responses at all.
Want to know the top 5 metrics you should be using to track and measure your community's business value? Download our free report here .
Now I hear you asking, what is the optimal length of a survey? The answer: as long as it needs to be-and no longer. If you need to ask three questions to accomplish your goal, ask them. If it needs to be 50, ask them. Be weary of too many non-required questions. If the question is not required, can you just save it for a follow-up interview? Just be up front about the length of time your survey takes, so the member knows what they are getting into.

3. Test, Test, Test!

Hold up! I know you want to blast this survey out and start seeing feedback right away, but don't skip the two rounds of testing necessary to help finalize your survey. First, test internally with your team to make sure everything is in line with the goals you set in Step 1. Here's where you also ask your team to look out for typos or awkwardly phrased questions-we are blind to our own mistakes!

The second round of testing involves piloting your survey with a small number of members. Have 50,000 community members from whom you want to collect feedback? Start with a pilot group of 500. This way, you can make sure that participants are going through the survey in the way you have intended.

4. Send It To Members

You have a number of options to deploy your survey:

Set up the survey using a service such as SurveyMonkey, SurveyGizmo, Zoomerang or Google Forms and share the link through all your communication channels, especially email and social media.

If you want to target a subset of your community, send it out to a smaller list via a personalized email.

If resources allow, conduct your survey over the phone to focus on a small group of your most active members.

Mail out a paper copy of your survey and include a pre-paid return envelope. It's true-some people still use snail mail!

We deployed our Community Feedback survey on our own Smiley360 platform. We already send out an average of eight surveys each month for clients, so it made the most sense to stick to where our members are accustomed to giving feedback. Close to 10,000 members weighed in with their opinion, which was more than enough to deliver useful results.

5. Collect Responses

You sent out your survey, and responses are starting to roll in. Depending on the engagement rate within your community, you might need to give members a little push to get a large enough volume of responses for statistically relevant data.

You can consider providing an incentive for your members to take action. A giveaway is a surefire way to motivate people to give up 5 to 10 minutes of their time to answer your questions. Offer up some gift cards or a prize more specific to the interests of your community.

If your survey's deadline is approaching and you'd like to get a bump in your response rate, send out a gentle reminder email. Just be sure to filter out those who have already taken the survey as well as those who have expressed that they are not interested.

Keep in mind that the members of your community have different levels of passion and engagement. Some will give you feedback at any and every possible chance because they care deeply about the community and its future. Others might not have any opinion on your community's next steps. It's important to meet both of these types where they are at, as even more disengaged members may have ideas for getting more engaged.

6. Analyze the Responses

Here's the fun part-studying your survey data and turning that information into actionable steps for your developers, clients, or your own internal team. For a thorough and accurate analysis, follow a five-step process:

1. Clean up your data by removing any invalid responses. Depending on the survey software you have used, your results may include participants who did not complete the survey to the very end. These people might have begun taking your survey and realized midway through that it was not relevant to them-you don't want their responses. Also, look out for any bogus responses from people who just want to win your prize. You can spot them by watching out for 'straight-lining' (respondents who have chosen the same option for every question) or typed gibberish in the text boxes.

2. Summarize your data in a spreadsheet. Putting your results into a readable form lets you and your team study the results. Software services such as SurveyMonkey can do this for you automatically.

1. If applicable, break up your data into categories. You can segment your respondents into categories such as gender, age, satisfaction or activity rate and see how the results vary within each group.

2. Visualize the results for your developers, clients or anyone else who will be looking at your results. Give them bar charts, pie charts and graphs to help interpret the data.

3. Read your open-ended responses. Analyzing this data is not easy, because you have no other choice but to read through all the responses. If you notice an issue coming up repeatedly, it is probably a feature worthy of serious consideration. You can use word clouds here to show what terms came up the most, but keep in mind that word clouds might not be scientifically accurate. Open-ended responses give the opportunity to add qualitative information to the quantitative data received.

7. Act on the Results

With feedback, comes action:

1. Study the results and interpret what's meaningful and what's not.

2. Prioritize what needs to be done now and what can wait.

3. Having trouble figuring out what to work on first? Go back and ask your community.

4. Allocate resources accordingly.

This post has been updated from its original, which was published on October 8th, 2014.
Some issues may come to light that you hadn't even realized. Ask yourself, is this something that just a few particularly loud users are raising? Or is this something that affects the community at large? Be careful to filter through these ideas and suggestions and focus on the most important ones that align with your community, business, and client goals.

Our Survey Says...

In our case, feedback from community members validated our roadmap for how to re-launch our application. If you're a community manager interacting with your members every day, you have a good idea of what your members want-collecting data from an in-depth survey will give you additional learnings to drive action.

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7 Steps to Create Effective Surveys and Collect Community Feedback | CMX

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Get the latest insights on measuring the value of your community in CMX's free 2017 Community Value and Metrics Report. Do you know what your members want? Does your community give you its opinions, or have you ever asked? Surveys are an excellent way to gather feedback en masse to inform the business decisions that affect your community.

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A short video walks you through how to write good questions for your survey.

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Writing Good Survey Questions - Statistics Help

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Tips and examples for designing a good survey to collect needed data

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how.

The key to obtaining good data through a survey is to develop a good survey questionnaire. Whether you are conducting interviews or mailing out surveys, you will need to know how to design a good survey questionnaire.

What is a survey questionnaire?

Survey questionnaires present a set of questions to a subject who with his/her responses will provide data to a researcher. On the surface, it seems a fairly simple task to write up a set of questions to collect information, but there are many pitfalls that should be avoided to develop a good survey questionnaire. We will focus here on describing some of the key elements in designing a survey questionnaire, and then highlighting some tips and tricks to for creating a good survey questionnaire.

Objectives

The key to developing a good survey questionnaire is to keep it short while ensuring that you capture all of the information that you need. This is not an easy task. Before you even begin to design your survey questionnaire, you should develop a set of objectives for your research and list out the information that you are trying to capture. This list of objectives and research goals will serve as your plan for the survey questionnaire.

Now that you know what you are looking for, you can begin to structure the questions that will help you capture the information. Once you have developed your survey questionnaire, you can use your objectives to go back through the questions and determine if each of the questions is providing you with information that you need. Any question that is not providing necessary information should be removed.

Types of Questions:

There are two different types of questions that can be used to collect information. The first is called a structured or fixed response question and the second is called non-structured or open question. It is important to understand when and how to use these questions when designing your survey.

Structured (fixed response)

Structured questions are questions that offer the respondent a closed set of responses from which to choose. Structured questions make data collection and analysis much simpler and they take less time to answer. Structured questions are best suited in the following situations: (1) when you have a thorough understanding of the responses so that you can appropriately develop the answer choices (2) when you are not trying to capture new ideas or thoughts from the respondent.
Examples of Structured Questions

Do you have a driver's license?
( ) Yes
( ) No

Which subject do you enjoy the most at school?
( ) Math
( ) Science
( ) English
( ) Foreign Language
( ) History
( ) Government
( ) Art / Music
( ) Other

How many hours a day do you spend doing homework?
( ) 0 to 1 hour
( ) 2 to 3 hours
( ) 4 to 5 hours
( ) more than 5 hours

When writing the selection of responses for a structured question, you should make certain that the list covers all possible alternatives that the respondent might select AND that each of the answers is unique (ie they do not overlap). So for example, in the homework question above, we have included every option on the number of hours (from 0 to infinity). Also, you will notice that we were careful not to overlap the hours when defining the ranges by stating them as "0 to 1 hour" and "2 to 3 hours" rather than saying "0 to 1 hour" and "1 to 2 hours".

Sometimes, including general catch all responses (such as "Other", "Don't know", "None of the above", etc...) at the end of a list of answer choices will help to ensure that the data you are collecting will be accurate. In the school subject example above, you will notice that the last answer choice is "Other". Since the selection of non-required courses varies dramatically from school to school the option of "Other" helps to ensure that you are capturing the responses that do not fit into the broader subject areas already listed, rather than forcing respondents to select one of the other subject areas. Similarly, adding "Don't know" to a response list for a question that some of the respondents may not be capable of answering will help ensure you are collecting valid data. In general however, you want to use the "Don't know" option sparingly. You should try to ensure that your respondents are capable of answering the majority of the questions on your survey questionnaire.

You should also make sure that all of the answers are relevant to the question. Irrelevant responses may distract the respondent in addition to adding unnecessary length to your survey questionnaire. Consider the following change to the favorite school subject question.
Example of a Bad Question With an Irrelevant Answer Choice

Which subject do you enjoy the most at school?
( ) Math
( ) Science
( ) English
( ) Foreign Language
( ) History
( ) Government
( ) Art / Music
( ) Football Practice
( ) Other

If we added a choice of "Football practice", we may find that football practice is someone's favorite "activity" at school, but it is not relevant to this particular question which asks "Which subject do you enjoy the most at school?"

Consistency is very important in writing the list of responses. All of the responses should be similar so that no single response stands out to the individual except the answer that is true for them. Consistency simply helps to ensure that you are not leading respondents to a particular answer by making that answer different from the others. It also makes it much easier for respondents to find the answer that is relevant to them. Here's an example using the homework question you have already seen above:
Example of a Bad Question with Inconsistent Answer Choices

How many hours a day do you spend doing homework?
( ) 0 to 1 hour
( ) 120 to 180 minutes
( ) 4 to 5 hours
( ) more than 5 hours

In this example, the second choice is exactly the same as what we had before, but it is listed in minutes rather than hours making it inconsistent with the other answer choices. Listing answer choices in this way is very confusing for the respondent and makes it more likely that they will provide you with incorrect information.

Sometimes you will be interested in obtaining a person's opinion on a topic, subject, product, event, etc.... To capture varying degrees of emotion about a subject, it is best to use either a rating or a ranking question. A rating question asks respondents to explain the degree with which they feel about a certain topic, subject, event, etc... For example:
Example of a Rating Question
A ranking question asks respondents to explain how they feel about something by comparing it to other items in a list. For example:
Example of a Ranking Question

Please rank the following Homecoming activities in order of preference (starting with 1 for your favorite activity).

___Homecoming Pep Rally
___Homecoming Parade
___Homecoming Football Game
___Homecoming Dance

In general, if you are trying to get a respondent's opinion about something, it is best to have them do a rating rather than a ranking. A ranking asks respondents to list their responses in order of preference. This type of question leads you to an answer where the respondent is comparing one thing to another rather than giving you their feeling about each individual item. The disadvantage to a ranking is that if the respondent feels the same about two or more items, they are still forced to sort them into a ranking. The results of a ranking basically tell you which is the most preferred and which is the least preferred item on the list, but you do not know from a ranking if the respondent likes or dislikes any or all of the items on the list.

Non-structured (open-ended)

Non-structured questions, or open-ended questions, are questions where there is no list of answer choices from which to choose. Respondents are simply asked to write their response to a question. Here is an example:
Example of a Non-structured Question

What do you like best about the Science Buddies Classroom Scientists Program?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

It is best to use non-structured questions when you are exploring new ideas and you don't really know what to expect from the respondents. In some situations, you may have a partial list of answer choices, but you may still have some doubt or uncertainty about other possible responses. You can create a partially structured question such as the following:
Example of a Partially Structured Question

Why did you sign up for the Science Buddies Classroom Scientists Program (please select all that apply)?
( ) I really enjoy science
( ) My teacher asked me to sign up
( ) My teacher made me sign up
( ) My parents asked me to sign up
( ) I'm bored in science class & thought this would be fun
( ) I thought it would help me do a better project
( ) I thought it would help me win the Science Fair
( ) I thought having a Mentor to talk to would be fun
( ) I knew other students who were doing it
( ) Other _____________________

Open-ended questions let you get more insight into the respondents' thoughts and ideas about a subject. As we have already mentioned, open-ended questions are useful when you are trying to capture new ideas or information for which you have no basis to develop an all inclusive set of structured responses. The disadvantages to using open-ended questions is that it can be much more time consuming and difficult to analyze the data. In general you should try to minimize the number of open-ended questions in your survey questionnaire. If you find yourself designing a survey questionnaire where the majority of the questions are open-ended, then you may need to do more exploratory research to get a better foundation of knowledge for the subject you are researching.

Tips to creating a good survey questionnaire:

Here are some tips and tricks to help you ensure you are developing a good survey questionnaire:

Clearly state your intentions with the research.

Many people are hesitant to answer questions about themselves and their opinions. If you are developing your survey for a science fair project, people will probably be more willing to help if you clearly state your intentions. At the top of your survey, write a brief statement explaining why you are collecting the information and reassure each respondent that the information is entirely anonymous. If you need to know specifics about a person, respect their privacy by identifying them as subject1, subject2, etc...

Include instructions with your survey questionnaire

What may seem obvious to you probably is not very obvious to someone else. To ensure that you collect valid survey results, make sure you include instructions on how to answer the survey questionnaire. There should probably be a short introductory set of instructions at the top of the survey questionnaire, and additional instructions for specific questions as needed.

Your overall instructions may be something like:

Please mark the appropriate box next to your answer choice with an "x" ( X ). Please answer all of the questions to the best of your ability.

Don't ask for personal information unless you need it.

Asking individuals to provide you with personal or demographic information (age, race, income level, etc...) may irritate some respondents and prevent them from completing your survey questionnaire. However, in many instances, this information is necessary for the research. If you need to ask for this type of information it is best to place the questions at the END of your survey questionnaire.

Keep the questions short and concise

The wording for survey questions should be short and concise. Each question should be clearly stated so that there is no misunderstanding about what is being asked. The best way to ensure your questions are well worded is to test them by having other people review and test your survey before you distribute it to the full sample.

Ask only one question at a time (the double barreled question)

This is a very common mistake in survey questionnaires and one that will severely impact the results of your data. When you are writing a question, you must make sure that you are only asking one question at a time.
Here is an example of a double-barreled question:

Bad Question: Double-barreled Question

Good Question

How have teachers and students at your school responded
to the new 45-minute lunch period?
( ) Satisfied
( ) Unsatisfied

How have teachers at your school reacted to the new 45-minute lunch period?
( ) Satisfied
( ) Unsatisfied

How have students at your school reacted to the new 45-minute lunch period?
( ) Satisfied
( ) Unsatisfied

You notice that the double-barreled question is asking about teachers AND students. This means that a "satisfied" response could mean any of the following:

Teachers are satisfied
Students are satisfied
Teachers and students are satisfied

An "unsatisfied" response could mean any of the following:

Teachers are unsatisfied
Students are unsatisfied
Teachers and students are unsatisfied

Since the question was phrased in such an ambiguous way, you will not know what the respondent intended with their response unless you ask them, invalidating your data.

To solve this problem, you simply need to break this question into two separate questions, as shown in the example above.

You will also notice that the two rephrased questions above are very similar and that the key word (which differentiates the two questions) has been underlined. This is a good technique to ensure that the respondents are reading the questions correctly when the structures are so similar.

Make sure the questions are unbiased

When developing your survey questionnaire, you want to make certain that you are asking the questions in a neutral way, ie that you are not leading them toward a particular answer. This may seem simple, but when you are writing questions you will often find that the way you phrase the question may reflect your underlying opinion. Here is an example of a leading question:
Example of a Leading Question and How to Correct it

Bad Question: Leading

Good Question: Neutral

Do you think that the new cafeteria lunch menu offers a better variety of healthy foods than the old one?
( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) No Opinion

How do you feel about the new cafeteria lunch menu compared to the old one?
( ) The new menu offers a better variety of healthy foods
( ) The old menu offers a better variety of healthy foods
( ) The selections are similar
( ) No opinion

The leading question drives the respondent to the conclusion that the new menu is healthier than the old. A yes response to this question is the easiest, and many respondents may simply take the path that requires the least amount of thinking. The neutral question presents a better way to phrase this question by removing the bias.

Ask questions that can be answered by your subjects

Make sure that the questions you are asking are questions that people will be able to answer. The most common mistake is to ask questions that most people simply cannot remember. Here is an example:
How much did you spend on school supplies last year?
( ) $0 - $10
( ) $11 - $20
( ) $21 - $30
( ) over $30

While this question appears to be perfectly acceptable, it is unlikely that many students will really remember how much they spent on school supplies. Most responses will probably be guesses rather than actual numbers, and many respondents may become frustrated trying to calculate in their heads how much they spent. If a guess is all that you are looking for, then simply rephrasing the question to the following will make it much easier for the respondent.
How much do you estimate you spent on school supplies in the last year?
( ) $0 - $10
( ) $11 - $20
( ) $21 - $30
( ) over $30

Order/group questions according to subject

If you have more than six questions in your questionnaire, then you should make an effort to organize your questions so the respondents can answer them as quickly as possible. A good way to organize the questions is to group them together by subject. This way your respondents can focus their thoughts and answer a series of questions around these thoughts.

Present the questions in a clean and organized layout

A clean layout will make it much simpler for people to respond to the questions and for you to collect the data. Make sure that your method for marking answers is well explained and that your answer boxes are consistent throughout the questionnaire. See the following links for some sample survey questionnaires from Science Buddies.

Sample Survey: Science Buddies Advisor Survey
Sample Survey: Science Buddies Teacher Survey

Test the survey questionnaire

Once you have developed your survey questionnaire, you should conduct a small test (5 -10 people) to make sure that respondents clearly understand the questions you are asking and that you are capturing the information that you need for your study.

Credits

Source

Parasuraman, A. Marketing Research - 2nd Edition. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1991.

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how. The key to obtaining good data through a survey is to develop a good survey questionnaire.

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Collaborating With People From Different Cultures

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Collaborating With People From Different Cultures

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This article shows people how to work with other people from different backgrounds. Working with a multicultural group can give you the best results because it allows the group to see the project from many differing perspectives.

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We didn't all come over on the same ship, but we're all in the same boat.- Bernard Baruch, American financier and statesman.

It's no secret that today's workplace is rapidly becoming vast, as the business environment expands to include various geographic locations and span numerous cultures. What can be difficult, however, is understanding how to communicate effectively with individuals who speak another language, or who rely on different means to reach a common goal.

Cross-Cultural Communication - The New Norm

The internet and modern technology have opened up new marketplaces that allow us to promote our businesses to new geographic locations and cultures. And given that it can now be as easy to work with people remotely as it is to work face-to-face, cross-cultural communication is increasingly the new norm.

After all, if communication is electronic, it's as easy to work with someone in another country as it is to work with someone in the next town.

And why limit yourself to working with people within convenient driving distance when, just as conveniently, you can work with the most knowledgeable people in the entire world?

For those of us who are native English-speakers, it is fortunate that English seems to be the language that people use if they want to reach the widest possible audience. However, even for native English speakers, cross-cultural communication can be an issue: just witness the mutual incomprehension that can sometimes arise between people from different English-speaking countries.

In this new world, good cross-cultural communication is a must.

Tip:

This is just one of our many resources on working effectively in different cultures. See the Managing Around the World articles in our Team Management section for more on working with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Understanding Cultural Diversity

Given different cultural contexts, this brings new communication challenges to the workplace. Even when employees located in different locations or offices speak the same language (for instance, correspondences between English-speakers in the U.S. and English-speakers in the UK), there are some cultural differences that should be considered in an effort to optimize communications between the two parties.

In such cases, an effective communication strategy begins with the understanding that the sender of the message and the receiver of the message are from different cultures and backgrounds. Of course, this introduces a certain amount of uncertainty, making communications even more complex.

Without getting into cultures and sub-cultures, it is perhaps most important for people to realize that a basic understanding of cultural diversity is the key to effective cross-cultural communications. Without necessarily studying individual cultures and languages in detail, we must all learn how to better communicate with individuals and groups whose first language, or language of choice, does not match our own.

Developing Awareness of Individual Cultures

However, learning the basics about culture and at least something about the language of communication in different countries is important. This is necessary even for the basic level of understanding required to engage in appropriate greetings and physical contact, which can be a tricky area inter-culturally. For instance, kissing a business associate is not considered an appropriate business practice in the U.S., but in Paris, one peck on each cheek is an acceptable greeting. And, the firm handshake that is widely accepted in the U.S. is not recognized in all other cultures.

While many companies now offer training in the different cultures where the company conducts business, it is important that employees communicating across cultures practice patience and work to increase their knowledge and understanding of these cultures. This requires the ability to see that a person's own behaviors and reactions are often culturally driven and that while they may not match our own, they are culturally appropriate.

If a leader or manager of a team that is working across cultures or incorporates individuals who speak different languages, practice different religions, or are members of a society that requires a new understanding, he or she needs to work to convey this.

Consider any special needs the individuals on your team may have. For instance, they may observe different holidays, or even have different hours of operation. Be mindful of time zone differences and work to keep everyone involved aware and respectful of such differences.

Generally speaking, patience, courtesy and a bit of curiosity go a long way. And, if you are unsure of any differences that may exist, simply ask team members. Again, this may best be done in a one-on-one setting so that no one feels "put on the spot" or self-conscious, perhaps even embarrassed, about discussing their own needs or differences or needs.

Demand Mutual Acceptance

Next, cultivate and demand mutual acceptance and understanding. In doing this, a little education will usually do the trick. Explain to team members that the part of the team that works out of the Australia office, for example, will be working in a different time zone, so electronic communications and/or return phone calls will experience a delay. And, members of the India office will also observe different holidays (such as Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday, observed on October 2).

Most people will appreciate the information and will work hard to understand different needs and different means used to reach common goals. However, when this is not the case, lead by example and make it clear that you expect to be followed down a path of open-mindedness, understanding and acceptance.

Tip:

Acceptance is essential. However, you need to maintain standards of respectable behavior. The following "rules of thumb" seem universal:

Team members should contribute to and not hinder the team's mission or harm the delivery to the team's customer.

Team members should not damage the cohesion of the team or prevent it from becoming more effective.

Team members should not unnecessarily harm the interests of other team members.

Other factors (such as national law) are obviously important.

When dealing with people in a different culture, courtesy and goodwill can also go a long way in ensuring successful communication. Again, this should be insisted on.

If your starting point in solving problems is to assume that communication has failed, you'll find that many problems are quickly resolved.

Keep It Simple

When you communicate, keep in mind that even though English is considered the international language of business, it is a mistake to assume that every businessperson speaks good English. In fact, only about half of the 800 million people who speak English learned it as a first language. And, those who speak it as a second language are often more limited than native speakers.

When you communicate cross-culturally, make particular efforts to keep your communication clear, simple and unambiguous.

And (sadly) avoid humor until you know that the person you're communicating with "gets it" and isn't offended by it. Humor is notoriously culture-specific: many things that pass for humor in one culture can be seen as grossly offensive in another.

And Get Help If You Need It

Finally, if language barriers present themselves, it may be in everyone's best interest to employ a reliable, experienced translator.

Because English is not the first language of many international businesspeople, their use of the language may be peppered with culture-specific or non-standard English phrases, which can hamper the communication process. Again, having a translator on hand (even if just during the initial phases of work) may be the best solution here. The translator can help everyone involved to recognize cultural and communication differences and ensure that all parties, regardless of geographic location and background, come together and stay together through successful project completion.

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Cross-Culture Communication: Good Collaboration Is a Must

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We didn't all come over on the same ship, but we're all in the same boat.- Bernard Baruch, American financier and statesman. It's no secret that today's workplace is rapidly becoming vast, as the business environment expands to include various geographic locations and span numerous cultures.

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This resource will help you identify which survey tool to use to conduct your research.

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Conducting surveys can help your company gauge customer satisfaction, gather feedback, and even measure employee satisfaction.

This used to be a tedious process, but online tools make it easy to create and send surveys within minutes. However, now that there's a seemingly endless number of survey platforms that each claim to be the best, choosing the right survey provider for your needs can be more challenging than actually creating the surveys.

That's why in this post, we've rounded up 11 of the best free online survey tools and summarized the features they offer.

1. Google Forms

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: Unlimited

Respondents: Unlimited

Custom design options: Yes

Data export options: Yes

Much like the other tools Google offers, Forms lets you easily accomplish what you want - in this case, collect online survey responses. It's completely free and has no restrictions on the number of surveys you can create, the number of questions in each survey, or the number of responses you can collect.

You can also automatically export your results to Google Sheets for online access and sharing. You can even add collaborators and embed surveys into emails.

Plus, this is the only option on our list that doesn't offer a "premium" version - meaning that you'll have access to all of the features for free, and you don't have to worry about Google trying to upsell you on advanced versions.

2. SurveyMonkey

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: 10

Respondents: 100

Custom design options: No

Data export options: No

SurveyMonkey is one of the most popular survey tools available because of how easy it is to use. You can create a simple survey in minutes, then share the link or embed it directly on your site.

Functionality is limited on the free version, though, as it only allows for 10 questions and 100 responses per survey.

If you're planning to ask a set number of people (fewer than 100) to take a short survey, SurveyMonkey could be right for your needs. But if you want to create more in-depth surveys or collect more responses, you'll need to look into their paid versions, which start at $26/month.

3. Typeform

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: Unlimited

Respondents: 100/month

Custom design options: Yes

Data export options: Yes

Typeform's main advantage is that it offers a wide variety of question types, including short text responses, long text responses, dropdowns lists, dates, multiple choice, picture choice, question groups, yes/no questions, ratings, opinion scales, and more.

If you're bored with the standard survey options and want to collect information from your respondents in a variety of ways, Typeform may be the way to go. However, the free version limits you to 100 responses per month. Any more than that and you'll need to consider a plan starting at $29/month.

4. SurveyLegend

Surveys: 3 per account

Questions: Unlimited

Respondents: Unlimited

Custom design options: Yes

Data export options: No

SurveyLegend is an advanced platform that allows users to create beautiful, easy-to-use surveys - even on tablets and other mobile devices. It was designed to be an enterprise-level survey tool, and it's used by major brands like Groupon, AirBnB, Samsung, and others. Surveys created with it have a more polished feel than most of the others on this list.

That being said, the free version has its limitations. Although the number of questions and responses per survey are unlimited, a free account can only create 3 surveys per account. Data export options are only available in the paid versions (starting at $15/month) and include large SurveyLegend branding on all free surveys.

5. Polldaddy

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: Unlimited

Respondents: Unlimited

Custom design options: No

Data export options: No

Polldaddy offers unlimited surveys, questions, responses, and integrates seamlessly with WordPress. So if your site is hosted on WordPress, Polldaddy could be an excellent choice.

If you want to remove the company's branding, add custom CSS, export data, or access email support, you'll need to upgrade to one of their paid plans starting at $200/year.

6. Survey Planet

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: Unlimited

Respondents: Unlimited

Custom design options: No

Data export options: No

Survey Planet is another easy-to-use platform with no restrictions on surveys, questions, or responses, making it a solid choice for anyone looking to create and send simple surveys.

Their paid plans start at $180/year and include custom survey themes, branching questions, non-branded surveys, additional question types, data exports, and results in the form of charts.

7. SurveyNuts

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: 10

Respondents: Unlimited

Custom design options: No

Data export options: No

If you're looking to create a survey as quickly and easily as possible, SurveyNuts is probably your best option. You can create a survey directly on the site's homepage, and you don't need to create an account to do so.

Surveys are limited to 10 questions but have no limit on responses. So if you want to send a brief, one-time survey, this could be the way to get the job done in a few minutes.

8. Zoho Survey

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: 15

Respondents: 150

Custom design options: No

Data export options: No

A free account with Zoho Surveys allows you to create an unlimited number of surveys with up to 15 questions and 150 responses each.

The features available in this version are fairly standard, but the paid versions offer a few unique features, like offline surveys, multilingual surveys, email notifications, and advanced reporting.

9. FreeOnlineSurveys

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: 20

Respondents: 100

Custom design options: No

Data export options: No

FreeOnlineSurveys enables users to create simple surveys quickly and easily, with the added potential to add a company logo. Their free version includes an unlimited number of surveys with up to 20 questions and 100 responses.

While it may seem contradictory to upgrade to a paid version of a tool called "FreeOnlineSurveys," you can upgrade to their premium version for $19.99 per month to get rid of ads and include customization beyond a logo.

10. Survs

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: 10

Respondents: 200

Custom design options: Yes

Data export options: No

Survs is another popular survey option, boasting clients like Nestle and Spotify. It's designed for online collaboration to let groups create and distribute surveys.

The free version allows for an unlimited number of surveys with a maximum of 10 questions and 20 responses complete with more customization options than most free survey tools. Survs also offers paid plans starting at $19/month that allow you to secure surveys with passwords, add advanced filters, and export your results.

11. SurveyGizmo

Surveys: Unlimited

Questions: Unlimited

Respondents: 0

Custom design options: No

Data export options: No

SurveyGizmo is an advanced survey tool that analyzes each of your surveys based on its accessibility and how long it will take people to complete. While it allows you to launch basic, branded surveys and collect responses, you can't access any of the responses until you upgrade to a paid plan.

As a result, its only free use is for measuring how accessible your surveys are - and if you want to do any more than that, you'll have to upgrade.

Which survey tool do you prefer?

There are hundreds of survey tools available today, and each is uniquely suited for different types of businesses and needs.

Does your business have a preference, or use one that isn't included on our list? Let me know in the comments below!

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Rebecca Stickler Rebecca is a Content Marketing Specialist who loves to write and drinks way too much coffee.

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Conducting surveys can help your company gauge customer satisfaction, gather feedback, and even measure employee satisfaction. This used to be a tedious process, but online tools make it easy to create and send surveys within minutes.

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This video shows ways groups can work together when they are stuck on a topic.

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Investis Digital, Formerly Vertical Measures

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SURVEY TEMPLATES: OVER 350 FREE SURVEY & QUESTIONNAIRE TEMPLATES

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SURVEY TEMPLATES: OVER 350 FREE SURVEY & QUESTIONNAIRE TEMPLATES

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QuestionPro has 350+ survey templates which include sample questions and questionnaires that apply to many different industries!

QuestionPro is the leading online survey platform for customer satisfaction survey questions. We provide end-to-end solutions for tracking customer satisfaction through our free survey template tools. Effective customer satisfaction surveys focus on measuring customer perceptions of how well a company delivers on the critical success factors as well as their perception of dimensions of the business. The survey template library includes surveys to help measure a range of customer experiences and interactions with your products, services, and staff. Choose from surveys such as service promptness, staff responsiveness, and product surveys to better understand the customer's problems, concerns, or suggestions.

view all customer survey templates

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Free Survey Templates with Survey Examples and Questions.

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QuestionPro has 350+ survey templates which include sample questions and questionnaires that apply to many different industries! QuestionPro is the leading online survey platform for customer satisfaction survey questions. We provide end-to-end solutions for tracking customer satisfaction through our free survey template tools.

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This article breaks down three steps for success when collaborating.

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Collaboration involves close cooperation, clear shared goals, and a structured system of discussion and action to achieve them. Collaborative methods are useful for everything from group projects at school to community initiatives involving several organizations. Whether you're trying to form a collaboration between two groups or trying to get an individual member to pull his weight, there are many established ways to resolve conflict and achieve results.

Participating in a Collaboration

1. Understand the exact goal and timeline. The purpose of the collaboration should be obvious to all participants. Even if you are simply working on a school assignment or other short term goal, make sure you know the exact scope of the project. Are you committed to work weekends? Does everyone understand the specific work required?

2. Help delegate tasks. Rather than trying to do everything, it is best to divide and conquer. Let everyone find his or her strength and work therein to contribute to the common goal. If you feel overwhelmed or think someone else could use your help, speak up.

Assigning each member more general roles such as "researcher" or "meeting facilitator" makes specific task delegation quicker and less arbitrary.

3. Let everyone participate in discussion. Stop and listen if you find you talk more than most other participants. Consider other ideas before responding automatically. Collaboration thrives when each member recognizes the value of each other member's participation.[1]

If some members are talking too much, adjust the discussion system. A small group can give each person speaking time in clockwise order. A large group can limit people to a certain number of minutes spoken per statement, or a certain number of statements made per meeting.

To encourage shy members to speak up, ask them for input on a subject he or she is knowledgeable about or interested in.

Dan Klein is an improvisation expert and coach who teaches at the Stanford University Department of Theater and Performance Studies as well as at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Dan has been teaching improvisation, creativity, and storytelling to students and organizations around the world for over 20 years. Dan received his BA from Stanford University in 1991.

Dan Klein
Improvisation Coach

Take a cue from improvisational theater. Dan Klein, an improv teacher, says: "When we collaborate in improv, we're not just going along with our partner's idea- we're sharing the responsibility of adding to whatever is being made. You have to make offers to inspire your partner, and you have to accept offers to make your partner look good. There's this element to improv where you and your partner are in it together, and you can't leave each other hanging."

4. Seek consensus whenever possible. Disagreements are common in any group effort. When conflicts arise, seek consensus from all members on a decision.

If you can't reach consensus and need to move forward, at least make sure disagreeing members accept that the group has made a reasonable effort to compromise. If you leave a member upset, it will make further collaboration much harder.

5. Don't burn bridges. Even if there are serious disagreements between collaborators, try to keep your emotions reigned in and forgive people who argue with you.

Well timed use of humor can be great for defusing a situation. Use self-deprecating humor or inoffensive jokes only, and don't offend someone by joking around when they're seriously upset.

Dealing with Issues as a Group

1. Don't try to resolve every difference. The goal of the collaboration is to achieve a goal, not to instill every member with the same viewpoint. You should discuss these differences, but sometimes you'll need to agree that the conflicts aren't going away and choose a compromise or an alternative path forward.

2. Address underlying causes of low participation. If a member is barely attending meetings or not fulfilling the assigned role, find out why and fix it:

Ask the member if there are any issues with other members or the collaboration process so you can discuss them openly.

If the member is a representative from another organization, make sure that organization isn't overworking them. Remind his boss that a certain level of commitment was expected, and ask for the member's work duties in writing.

If the member simply refuses to participate or doesn't have the qualifications necessary, find a replacement. This risks offense, but is crucial for the collaboration to be a success.

3. Improve boring or ineffective meetings. Research how to run an effective meeting, and share your results with the facilitator or meeting convener. Make an effort to enhance trust and engagement among members.

Even small gestures such as bringing refreshments to a meeting can make members more engaged.

If meetings are running slowly due to an unskilled facilitator, select a new one everyone trusts, and who has the skill to manage the discussion without offending anyone.

4. Deal with manipulative and argumentative members. There are many ways to address this issue before resorting to an attempt to remove them from the team, which can cause bad blood.

Controlling or manipulative behavior could be caused by fear. If the members are representing another organization, they may be worried about it losing its autonomy. Try to discover the underlying issue and discuss it with the collaboration - or, if it's a personal issue, ask them to deal with it on their own time.

If a member withholds a conflict of interest or doesn't speak up when they oppose a decision, use meeting time to discuss each person's perspective in turn.

Use a more structured discussion system to ensure argumentative members don't dominate the meeting.

5. Manage pressure from member organizations. If the leadership of member organizations is pressuring your collaboration for quick action, remind them that the collaboration has its own authority. Planning is a necessary step in collaborative efforts.

6. Bring in a mediator for serious issues. Sometimes, you should collectively select a third party mediator. The mediator will facilitate one or two meetings to resolve the conflict, and should be replaced if he or she becomes personally involved. Use a mediator in the following situations:

When a group leader is directly involved in the conflict.

When there is disagreement over whether or not a conflict exists.

When cultural differences are involved and a mediator who understands both perspectives is required.

When impartiality is essential, such as when conflicts of interest arise.

If the group is poor at conflict resolution. Consider a mediator who can train the group in conflict resolution rather than requesting one each time a problem arises.

Forming a Collaboration

1. Establish a clear purpose. Make sure all groups involved understand why the collaboration should be formed and the exact goals it will have. Have each group commit to a level of involvement before you begin.

Determine a timeline for the collaboration. You'll quickly run into problems if one group expected a few meetings and the other assumed a year long project.

Make expectations clear. Similarly, the organizations involved should know how many people and how much time is expected of them, and to what extent leadership will be involved.

Choose a purpose members can commit to. The collaboration should focus on the overlapping goals between all members, not one organization's mission statement.

2. Involve the right individuals. Find people who have relevant experience and enough credibility and trust to carry weight in their home organization. Don't bring on unqualified people just because they volunteer or are your personal friend.

Don't bloat the collaboration with too many members. The more there are, the slower it will go, so only pick enough to achieve your purpose and deal with any specialized issues that may come up.

If the goal involves broad organizational changes for the member groups, you need leadership from each group involved.

Include a legal advisor if you plan on fundraising as a collaboration.

Consider bringing on additional people from outside the core organizations if necessary. A member of the school board, city government, or business sector may be able to provide insight that you wouldn't otherwise have access to.

3. Write a collaboration charter. Don't dive into action right away; you'll save time and increase effectiveness by first establishing the nature of the collaboration in writing. Do this in discussion at your first meeting. Include the following elements:

Mission and purpose. These should have already been established, but you may need to spend time discussing the details or wording. Include a timeline and milestone goals.

Leadership and decision making process. These are extremely important elements. Everyone must agree on who has the leadership role(s) and what exact powers those include. Are decisions made by consensus (discussion until total agreement) or some other system?

Values and assumptions. If a member organization has a "do not cross" line or assumes a particular path of action will be followed, now is the time to formalize these. Try to identify risky scenarios for each group and discuss what to do if one arises.

Ethics policy. If a conflict of interest arises, how should the collaboration resolve that issue? Whom can the collaboration enter into financial relationships with? Does each member organization's policies apply to the collaboration's actions, and if not, how will you resolve the discrepancies?

4. Maintain the collaborative environment. Congratulations, you've got your collaboration up and running. It's still each member's job, and the facilitator's job in particular, to make sure the collaboration stays healthy.

Use your charter as a guide in discussions and conflicts. Discuss possible changes to the charter if your goals or timeline changes.

Construct an atmosphere of trust. If personal issues arise, or some people aren't being heard, modify the discussion process so every person has an opportunity to contribute and to discuss conflicts openly.

Establish systems for providing feedback and holding members accountable for their role.

Communicate frequently. Record all decisions made and notify absent members. Provide opportunities for members to talk in more relaxed, informal environments as well as at meetings.

Community Q&A

Add New Question

Is there a protocol to follow when two people are collaborating on a project?

Yes. The main thing to remember is that all participants need to clearly understand what the goal is, and that everyone should be working toward the achievement of the goal.

What do I do when my group members don't let me do any work? They say I didn't do anything and I get in trouble

This article was co-authored by Dan Klein. Dan Klein is an improvisation expert and coach who teaches at the Stanford University Department of Theater and Performance Studies as well as at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Dan has been teaching improvisation, creativity, and storytelling to students and organizations around the world for over 20 years. Dan received his BA from Stanford University in 1991. This article has been viewed 153,978 times.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 153,978 times.

"Your outline helped us to organize and keep expectations reasonable."

"Section 3 was particularly useful."

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Collaboration involves close cooperation, clear shared goals, and a structured system of discussion and action to achieve them. Collaborative methods are useful for everything from group projects at school to community initiatives involving several organizations.

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We allow the conversion of a survey created in MS Word into an online survey. Most organizations already have questionnaires created on Word and they can upload the document in a specific format to have a readymade online survey.

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We allow the conversion of a survey created in MS Word into an online survey. Most organizations already have questionnaires created on Word and they can upload the document in a specific format to have a readymade online survey.

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This video discusses surveys through the eyes of a "market researcher," or businessperson, but the information is just as relevant to surveying for community projects.

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Primary & Secondary Research

''How can we prevent our new products from failing?'' Or ''How do we ensure our new products are successful?''

Just as there's more than one way to ask a particular question, there are many avenues you can use to ask questions. You can ask people in person, through an email or online, on the phone, or by mail. Market research can be divided into two methods: primary and secondary. Primary research is original research that you or people you hire collect for your own purposes, so surveys fall into this category. Secondary research is when you data-mine somebody else's work.

Surveys can be used to check customer satisfaction or to measure something quantitative, or numbers-based and structured. They are good when you have a large group you want to query, and you have specific questions you need answers to.

Common Survey Methods

If you're a market researcher wanting to gather data, how do you decide which survey method is the best for your needs? Let's examine each method in more detail:

First, there's in person. Let's say you're walking through the mall and here comes the smiling person with the clipboard: the survey taker. Why do companies use in-person surveys? The advantages are many. An interviewer can pick up on non-verbal cues or emotions, whereas other methods cannot; the respondent can't lie about basic information, such as race or gender; and the interviewer can keep the process moving towards completion. In-person surveys might also include people who wouldn't see or respond to an online survey request. There are some disadvantages. Using people to conduct surveys is costly, the quality of the data gathered will depend on the skill of the interviewer, there may be some manual data entry involved, and your sample size is limited by how many interviewers you can hire.

The next method is email or online. Online surveys can be distributed via email or they can be part of a web page. Sometimes you even see small surveys surface as pop-ups. The advantages of online and email surveys include lower cost than other methods, respondents can remain anonymous, they can take their time answering questions, and responses can be received and tabulated faster than other methods. The disadvantages are that many emails don't make it through to the recipient because they're caught as spam or never opened, customers may resent frequent email survey requests, and customers may become frustrated with complex questions or survey length and abandon the survey. Since it's difficult for you to detect, the respondents may lie in a survey if there's an incentive attached for completion.

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choosing a survey medium - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Choosing a Survey Medium - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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''How can we prevent our new products from failing?'' Or ''How do we ensure our new products are successful?'' Just as there's more than one way to ask a particular question, there are many avenues you can use to ask questions. You can ask people in person, through an email or online, on the phone, or by mail.

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How To Analyse Survey Data Without A PhD In Math

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How To Analyse Survey Data Without A PhD In Math

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Free Beautiful Online Survey & Form Builder

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Making comparisons with cross-tabulation

Cross-tabulating your data is where you can really begin to draw insights from your survey results, instead of just statistics. It can help you to add context to your numbers and to really interrogate how different groups of people behave or how different factors might affect a single outcome.

When you planned your survey, you will have thought about the different comparisons you would like to make. Maybe you'd like to know if older people are more likely to enjoy eating olives.

Let's take olives as an example. Your question might be something like this:

Now, in the first round of your data analysis, you might have already split the respondents into two, to work out the split between people who do and do not like eating olives.

So let's say the results of this olive question were:

Like olives: 542 people (46%)

Dislike olives: 630 people (54%)

To cross-tabulate your data, you'll need to map another variable onto this one.

We're interested in whether tastes change with age, so let's use that age our second variable and ask the question:

Now with these results, you can plug them into a Google Sheet and start to see if there are any correlations:

Imagine you have a client who is looking at marketing their olive brand directly at people under 35. You could ask these two questions and look at the split between olive lovers and haters just within this subgroup, and see how it compares to the overall average splits.

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How To Analyze Survey Data Without A PhD In Math | Typeform

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Cross-tabulating your data is where you can really begin to draw insights from your survey results, instead of just statistics. It can help you to add context to your numbers and to really interrogate how different groups of people behave or how different factors might affect a single outcome.

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Why You Need to Be a Decent Public Speaker

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Why You Need to Be a Decent Public Speaker

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World Champion of Public Speaking (2018)

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World Champion of Public Speaking (2018)

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2018 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking, Ramona J. Smith

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Tips & best practices in checklist format, with links for more support at the end.

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From Public Speaking For Dummies, 2nd Edition

By Malcolm Kushner

Successfully preparing a speech involves gathering and organizing your information and practicing your delivery. When you're speaking in public, use visual aids to help get your message across to the audience, make sure your speaking location is prepared ahead of time, and get a handle on stage fright. A variety of helpful Web sites are available on public speaking.

How to Prepare Your Speech

When you speak in public, you have to prepare your speech by selecting and organizing material, and writing a clear message. Once you've written the perfect speech, you need to prepare for the delivery.

Writing your speech

These guidelines will help you organize your material and write a speech.

1. Resist making a speech that you don't want to make.

2. Organize your information in a simple pattern that the audience can easily recognize.

3. Use various types of material - examples, stories, statistics, quotes - to maintain audience interest.

4. Use your introduction to set the audience's expectations.

5. Have a special conclusion ready that you can go right into if you run out of time. Never omit a conclusion.

6. Anticipate the questions you'll be asked and have answers ready.

7. Practice out loud.

Delivering your speech

Practice these tips to deliver a speech that wows your audience:

1. Try to establish eye contact with your entire audience.

2. Vary the rate, pitch, and volume of your voice, as well as its tone.

3. Use your hands to gesture instead of keeping them clasped in front of your crotch.

4. Look at the audience more than your notes.

5. Don't pace back and forth, jingle change in your pocket, or play with your hair.

6. Stand behind a podium if it makes you feel more comfortable.

7. Convey enthusiasm for your subject - it's contagious.

Using Visual Aids in Your Speech

Good visual aids will highlight your speech. To avoid mistakes and display your information efficiently when using the appropriate visual aids, follow these guidelines:

1. Make slides and overheads easy to read by avoiding too many words per line, too many colors, and designs that are too busy or too small.

2. Check text for spelling errors.

3. Take advantage of computer software templates that help you design visual aids.

4. You know you need time to design slides and overheads.

5. Number all your slides and overheads.

6. You can't check the working condition of the slide or overhead projector too many times.

7. Bring an extension cord and adapter.

Managing Stage Fright when Speaking

After you've worked hard preparing a fantastic speech, you don't want to freeze up at the podium. Use these methods to confidently deal with stage fright:

1. Avoid alcohol and pills - they don't work. If they wear off before you speak, you'll be even more nervous. If they don't, you'll be incoherent.

2. Channel nervous tension into your performance.

3. Work off nervous energy by taking a few deep breaths.

4. Leave time to go to the bathroom shortly before you speak.

5. Remember that the audience wants you to succeed.

Helpful Web Sites on Public Speaking

If you're looking for tools to help research a topic and prepare a speech, try these Web sites for information on public speaking, checking facts, and finding visual aids:

Getting a Room Ready for Your Speech

Don't let unforeseen circumstances put a damper on your speech. Get the details of the location where you will deliver your speech ahead of time and use these tips:

1. Get to the room early so that you have time to make changes if it's set up improperly.

2. Close the curtains so that the audience can't stare out the windows.

3. Control audience seating. Make sure that chairs and tables are arranged in the configuration that you want. Remove extra chairs.

4. Check the microphone and sound system while you're standing exactly where you'll be using them.

5. Make sure that the room isn't too cold or too stuffy.

6. Find out exactly where the room is located and how long it takes you to get there.

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Public Speaking For Dummies Cheat Sheet - dummies

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Successfully preparing a speech involves gathering and organizing your information and practicing your delivery. When you're speaking in public, use visual aids to help get your message across to the audience, make sure your speaking location is prepared ahead of time, and get a handle on stage fright.

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Public speaking skills not just important for presidential debates

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Public speaking skills not just important for presidential debates

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Tips on how to make your public speaking stronger

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If you happened to watch the 2012 presidential candidates debates or followed the analysis afterward, you have a pretty good understanding of what can go wrong with public speaking.

President Barack Obama was dinged for showing lackluster energy and failing to engage with the audience in the first debate.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney earned criticism for making false statements during the debate.

Both vice presidential candidates were given bad marks for dubious facial gestures.

As the final debate approaches, we spoke with local experts on the art of the public speaking. What works when we try to share ideas with an audience? What inspires, motivates, persuades, transforms? And what makes a talk unsuccessful?

HIT THE BOOKS

Dr. Joseph Valenzano III teaches public speaking at the University of Dayton and has literally written the book on the topic. Two textbooks, to be exact.

His take on public speaking? It's not the words that really matter.

"Two thirds of communication takes place nonverbally," Valenzano said. "Human beings respond to tone before anything else. If your tone is bored, it doesn't matter what you say, people will lose interest. But if you're passionate, people will feel that passion themselves and really think about what you say."

Students in Valenzano's classes learn some common do's and don'ts for giving talks.

* Tailor your message and language to your audience.

* Know your goal and stay on topic.

* Research well, then practice delivery.

* Look at and engage with your audience.

"Rather than looking at it as a speech to 30 people, treat it as 30 one-on-one conversations, and make eye contact with each person one at a time," Valenzano said.

Debates are challenging because they're rapid-fire conversations on complicated topics, Valenzano said. He suggests treating each question as an opportunity to make a cogent, clear argument drawing on the sound facts and data you already know.

"The other (top debate tool) is civility, strangely enough," Valenzano said. "People get turned off by nastiness. Speakers need to learn to wield information ethically and credibly, so the audience can make their own decisions."

TAKE THE STAGE

After 15 years on Broadway, Scot Davidge, founder of Springfield's Ohio Performing Arts Institute, agrees that body language is the most important element of delivering a message.

"As a public speaker, your tools are your voice, your face and your body," Davidge said. "You have to be animated. You have to have self confidence, poise, and be able to glide through what you're presenting."

The goal, he said, is to show confidence and inspire trust in your audience.

Here's some of the tips acting students learn at the Institute:

* Eye contact is always important.

* Be "an honest con man."

* Practice diction and clarity. Speak slowly.

* Practice improvisation, the art of thinking on your feet.

* Listen, listen, listen.

"I always tell students, 'if you're talking too fast, the audience only hears every third word,' " Davidge said. "It's important to take a breath and just calmly present."

TOAST THE TOWN

If the thought of getting in front of a crowded room and having to talk still terrifies you, you're not alone. In fact, more than 13,000 Toastmasters International clubs exist worldwide to train people in getting over that all-too-common fear.

"Speaking persuasively and effectively is an acquired skill," said Dayton Toastmasters Club 405 club President Pam Griffith, but one that's important for all people, not just presidential candidates. "Speaking well for 20 minutes before the right group of people can do more for your career than a year behind a desk."

Here's some tips from Griffith and vice president Scott Robinson:

* Start with a bang, not a whimper.

* Be passionate.

* Have a plan for dealing with nerves and relaxing yourself quickly.

* Don't memorize your speech word-for-word.

* Have a conversation, not a lecture.

People feel like they have to be polished and perfect when they speak to an audience, Griffith said, but that's not true.

"If you have a good message, people will be interested and want to hear it," Griffith said. "You don't have to apologize for every little thing."

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Tips from Toastmasters

1. Describe the problem, outline its cause and state a solution.

2. Speak with authority, and use eye contact to build trust.

3. Appeal to the listener's emotions, then move into research-based fact.

4. Use descriptive words and create strong, vivid images.

5. Find common ground, and use words such as "we," "us" and "ours."

6. Match your gestures, voice and movement to your message.

7. Finish by restating your message with a strong call to action.

8. Acknowledge opposing viewpoints, then tactfully explain why you disagree.

Toastmasters International offers training and practice in public speaking skills through clubs worldwide. More than 100 groups meet in southwest Ohio. For more information or to find a club, visit www.toastmasters.org.

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Public speaking skills not just important for presidential debates

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If you happened to watch the 2012 presidential candidates debates or followed the analysis afterward, you have a pretty good understanding of what can go wrong with public speaking. President Barack Obama was dinged for showing lackluster energy and failing to engage with the audience in the first debate.

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5 Reasons Everyone Should Take a Public Speaking Course

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5 Reasons Everyone Should Take a Public Speaking Course

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A quick overview on the value of practice public speaking

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FIVE Reasons EVERYONE should take a Public Speaking Course

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#2 #5 With all majors you will need to do a presentation in class, so why not do it better. Taking a speech class will definitely help you in other classes. #1 Taking a public speaking course will build your confidence. It will teach you how to face your fears. Also it will teach

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The Science of Stage Fright (and how to overcome it)

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The Science of Stage Fright (and how to overcome it)

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The science of stage fright (and how to overcome it) - Mikael Cho

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It could be a small group of classmates or a room full of complete strangers - speaking in public can be daunting even when you're passionate about your cause. But there are a number of things you can do to relax and deliver a great speech.

Prepare in advance

If you've done the research you'll be more prepared and less nervous. People who are confident when they talk generally know their topic back to front. Research can also help you field questions from your audience.

Look into who'll be listening to your speech, and do some research on their background. This way, you can tailor your presentation and make sure you use the most appropriate style and tone. For example, you wouldn't speak to your classmates the same way you would speak to a teacher or a faculty head.

Think about the affect that you want to have on your audience. For example, do you want them to feel:

Inspired by the efforts of another who has successfully campaigned on an issue

Compelled to change their own behaviour when they hear about a dire environmental situation

Motivated to give a donation or attend an event in support of a cause

Visit our Do the research page for more advice on preparation.

Structure your speech

Most speeches will have three parts:

Introduction

To start, introduce yourself, the issue and the contents of your speech. This is your chance to set up the context and engage people. Try opening with an interesting fact, anecdote or statistic. Remember to address the audience and thank them for the opportunity to speak.

Body

This is the 'meat' of your speech. Make sure you've covered everything you promised in the introduction.

Be as clear and succinct as possible

Structure the speech around a number of key points and associated plans or actions

Spell out exactly what needs to be done, who can do it, and when it needs to happen

Consider including information on what will happen if no action is taken

If the information is a bit dry, think about how it could be told through a story. A moving and relevant story will stay with the audience long after you have finished your speech.

Conclusion

Hopefully, by this stage you'll have them eating from your hand.

Sum up the main points in your speech.

Repeat the plan of action.

Give information about contacting yourself or your group.

Thank the audience again for their attention.

If you have time to answer some questions, mention this at the end of your speech.

Rehearse

Pick the right tone

The tone of your voice when you deliver you speech is just as important as the words you are saying.

For example:

An aggressive tone may upset people and turn them away.

A calm voice and assertive manner will make it easier to listen to your speech.

A light hearted and joking approach to a serious or sad subject can stop people from taking you seriously.

Pace yourself

Sometimes people can talk too fast or too slow. It doesn't matter so much when you're having a conversation with your mates. But a room full of strangers is less likely to even try to listen to your message if they can't hear you properly.

Do a dry run

Keep the tone and pace of your speech on target by rehearsing in front of a small group of friends. Let them give you some feedback on what you did well and what they think you could improve. If you're going to use visual aids or other technology make sure you try a test run with them. This will improve your confidence when you do the real thing.

Use technology and visuals

Get your point across and entertain your audience by using images, diagrams, sound and video. To do this, you'll probably need the help of some technology. Consider:

Powerpoint presentations

Overhead slides

Digital photographs

Audio clips

There are also some general tips for using technology:

Make sure you know it works in advance

Have a back up plan if it doesn't go as expected

Don't just sit back and look at the pictures - summarise what you are showing the audience

Keep visuals simple and easy to understand

Talk to the audience and not to the technology

Don't over do it - the focus should still be on the messages in your speech

Get ready for questions

You have no idea what people could ask, so this can be a nerve-wracking time. But there are few things you can do to prepare:

List the types of questions that could be asked and prepare answers for them (especially the hard ones)

Know your facts and the source of any statistics you mention in your speech

Respond to every question with confidence and stay as calm as possible

Repeat or rephrase the question so you're clear on what they've asked. For example 'You are wondering why X is the situation ?'

Direct your answers to the whole audience and not just the person who asked the question

Even if you disagree, don't dismiss the question. For example- 'I understand what you are saying, however in my experience...'

Remember to relax and enjoy

As hard as this sounds, remember that you're up there speaking about a cause and an issue that you really believe in. Now you have the chance to tell others about it. Even if you make a mistake, don't worry. If you're relaxed and positive you'll still get your message across.

Participating as an audience member

Many of the tips above will also help you participate in an open discussion. However here a few more things to think about when you want to ask a question.

Think about what you say before you say it.

If it's possible to prepare in advance, research the topic thoroughly and think about potential questions

When given the opportunity to speak, introduce yourself to the speaker and the audience and then ask your question promptly

Use a clear voice and be concise about what you are asking the speaker to respond to.

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Public Speaking | Tips on Speaking in Public | Youth Central

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It could be a small group of classmates or a room full of complete strangers - speaking in public can be daunting even when you're passionate about your cause. But there are a number of things you can do to relax and deliver a great speech.

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How to talk to anyone with ease and confidence

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How to talk to anyone with ease and confidence

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How to Talk to Anyone with Ease and Confidence

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A TED Curator’s Tips to Conquer Public Speaking and Crush Every Presentation

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A TED Curator’s Tips to Conquer Public Speaking and Crush Every Presentation

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5 new/different tips to help strengthen your presentation skills.

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You're standing at the front of the room and everyone's eyes are on you. This shouldn't be a big deal - after all, it's just a simple presentation - but you've suddenly adopted a deer-in-headlights expression. Are you talking too loud? Too fast? You should slow down. What were you supposed to say next? You make a joke, an attempt at cutting through the tension you feel, and it doesn't land. You are, quite thoroughly, mortified.

Any of this sound familiar? It does to me : I just described every presentation I ever made in college. Even now, the memories of those botched experiences come flooding back every time I'm asked to get up in front of a room. I'm sweating right now, just thinking about it.

I'm not alone. Here's an encouraging statistic: Generally speaking, people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death.

Glossophobia, AKA speech anxiety, AKA please-don't-make-me-talk-in-front-of-people, affects a whopping 90 percent of the population , with reactions ranging from moderate discomfort to genuine terror. This is disconcerting, considering just how much our personal and professional success hinges on our ability to communicate well.

A recent Logitech survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, found that 61 percent of office professionals in the U.S., 62 percent in the U.K., and 68 percent in the Australia believe their salary would increase if they were a stronger speaker.

Anyone who climbs up onto the TED stage makes it look easy. TED presenters are conversational, articulate, and - as described by editorial director and curator of the TED Institute, Bryn Freedman - simultaneously "relaxed and powerful."

These two adjectives might seem at war with one another, but the best presenters have learned to walk the line between both, appearing calm and comfortable while still commanding the attention of a room.

"Confidence is as contagious as nervousness," said Freedman, who spends her days teaching others how to express said confidence while speaking in public. "Discomfort speaking in public is common and human. Even the most experienced TED speakers feel that fear. Walk out there confident and prepared and your audience will believe in you."

I sat down with Freedman to learn how someone like me , who comes off nervous and inarticulate in most (read: all) high-pressure situations, can learn to remain poised and powerful while giving a captivating presentation.

1. Body language is, in fact, everything

When it comes to getting an audience to trust and listen to you, non-verbal communication is crucial, and presenters should use their body language to show the audience they're worthy of the attention.

"If you're speaking to more than two or three people, make sure you stand," Freedman advised. "Square your hips to the person you're addressing. Don't make yourself smaller. Take up space."

This is especially important advice for women, who are typically socialized to sit and stand in ways that minimize them: Crossing their legs, tucking their ankles, tilting their bodies to be at an angle while standing, and so on.

2. Changing your body language takes time - so practice, practice, practice

It's one thing to say that you're going to adopt stronger body language, but the minute you put yourself in a stressful or unfamiliar situation - like, you know, addressing a crowd of people - your body will shift to what feels natural. If you want to appear powerful on stage, you need to adjust your posture in real life, too.

" You have to practice this all the time. You cannot just save it for the presentation. You have to be standing that way at the coffee shop, the post office, the bank," Freedman said.

You can perform some exercises before your presentation to gear yourself up, as well. Freedman referenced a 2012 TED Talk by Amy Cuddy , in which Cuddy explores the way our body language influences our perception of ourselves. By adopting "power positions" and holding them for several minutes, we can trick our bodies and brains into believing we are confident and powerful, even if we don't feel that way.

3. Prepare or be prepared to fail

There's a reason stage performers do full dress and tech rehearsals before opening night; it's not enough to just read through the script and hope for the best.

Freedman suggests anyone preparing for a speech mimic the conditions of the actual speech as much as possible to prevent getting caught off guard while on stage.

"You're going to be standing when you're giving the presentation, so when you're practicing, stand up and read it out loud," she explained.

Freedman also emphasized the importance of thoroughly knowing your facts, because there's no such thing as "winging it" and nothing can save you if you go in blind.

"You need to think about the audience that you're giving this for, what do they know, where do you start off with this conversation? How much work have you done in advance to know who you're speaking to? Do your research," she advised. "Be so in charge of your information and knowledge that they can't help but listen."

4. Don't let your slides be a distraction

"Putting complicated text on a slide is a surefire way to get people to stop listening to you," Freedman explained. "They'll read the text on the slides and stop listening to what you're saying."

She emphasized that slides must always be punctuation for your own words and never deliver critical information that you yourself could have spoken. Text is OK, but keep it simple.

5. Be excited about your topic

According to Freedman, the worst thing you can be during a presentation is boring.

"If you're boring, it means you haven't prepared enough or you don't care enough about your topic. There's no substitute for your own excitement and energy and enthusiasm," Freedman urged.

If the contents of your presentation aren't inspiring you, that means you're presenting the information wrong -- or you shouldn't be presenting in the first place.

Rework your presentation until each sentence thrills you, and that genuine excitement will shine through to your audience.

"If you are there in a way that is not authentic, everybody remembers that. People won't remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel."

Public speaking isn't easy, and while it might come more naturally to some people than others, it takes commitment and practice to master. With that in mind, TED and Logitech have partnered to create the Spotlight Presentation Academy , a 1-day bootcamp to give participants the skills and confidence to crush every presentation. They're looking for 15 aspiring storytellers to join the summit, at which they'll be coached by Freedman herself and work with some of the latest presentation technology, including the Spotlight remote from Logitech , which - take it from me - ain't your mom's old PowerPoint clicker. Participants will also have the chance to present their own talk on the New York City TED stage on July 17th. And guess what? Logitech and TED want you to apply. You have until May 22 to head to the Spotlight Academy website to upload your short video describing your biggest public speaking challenges, the big idea you'd like to share and how better presentation skills would impact your life.. The academy will announce its participants on June 6. "A great presentation is like a great road trip," Freedman told me. "You're with a super confident driver who created a trip just for you. It's full of surprises. You don't make a million stops, you take a couple of thoughtful stops along the way. You take the most direct and scenic route, and when it's over you want more and you were glad you went."

Leave a comment below to enter to win a Spotlight presentation remote from Logitech.

Even if you don't get to attend the academy, you can still win the latest technology to up your presentation game. Leave a comment below telling us a time you've had to speak publicly and we will choose 5 winners to receive a Spotlight presentation remote. You must enter by May 24, 2017 at 11:59 PM CST.

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A TED Curator's Tips to Conquer Public Speaking and Crush Every Presentation - The Everygirl

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You're standing at the front of the room and everyone's eyes are on you. This shouldn't be a big deal - after all, it's just a simple presentation - but you've suddenly adopted a deer-in-headlights expression. Are you talking too loud? Too fast? You should slow down.

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Wiki-How to Get Started on a Research Project

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Wiki-How to Get Started on a Research Project

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A detailed 12 step guide on starting your research

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How to Get Started With a Research Project

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You'll be required to undertake and complete research projects throughout your academic career and even, in many cases, as a member of the workforce. Don't worry if you feel stuck or intimidated by the idea of a research project, with care...

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How to Prepare a Speech When You Have Anxiety

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How to Prepare a Speech When You Have Anxiety

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Public speaking is like any activity-better preparation equals better performance. At the same time, anxiety about speaking in public can hold you back. One way to quell anxiety is to prepare yourself well to speak in public. When you are better prepared, it will boost your confidence and make it easier to concentrate on delivering your message.

Choose a Topic That Interests You

If you are able, choose a topic that you are excited about. If you are not able to choose the topic, try using an approach that you find interesting. For example, you could tell a personal story from your life that relates to the topic, as a way to introduce your speech. This will ensure that you are engaged in your topic and motivated to research and prepare. When you present, others will feel your enthusiasm and be interested in what you have to say.

Become Familiar With the Venue

Ideally, you should try to visit the conference room, classroom, auditorium, or banquet hall where you will be presenting before you give your speech. If possible, try practicing at least once in the environment that you will eventually be speaking in. Being familiar with the venue and knowing where needed audio-visual components are ahead of time will mean one less thing to worry about at the time of your speech.

Ask for Accommodations

No, we don't mean a room at the Hilton (although that might be nice too). Accommodations are changes to your work environment that help you to manage your anxiety. If you have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder such as social anxiety disorder (SAD), you may be eligible for these through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

If there is something that would make you more comfortable during your speech or presentation, see if it's a change that can be made.

Ask for a podium, have a pitcher of ice water handy, bring in audiovisual equipment, or even choose to stay seated if appropriate-whatever might make it easier for you to manage your anxiety.

Don't Script It

Have you ever sat through a speech where someone read from a prepared script word for word? If you're like the rest of us, you probably don't recall much of what was said. Ideally, you should prepare a list of key points on 8.5" X 11" paper that you can refer to. Although using cue cards might be tempting, flipping through a stack of cards can also be a distraction for your audience.

Prepare for Hecklers

Although it's not likely that you'll have hecklers at your wedding or 50th-anniversary party, the likelihood of criticism or difficult questions is high in a business setting. The best way to deal with a difficult audience member is to pay him a compliment or find something that you can agree on.

Say something like, "Thanks for that great question" or "I really appreciate your comment." This will help to make you appear open-minded to your audience. If you don't know how to answer the question, admit it and tell the person that you will look into it. Before your presentation, try to anticipate the hard questions and critical comments that might arise and prepare responses ahead of time.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Even people who are comfortable speaking in public rehearse their speeches many times to get them right. Practicing your speech 10, 20, or even 30 times will give you confidence in your ability to deliver.

If your talk has a time limit, make sure to time yourself during practice runs and adjust your content as needed to fit within the time that you have. Lots of practice will help boost your self-confidence.

Get Some Perspective

This might be particularly difficult for people with SAD, as it involves observing yourself while you are speaking. During one practice run, speak while in front of a mirror, or video yourself with your phone camera. Make note of how you appear. This is a good way to identify nervous habits.

If, however, you feel that doing this exercise would just make you more nervous, skip it for now. People with social anxiety disorder need to learn how to focus outward rather than on themselves. This step is probably best done once you have a few successful performances under your belt.

Imagine Yourself Succeeding

Our brains are funny organs-they can't tell the difference between an imagined activity and a real one. That is why elite athletes use visualization to improve athletic performance.

As you practice your speech (remember 10, 20, or even 30 times), imagine yourself wowing the audience with your amazing oratorical skills.

Over time, what you imagine will be translated into what you are capable of. Not sure whether this would really work? Well, let's consider the opposite. If you imagine giving a horrible speech and having terrible anxiety-what do you think is going to happen? The cycle of anxiety in SAD is as much a self-fulfilling prophecy as it is a reaction to an event. Learn to visualize success and your body will follow suit.

A Word From Verywell

In the end, preparing well for a speech or presentation gives you confidence that you have done everything possible to succeed. Give yourself the tools and the ability to succeed, add in some strategies for managing anxiety, and see how well you do. For those in recovery from social anxiety disorder (SAD), these tips should be used to complement traditional treatment methods such as systematic desensitization or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).﻿﻿

Additional Reading

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Preparing a Speech When You Have Public Speaking Anxiety

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Preparing a speech when you have public speaking anxiety can be nerve-wracking. Here are tips to help you prepare well.

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5 Must-Know Public Speaking Tips for Non-Native English Speakers

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5 Must-Know Public Speaking Tips for Non-Native English Speakers

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You can read through the tips that are discussed in the video here: https://www.byvictorial.com/blog/5-must-know-public-speaking-tips-for-non-native-english-speakers

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5 Must-Know Public Speaking Tips for Non-Native English Speakers

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How to Start and Complete a Research Project

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How to Start and Complete a Research Project

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The steps needed to start your research. And then the tasks you need to do in order to complete your research.

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You are a re-entry student and it's been fourteen years since you've written a paper. You coasted through high school on your charm and good looks and never actually wrote a research paper. You have written research papers, but every time is like the first time, and the first time was like a root canal. How do you start? Here is a step-by-step approach to starting and completing a research paper.

1. Choose a topic.

2. Read and keep records.

3. Form a thesis.

4. Create a mind map or outline.

5. Read again.

6. Rethink your thesis.

7. Draft the body.

8. Revise.

9. Add the beginning and end.

10. Proofread and edit.

You may read this TIP Sheet from start to finish before you begin your paper, or skip to the steps that are causing you the most grief.

1. Choosing a topic: Interest, information, and focus
Your job will be more pleasant, and you will be more apt to retain information if you choose a topic that holds your interest. Even if a general topic is assigned ("Write about impacts of GMO crops on world food supply"), as much as possible find an approach that suits your interests. Your topic should be one on which you can find adequate information; you might need to do some preliminary research to determine this. Go to the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature in the reference section of the library, or to an electronic database such as Proquest or Wilson Web, and search for your topic. The Butte College Library Reference Librarians are more than happy to assist you at this (or any) stage of your research. Scan the results to see how much information has been published. Then, narrow your topic to manageable size:

Once you have decided on a topic and determined that enough information is available, you are ready to proceed. At this point, however, if you are having difficulty finding adequate quality information, stop wasting your time; find another topic.

2. Preliminary reading & recordkeeping
Gather some index cards or a small notebook and keep them with you as you read. First read a general article on your topic, for example from an encyclopedia. On an index card or in the notebook, record the author, article and/or book title, and all publication information in the correct format (MLA or APA, for example) specified by your instructor. (If you need to know what publication information is needed for the various types of sources, see a writing guide such as S F Writer.) On the index cards or in your notebook, write down information you want to use from each identified source, including page numbers. Use quotation marks on anything you copy exactly, so you can distinguish later between exact quotes and paraphrasing. (You will still attribute information you have quoted or paraphrased.)

Some students use a particular index card method throughout the process of researching and writing that allows them great flexibility in organizing and re-organizing as well as in keeping track of sources; others color-code or otherwise identify groups of facts. Use any method that works for you in later drafting your paper, but always
start with good recordkeeping.

3. Organizing: Mind map or outline
Based on your preliminary reading, draw up a working mind map or outline. Include any important, interesting, or provocative points, including your own ideas about the topic. A mind map is less linear and may even include questions you want to find answers to. Use the method that works best for you. The object is simply to group ideas in logically related groups. You may revise this mind map or outline at any time; it is much easier to reorganize a paper by crossing out or adding sections to a mind map or outline than it is to laboriously start over with the writing itself.

4. Formulating a thesis: Focus and craftsmanship
Write a well defined, focused, three- to five-point thesis statement, but be prepared to revise it later if necessary. Take your time crafting this statement into one or two sentences, for it will control the direction and development of your entire paper.

For more on developing thesis statements, see the TIP Sheets "Developing a Thesis and Supporting Arguments" and "How to Structure an Essay."

5. Researching: Facts and examples
Now begin your heavy-duty research. Try the internet, electronic databases, reference books, newspaper articles, and books for a balance of sources. For each source, write down on an index card (or on a separate page of your notebook) the publication information you will need for your works cited (MLA) or bibliography (APA) page. Write important points, details, and examples, always distinguishing between direct quotes and paraphrasing. As you read, remember that an expert opinion is more valid than a general opinion, and for some topics (in science and history, for example), more recent research may be more valuable than older research. Avoid relying too heavily on internet sources, which vary widely in quality and authority and sometimes even disappear before you can complete your paper.

Never copy-and-paste from internet sources directly into any actual draft of your paper. For more information on plagiarism, obtain from the Butte College Student Services office a copy of the college's policy on plagiarism, or attend the Critical Skills Plagiarism Workshop given each semester.

6. Rethinking: Matching mind map and thesis
After you have read deeply and gathered plenty of information, expand or revise your working mind map or outline by adding information, explanations, and examples. Aim for balance in developing each of your main points (they should be spelled out in your thesis statement). Return to the library for additional information if it is needed to evenly develop these points, or revise your thesis statement to better reflect what you have learned or the direction your paper seems to have taken.

7. Drafting: Beginning in the middle
Write the body of the paper, starting with the thesis statement and omitting for now the introduction (unless you already know exactly how to begin, but few writers do). Use supporting detail to logically and systematically validate your thesis statement. For now, omit the conclusion also.

For more on systematically developing a thesis statement, see TIP sheets "Developing a Thesis and Supporting Arguments" and "How to Structure an Essay."

8. Revising: Organization and attribution
Read, revise, and make sure that your ideas are clearly organized and that they support your thesis statement. Every single paragraph should have a single topic that is derived from the thesis statement. If any paragraph does not, take it out, or revise your thesis if you think it is warranted. Check that you have quoted and paraphrased accurately, and that you have acknowledged your sources even for your paraphrasing. Every single idea that did not come to you as a personal epiphany or as a result of your own methodical reasoning should be attributed to its owner.

For more on writing papers that stay on-topic, see the TIP Sheets "Developing a Thesis and Supporting Arguments" and "How to Structure an Essay." For more on avoiding plagiarism, see the Butte College Student Services brochure, "Academic Honesty at Butte College," or attend the Critical Skills Plagiarism Workshop given each semester.

9. Writing: Intro, conclusion, and citations
Write the final draft. Add a one-paragraph introduction and a one-paragraph conclusion. Usually the thesis statement appears as the last sentence or two of the first, introductory paragraph. Make sure all citations appear in the correct format for the style (MLA, APA) you are using. The conclusion should not simply restate your thesis, but should refer to it. (For more on writing conclusions, see the TIP Sheet "How to Structure an Essay.") Add a Works Cited (for MLA) or Bibliography (for APA) page.

10. Proofreading: Time and objectivity
Time permitting, allow a few days to elapse between the time you finish writing your last draft and the time you begin to make final corrections. This "time out" will make you more perceptive, more objective, and more critical. On your final read, check for grammar, punctuation, correct word choice, adequate and smooth transitions, sentence structure, and sentence variety. For further proofreading strategies, see the TIP Sheet "Revising, Editing, and Proofreading."

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How to Start (and Complete) a Research Paper - TIP Sheet - Butte College

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You are a re-entry student and it's been fourteen years since you've written a paper. You coasted through high school on your charm and good looks and never actually wrote a research paper. You have written research papers, but every time is like the first time, and the first time was like a root canal.

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5 Ways to Prepare for a Stellar Public Speaking Performance

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5 Ways to Prepare for a Stellar Public Speaking Performance

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Another great resource to the more nervous/anxious speaker

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Public Speaking
5 Ways to Prepare for a Stellar Public Speaking Performance

Preparation begets success, especially when it comes to public speaking.

By Brian Wong, Co-founder and CEO, Kiip @brian_wong

As someone who travels around the world for a number of conferences, I've both seen and delivered my fair share of lectures and presentations. Of course, for an important conference, most companies will send their very best presenters; someone who's confident, personable and knows what they're talking about. But other times, people might not be as prepared--and it shows.

This isn't anyone's fault; public speaking can be nerve-wracking, especially if you're not used to it or are absolutely terrified of it. But as entrepreneurs and leaders, it's virtually unavoidable. Knowing that, there are two ways to approach it: you can dread it and just barely get through it every time, or you can work to build up the skills needed to successfully execute a great presentation or lecture. Here are five tips for preparing for a public speaking gig.

1. Keep the pressure in check.

In other words, humble yourself. Sure, your presentation is likely important, and you want to make a good impression on your audience, but if you mess up, it's most likely not going to be the end of the world. If the stakes were that high, you'd know.

When I'm speaking at a conference, I try to remind myself that this is one of many presentations that my audience is going to hear that day. It doesn't mean what I have to say doesn't matter, but it does mean that applying an excess amount of pressure is pointless, and could even hurt me as a presenter. Instead of thinking "if I mess up, the audience will hate me," I try to think, "how can I make this enjoyable for the audience?" De-centering yourself is key.

2. Do things your way.

There are a million suggestions out there for how to speak confidently and win over an audience: Tell jokes! Share a personal story! Use visuals! While these are all great suggestions worth exploring, they're not all going to work for everyone, and that's okay. It sounds cliché, but it's more important that you be yourself when presenting than try some technique you're not comfortable with. Plus, audiences are smart--they know when you're not being genuine.

I like to sprinkle in a little humor when I present, but I don't like to overdo it. Other CEOs I know like to keep the audience cracking up throughout a presentation. Neither one of these methods is "right" or "wrong"; what matters it what's right for you.

3. Know your material.

Shout out to all public speaking teachers for this age-old tip; Know. Your. Stuff. It's a simple hack for speaking confidently and communicating effectively; if you know what you're talking about, that's half the battle. You're the expert; what's there to be afraid of?

Rehearsing can get old after a while, though, so if you can, do your best to switch things up as you practice. Try changing locations, practicing with and without notes, alone and in front of others and recording yourself to see how you sound. If you can conquer your material in a variety of environments and methods, you'll feel much more comfortable when presentation time comes.

4. Keep up appearances.

You know yourself and what you will feel confident in; whatever that is, wear it. Make sure it's appropriate for the event, of course, but your own comfort should be a priority.

I'm not really a suit guy; I'll wear one if I have to, but they're not my preference. I try to keep my wardrobe choices for a presentation similar to what I'd wear in my everyday life. Again, audiences are smart; they can tell if you're not really being you, and that applies to your clothes, too.

5. Know when to let go.

This applies to rehearsing and the presentation itself. Eventually you will reach a point where practicing becomes detrimental to what you're trying to accomplish; don't let yourself reach a point of burnout, otherwise the actual presentation will lack enthusiasm. When you reach a point where you feel genuinely confident and comfortable, stop. Even if your last rehearsal had a slip-up or two, let it go.

Same goes for the actual presentation; don't get caught up in a missed word or a presentation malfunction. Things happen; what's important is how you handle them. Dwelling on an error won't make the error go away, but powering through and finishing strong could make your audience forget about the error. Again, let it go.

As someone who travels around the world for a number of conferences, I've both seen and delivered my fair share of lectures and presentations. Of course, for an important conference, most companies will send their very best presenters; someone who's confident, personable and knows what they're talking about. But other times, people might not be as prepared--and it shows.

This isn't anyone's fault; public speaking can be nerve-wracking, especially if you're not used to it or are absolutely terrified of it. But as entrepreneurs and leaders, it's virtually unavoidable. Knowing that, there are two ways to approach it: you can dread it and just barely get through it every time, or you can work to build up the skills needed to successfully execute a great presentation or lecture. Here are five tips for preparing for a public speaking gig.

In other words, humble yourself. Sure, your presentation is likely important, and you want to make a good impression on your audience, but if you mess up, it's most likely not going to be the end of the world. If the stakes were that high, you'd know.

When I'm speaking at a conference, I try to remind myself that this is one of many presentations that my audience is going to hear that day. It doesn't mean what I have to say doesn't matter, but it does mean that applying an excess amount of pressure is pointless, and could even hurt me as a presenter. Instead of thinking "if I mess up, the audience will hate me," I try to think, "how can I make this enjoyable for the audience?" De-centering yourself is key.

2. Do things your way.

There are a million suggestions out there for how to speak confidently and win over an audience: Tell jokes! Share a personal story! Use visuals! While these are all great suggestions worth exploring, they're not all going to work for everyone, and that's okay. It sounds cliché, but it's more important that you be yourself when presenting than try some technique you're not comfortable with. Plus, audiences are smart--they know when you're not being genuine.

I like to sprinkle in a little humor when I present, but I don't like to overdo it. Other CEOs I know like to keep the audience cracking up throughout a presentation. Neither one of these methods is "right" or "wrong"; what matters it what's right for you.

3. Know your material.

Shout out to all public speaking teachers for this age-old tip; Know. Your. Stuff. It's a simple hack for speaking confidently and communicating effectively; if you know what you're talking about, that's half the battle. You're the expert; what's there to be afraid of?

Rehearsing can get old after a while, though, so if you can, do your best to switch things up as you practice. Try changing locations, practicing with and without notes, alone and in front of others and recording yourself to see how you sound. If you can conquer your material in a variety of environments and methods, you'll feel much more comfortable when presentation time comes.

4. Keep up appearances.

You know yourself and what you will feel confident in; whatever that is, wear it. Make sure it's appropriate for the event, of course, but your own comfort should be a priority.

I'm not really a suit guy; I'll wear one if I have to, but they're not my preference. I try to keep my wardrobe choices for a presentation similar to what I'd wear in my everyday life. Again, audiences are smart; they can tell if you're not really being you, and that applies to your clothes, too.

This applies to rehearsing and the presentation itself. Eventually you will reach a point where practicing becomes detrimental to what you're trying to accomplish; don't let yourself reach a point of burnout, otherwise the actual presentation will lack enthusiasm. When you reach a point where you feel genuinely confident and comfortable, stop. Even if your last rehearsal had a slip-up or two, let it go.

Same goes for the actual presentation; don't get caught up in a missed word or a presentation malfunction. Things happen; what's important is how you handle them. Dwelling on an error won't make the error go away, but powering through and finishing strong could make your audience forget about the error. Again, let it go.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Ways to Prepare for a Stellar Public Speaking Performance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Public Speaking By Brian Wong, Co-founder and CEO, Kiip @brian_wong As someone who travels around the world for a number of conferences, I've both seen and delivered my fair share of lectures and presentations. Of course, for an important conference, most companies will send their very best presenters; someone who's confident, personable and knows what they're talking about.

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This video gives a quick overview of what research is?

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This mini-lesson will help you learn the basics of professional email communication

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If you prefer to read, you can view the article version of these tips here: https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/EmailCommunication.htm

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Video describes how to judge your findings

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25 Tips for Perfecting Your E-mail Etiquette

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25 Tips for Perfecting Your E-mail Etiquette

# data[].attributes.body
Quick run-down of some key best practices

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25 Tips for Perfecting Your E-mail Etiquette

Do you have bad netiquette? In other words, are you appalling colleagues with your awful e-mail manners? Clean-up your act with these etiquette tips from the experts.

In the age of the Internet, you might find yourself clicking "reply," typing up a quick response, and hitting "send" without giving so much as a thought about what you've just written. But experts agree that your e-mail behavior has the potential to sabotage your reputation both personally and professionally. Inc.com got in touch with some of the industry's most seasoned e-mail experts and had them weigh in on how to perfect your e-mail etiquette.

1. Only discuss public matters. We've all heard the stories about a "private" e-mail that ended up being passed around to the entire company, and in some cases, all over the Internet. One of the most important things to consider when it comes to e-mail etiquette is whether the matter you're discussing is a public one, or something that should be talked about behind closed doors. Ask yourself if the topic being discussed is something you'd write on company letterhead or post on a bulletin board for all to see before clicking "send." -- Judith Kallos,
author of E-Mail Etiquette Made Easy, E-Mail: The Manual, and E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide

2. Briefly introduce yourself. Do not assume the person receiving your e-mail knows who you are, or remembers meeting you. If you are uncertain whether the recipient recognizes your e-mail address or name, include a simple reminder of who you are in relation to the person you are reaching out to; a formal and extensive biography of yourself is not necessary. -- Peggy Duncan, personal productivity expert and author of Conquer Email Overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook 2007

3. Don't "e-mail angry." E-mailing with bad news, firing a client or vendor, expressing anger, reprimanding someone, disparaging other people in e-mails (particularly if you're saying something less than kind about your boss) are all major no-no's. Because e-mail can seem so informal, many people fall into this trap. Always remember that e-mail correspondence lasts forever. -- Lindsey Pollak, career and workplace expert, e-mail etiquette consultant, and author of Getting From College to Career

4. Use exclamation points sparingly. The maximum number of exclamation points in a business e-mail? One. Otherwise, you risk looking childish and unprofessional. -- Pollak

5. Be careful with confidential information. Refrain from discussing confidential information in e-mails such as someone's tax information or the particulars of a highly-sensitive business deal. Should the e-mail get into the wrong person's hands, you could face serious - even legal - repercussions. -- Peter Post, director of the Burlington, Vermont-based Emily Post Institute, which offers etiquette advice and answers to manners questions such as wedding etiquette, parenting issues and table manners.

6. Respond in a timely fashion. Unless you work in some type of emergency capacity, it's not necessary to be available the instant an e-mail arrives. Depending on the nature of the e-mail and the sender, responding within 24 to 48 hours is acceptable. -- Duncan

7. Refrain from sending one-liners. "Thanks," and "Oh, OK" do not advance the conversation in any way. Feel free to put "No Reply Necessary" at the top of the e-mail when you don't anticipate a response. -- Duncan

8. Avoid using shortcuts to real words, emoticons, jargon, or slang. Words from grown, business people using shortcuts such as "4 u" (instead of "for you"), "Gr8" (for great) in business-related e-mail is not acceptable. If you wouldn't put a smiley face or emoticon on your business correspondence, you shouldn't put it in an e-mail message. Any of the above has the potential to make you look less than professional. -- Duncan

9. Keep it clean. Nothing annoys recipients more than when people reply and leave the messages messy, for example, an e-mail chain that includes excessive carets (>>>), or pages and pages of e-mail addresses that weren't protected using Bcc. You can get rid of carets by selecting the text, Ctrl+F to use the Find and Replace command to find a caret and replace all of them with nothing. You can get rid of all the e-mail addresses just by deleting. Clean it up, then send it. -- Duncan

10. Be clear in your subject line. With inboxes being clogged by hundreds of e-mails a day, it's crucial that your subject line gets to the point. It should be reasonably simple and descriptive of what you have written about. Expect that any e-mail with a cute, vague, or obscure subject will get trashed. Also, proof your subject line as carefully as you would proof the rest of the e-mail. -- Post

11. Don't get mistaken for Spam. Avoid subject lines that are in all caps, all lower case, and those that include URLs and exclamation points - which tend to look like Spam to the recipient. -- Judith Kallos,
author of E-Mail Etiquette Made Easy, E-Mail: The Manual, and E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide

12. Your subject line must match the message. Never open an old e-mail, hit Reply, and send a message that has nothing to do with the previous one. Do not hesitate to change the subject as soon as the thread or content of the e-mail chain changes. -- Peggy Duncan, personal productivity expert and author of Conquer Email Overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook 2007

13. Provide a warning when sending large attachments. Sending unannounced large attachments can clog the receiver's inbox and cause other important e-mails to bounce. If you are sending something that is over 500KB, senders should ask, 'Would you mind if I sent you an attachment? When would be the best time for you?' -- Kallos

14. No more than two attachments, and provide a logical name. Unless it's been specifically requested, refrain from sending a message with more than two attachments. Also, give the attached file(s) a logical name so the recipient knows at a glance the subject and the sender. -- Duncan

15. Send or copy others only on a need to know basis. Before you click Reply All or put names on the Cc or Bcc lines, ask yourself if all the recipients need the information in your message. If they don't, why send it? Take time to send your messages to the right people. -- Duncan

16. Beware of the "reply all." Do not hit "reply all" unless every member on the e-mail chain needs to know. You want to make sure that you are not sending everyone on a list your answer-;whether they needed to know or not. -- Duncan

17. Pick up the phone. When a topic has lots of parameters that need to be explained or negotiated and will generate too many questions and confusion, don't handle it via e-mail. Also, e-mail should not be used for last minute cancellations of meetings, lunches, interviews, and never for devastating news. If you have an employee or a friend you need to deliver bad news to, a phone call is preferable. If it's news you have to deliver to a large group, e-mail is more practical. -- Duncan

18. Evaluate the importance of your e-mail. Don't overuse the high priority option. If you overuse this feature, few people will take it seriously. A better solution is to use descriptive subject lines that explain exactly what a message is about. -- Duncan

19. Maintain privacy. If you're sending a message to a group of people and you need to protect the privacy of your list, you should always use "Bcc." Additionally, avoid giving out e-mail addresses to a third party (such as an Evite, newsletter, etc). Make sure that addresses you willingly hand over to third parties stay with them, especially when the service they're offering is free. -- Duncan

20. Keep it short and get to the point. The long e-mail is a thing of the past. Write concisely, with lots of white space, so as to not overwhelm the recipient. Make sure when you look at what you're sending it doesn't look like a burden to read - feel free to use bullet points. The person reading your e-mail should not have to dig through several paragraphs in order to figure out what you're asking. You should state the purpose of the e-mail within the first two sentences. Be clear, and be up front. -- Lindsey Pollak, career and workplace expert, e-mail etiquette consultant, and author of Getting From College to Career

21. Know your audience. Your e-mail greeting and sign-off should be consistent with the level of respect and formality of the person you're communicating with. Also, write for the person who will be reading it - if they tend to be very polite and formal, write in that language. The same goes for a receiver who tends to be more informal and relaxed. -- Lindsey Pollak, career and workplace expert, e-mail etiquette consultant, and author of Getting From College to Career

22. Always include a signature. You never want someone to have to look up how to get in touch with you. If you're social media savvy, include all of your social media information in your signature as well. Your e-mail signature is a great way to let people know more about you, especially when your e-mail address is does not include your full name or company. -- Pollak

23. Only use an auto-responder when necessary. An automatic response that says, "Thank you for your e-mail message. I will respond to you as soon as I can" is useless. However, one thing these messages do great is alert spammers that your e-mail is real and that they can add you to their spam list. -- Peggy Duncan, personal productivity expert and author of Conquer Email Overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook 2007

24. Train your staff. Business owners should make sure their staff is trained in e-mail communications - don't assume they know what they're doing, and what is considered professional. Set up e-mail standards that everyone at the company should abide by. -- Pollak

25. Your e-mail is a reflection of you. Every e-mail you send adds to, or detracts from your reputation. If your e-mail is scattered, disorganized, and filled with mistakes, the recipient will be inclined to think of you as a scattered, careless, and disorganized businessperson. Other people's opinions matter and in the professional world, their perception of you will be critical to your success. -- Peter Post, director of the Burlington, Vermont-based Emily Post Institute, which offers etiquette advice and answers to manners questions such as wedding etiquette, parenting issues and table manners.

Editorial Disclosure: Inc. writes about products and services in this and other articles. These articles are editorially independent - that means editors and reporters research and write on these products free of any influence of any marketing or sales departments. In other words, no one is telling our reporters or editors what to write or to include any particular positive or negative information about these products or services in the article. The article's content is entirely at the discretion of the reporter and editor. You will notice, however, that sometimes we include links to these products and services in the articles. When readers click on these links, and buy these products or services, Inc may be compensated. This e-commerce based advertising model - like every other ad on our article pages - has no impact on our editorial coverage. Reporters and editors don't add those links, nor will they manage them. This advertising model, like others you see on Inc, supports the independent journalism you find on this site.

In the age of the Internet, you might find yourself clicking "reply," typing up a quick response, and hitting "send" without giving so much as a thought about what you've just written. But experts agree that your e-mail behavior has the potential to sabotage your reputation both personally and professionally. Inc.com got in touch with some of the industry's most seasoned e-mail experts and had them weigh in on how to perfect your e-mail etiquette.

1. Only discuss public matters. We've all heard the stories about a "private" e-mail that ended up being passed around to the entire company, and in some cases, all over the Internet. One of the most important things to consider when it comes to e-mail etiquette is whether the matter you're discussing is a public one, or something that should be talked about behind closed doors. Ask yourself if the topic being discussed is something you'd write on company letterhead or post on a bulletin board for all to see before clicking "send." -- Judith Kallos,
author of E-Mail Etiquette Made Easy, E-Mail: The Manual, and E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide

2. Briefly introduce yourself. Do not assume the person receiving your e-mail knows who you are, or remembers meeting you. If you are uncertain whether the recipient recognizes your e-mail address or name, include a simple reminder of who you are in relation to the person you are reaching out to; a formal and extensive biography of yourself is not necessary. -- Peggy Duncan, personal productivity expert and author of Conquer Email Overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook 2007

3. Don't "e-mail angry." E-mailing with bad news, firing a client or vendor, expressing anger, reprimanding someone, disparaging other people in e-mails (particularly if you're saying something less than kind about your boss) are all major no-no's. Because e-mail can seem so informal, many people fall into this trap. Always remember that e-mail correspondence lasts forever. -- Lindsey Pollak, career and workplace expert, e-mail etiquette consultant, and author of Getting From College to Career

4. Use exclamation points sparingly. The maximum number of exclamation points in a business e-mail? One. Otherwise, you risk looking childish and unprofessional. -- Pollak

5. Be careful with confidential information. Refrain from discussing confidential information in e-mails such as someone's tax information or the particulars of a highly-sensitive business deal. Should the e-mail get into the wrong person's hands, you could face serious - even legal - repercussions. -- Peter Post, director of the Burlington, Vermont-based Emily Post Institute, which offers etiquette advice and answers to manners questions such as wedding etiquette, parenting issues and table manners.

6. Respond in a timely fashion. Unless you work in some type of emergency capacity, it's not necessary to be available the instant an e-mail arrives. Depending on the nature of the e-mail and the sender, responding within 24 to 48 hours is acceptable. -- Duncan

7. Refrain from sending one-liners. "Thanks," and "Oh, OK" do not advance the conversation in any way. Feel free to put "No Reply Necessary" at the top of the e-mail when you don't anticipate a response. -- Duncan

8. Avoid using shortcuts to real words, emoticons, jargon, or slang. Words from grown, business people using shortcuts such as "4 u" (instead of "for you"), "Gr8" (for great) in business-related e-mail is not acceptable. If you wouldn't put a smiley face or emoticon on your business correspondence, you shouldn't put it in an e-mail message. Any of the above has the potential to make you look less than professional. -- Duncan

9. Keep it clean. Nothing annoys recipients more than when people reply and leave the messages messy, for example, an e-mail chain that includes excessive carets (>>>), or pages and pages of e-mail addresses that weren't protected using Bcc. You can get rid of carets by selecting the text, Ctrl+F to use the Find and Replace command to find a caret and replace all of them with nothing. You can get rid of all the e-mail addresses just by deleting. Clean it up, then send it. -- Duncan

10. Be clear in your subject line. With inboxes being clogged by hundreds of e-mails a day, it's crucial that your subject line gets to the point. It should be reasonably simple and descriptive of what you have written about. Expect that any e-mail with a cute, vague, or obscure subject will get trashed. Also, proof your subject line as carefully as you would proof the rest of the e-mail. -- Post

11. Don't get mistaken for Spam. Avoid subject lines that are in all caps, all lower case, and those that include URLs and exclamation points - which tend to look like Spam to the recipient. -- Judith Kallos,
author of E-Mail Etiquette Made Easy, E-Mail: The Manual, and E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide

12. Your subject line must match the message. Never open an old e-mail, hit Reply, and send a message that has nothing to do with the previous one. Do not hesitate to change the subject as soon as the thread or content of the e-mail chain changes. -- Peggy Duncan, personal productivity expert and author of Conquer Email Overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook 2007

13. Provide a warning when sending large attachments. Sending unannounced large attachments can clog the receiver's inbox and cause other important e-mails to bounce. If you are sending something that is over 500KB, senders should ask, 'Would you mind if I sent you an attachment? When would be the best time for you?' -- Kallos

14. No more than two attachments, and provide a logical name. Unless it's been specifically requested, refrain from sending a message with more than two attachments. Also, give the attached file(s) a logical name so the recipient knows at a glance the subject and the sender. -- Duncan

15. Send or copy others only on a need to know basis. Before you click Reply All or put names on the Cc or Bcc lines, ask yourself if all the recipients need the information in your message. If they don't, why send it? Take time to send your messages to the right people. -- Duncan

16. Beware of the "reply all." Do not hit "reply all" unless every member on the e-mail chain needs to know. You want to make sure that you are not sending everyone on a list your answer-;whether they needed to know or not. -- Duncan

17. Pick up the phone. When a topic has lots of parameters that need to be explained or negotiated and will generate too many questions and confusion, don't handle it via e-mail. Also, e-mail should not be used for last minute cancellations of meetings, lunches, interviews, and never for devastating news. If you have an employee or a friend you need to deliver bad news to, a phone call is preferable. If it's news you have to deliver to a large group, e-mail is more practical. -- Duncan

18. Evaluate the importance of your e-mail. Don't overuse the high priority option. If you overuse this feature, few people will take it seriously. A better solution is to use descriptive subject lines that explain exactly what a message is about. -- Duncan

19. Maintain privacy. If you're sending a message to a group of people and you need to protect the privacy of your list, you should always use "Bcc." Additionally, avoid giving out e-mail addresses to a third party (such as an Evite, newsletter, etc). Make sure that addresses you willingly hand over to third parties stay with them, especially when the service they're offering is free. -- Duncan

20. Keep it short and get to the point. The long e-mail is a thing of the past. Write concisely, with lots of white space, so as to not overwhelm the recipient. Make sure when you look at what you're sending it doesn't look like a burden to read - feel free to use bullet points. The person reading your e-mail should not have to dig through several paragraphs in order to figure out what you're asking. You should state the purpose of the e-mail within the first two sentences. Be clear, and be up front. -- Lindsey Pollak, career and workplace expert, e-mail etiquette consultant, and author of Getting From College to Career

21. Know your audience. Your e-mail greeting and sign-off should be consistent with the level of respect and formality of the person you're communicating with. Also, write for the person who will be reading it - if they tend to be very polite and formal, write in that language. The same goes for a receiver who tends to be more informal and relaxed. -- Lindsey Pollak, career and workplace expert, e-mail etiquette consultant, and author of Getting From College to Career

22. Always include a signature. You never want someone to have to look up how to get in touch with you. If you're social media savvy, include all of your social media information in your signature as well. Your e-mail signature is a great way to let people know more about you, especially when your e-mail address is does not include your full name or company. -- Pollak

23. Only use an auto-responder when necessary. An automatic response that says, "Thank you for your e-mail message. I will respond to you as soon as I can" is useless. However, one thing these messages do great is alert spammers that your e-mail is real and that they can add you to their spam list. -- Peggy Duncan, personal productivity expert and author of Conquer Email Overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook 2007

24. Train your staff. Business owners should make sure their staff is trained in e-mail communications - don't assume they know what they're doing, and what is considered professional. Set up e-mail standards that everyone at the company should abide by. -- Pollak

25. Your e-mail is a reflection of you. Every e-mail you send adds to, or detracts from your reputation. If your e-mail is scattered, disorganized, and filled with mistakes, the recipient will be inclined to think of you as a scattered, careless, and disorganized businessperson. Other people's opinions matter and in the professional world, their perception of you will be critical to your success. -- Peter Post, director of the Burlington, Vermont-based Emily Post Institute, which offers etiquette advice and answers to manners questions such as wedding etiquette, parenting issues and table manners.

Editorial Disclosure: Inc. writes about products and services in this and other articles. These articles are editorially independent - that means editors and reporters research and write on these products free of any influence of any marketing or sales departments. In other words, no one is telling our reporters or editors what to write or to include any particular positive or negative information about these products or services in the article. The article's content is entirely at the discretion of the reporter and editor. You will notice, however, that sometimes we include links to these products and services in the articles. When readers click on these links, and buy these products or services, Inc may be compensated. This e-commerce based advertising model - like every other ad on our article pages - has no impact on our editorial coverage. Reporters and editors don't add those links, nor will they manage them. This advertising model, like others you see on Inc, supports the independent journalism you find on this site.

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25 Tips for Perfecting Your Email Etiquette

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the age of the Internet, you might find yourself clicking "reply," typing up a quick response, and hitting "send" without giving so much as a thought about what you've just written. But experts agree that your e-mail behavior has the potential to sabotage your reputation both personally and professionally.

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This video discusses the techniques of skimming your finding and deep diving into them.

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If writing isn't your strongest skill, you might find value in this breakdown from Grammarly

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How to Write a Proper Email: Make the Right Impression | Grammarly

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Whether you're an up-and-coming young professional or a seasoned manager, email writing is a vital aspect of business communication. And thanks to what's often seen as the mysteries of English grammar and the subtleties of the written word, it can be a daily struggle. That's especially true if you have to motivate busy people to respond or address a potentially touchy subject. To write a great email, you need to know two things: common mistakes to avoid, and next-level strategies to get ahead.

But first things first-you have to know what a great email looks like if you're going to write one.

Anatomy of a good email

Every email you write has the same basic structure: Subject line, greeting, email body, and closing. But as with every written form of professional communication, there's a right way to do it and standards that should be followed. Here's how to write a proper email:

1 Subject line

The subject line could be the most important part of the email, though it's often overlooked in favor of the email body. But if you're cold-emailing someone, or just establishing a professional relationship, your subject line can entice people to open the message as well as set expectations about what's enclosed. On the other hand, a poorly crafted or generic subject line (like "Hi" or "You don't wAnt to miss thos") can deter the reader and result in your email landing in the spam folder.

"Spend double the amount of time crafting the right subject line as you do on the [body] because if they don't open the email, it doesn't matter," says Cole Schafer, founder and copy chief of Honey Copy.

In most email writing situations, you'll want to include a quick greeting to acknowledge the reader before diving into your main message or request.

The exception: When you're on an email chain with close colleagues, it often becomes more natural to drop the opener (as well as the closing). Though it may initially feel like a faux pas, it signals a better professional rapport.

The body of an email is the meat of your message, and it must have a clear and specific purpose, such as getting feedback on a presentation or arranging a meeting with a new client. It should also be concise. That way, people will be more inclined to read it, rather than skimming it and risking missing critical information. If you can, boil it down to a few choice sentences.

And for emails that require more length and detail, keep it as focused as you can. "Nobody wants to receive a novel. You want to keep it between three, four, or five lines of text," says Schafer.

Just as you want to start things off on the right foot with your greeting, you also want to part well. That means writing a friendly sign-off. And there are plenty of options to choose from.

For example, here are 12 common, and professional, closings that Grammarly users chose on a given day:

You'll want to choose a closing that feels genuine to your personality and tailor it to the relationship to ensure an appropriate level of professionalism. On the other hand, common closings like "love," " sent from iphone," or "thx," may be best left unused in professional emails.

8 common email writing mistakes (and what to do instead)

Just as every email is an opportunity for professional growth, there's also the potential to fall into common email writing bad habits. Here are eight mistakes to avoid:

1 Omitting necessary Oxford commas

The Oxford comma can be somewhat polarizing when thinking about how to write a proper email, depending on which style guide is utilized for professional communications in your industry -it's usually either shunned or hailed as a tool for clarification. Either way, a lot of people have strong opinions about it. But leaving them out can lead to confusion, depending on the sentence.

What to do instead: While the Oxford comma may not be suitable in certain contexts, it's usually a good idea to use them in emails. That's because it can help you save time and avoid miscommunication, confusion, and even legal trouble.

Grammarly users know that when it comes to hedging, it's better to omit it than leave it in, especially in emails. And if you're worried about coming off as impolite, don't be: Contrary to popular belief, hedging language makes you sound less confident, which can ultimately undermine your writing.

What to do instead: State your idea or opinion, then explain the "why" behind your reasoning. That way, you'll be better understood and your brilliance can shine through.

3 Extremely long and/or unclear copy

Would you read an email that was 1,000 words long? Probably not-most people skim emails that are on the long side. And if you add hard-to-follow sentences or mixed messages, to your draft, you're even less likely to get a satisfactory response. (Or any response.)

"I get a ton of [emails] that are just these huge blocks of text. And I understand why they do that-so you have enough detail. But it's really hard to read and I'm not going to read the whole thing," says Kat Boogaard, a Wisconsin-based freelance writer.

What to do instead: Keep it concise and focus on the matter at hand. Then end with a call to action, a requested response date, and make it clear that you're open to questions and follow-ups (if that's the case).

4 Being too casual (or formal)

Depending on your circumstances, wavering too much to the casual or formal side of writing can be a misstep. Being overly casual is often seen as a rookie mistake, but stiff, formal language can also be detrimental to your message.

What to do instead: In striking the perfect balance between formal and casual, the key is thinking about the relationship between yourself and the recipient and take social cues as your communication progresses.

"You kind of want to see what someone else is doing and participate, play along, sort of acknowledge the way communication develops and the way expectations in a relationship develop," says Dan Post Senning, an etiquette expert at the Emily Post Institute.

Here's a tip: While GIFs and emojis can be great for creating a sense of comradery between coworkers, these can be seen as overly casual in many contexts.

Not all email cliches are cardinal sins. Certain aspects of your emails are bound to be a little formulaic. After all, most emails have the same basic structure, and there are phrases that you may use to ensure clarity or cover your bases. But if you're going to repeat phrases, make sure they have a clear purpose.

As Kiera Wright-Ruiz, a social media manager at Google's Local Guides puts it, "Even though I always repeat, 'please let me know if you have any questions,' I actually do want to know if they have questions."

However, most of the time, you'll want to edit out cliches whenever possible since they can make people tune out. Here are the top seven to avoid:

Please find attached

Thank you in advance

I look forward to hearing from you

Per our conversation

I hope you are doing well

To whom it may concern

Sorry for the late reply

Method: We searched for terms used by Grammarly users based on our most popular blog articles.

What to do instead: Try reading the draft for cliches, tone, and voice to more effectively communicate your message while keeping the reader engaged. Ask yourself: If your boss (or mom) read this email, would you be happy with it? If the answer is yes, then you're on the right track.

6 Repetition

People often repeat words within the same paragraph, twice in two sentences, or just too close together to go unnoticed. While it's not the worst offense, it's another thing that can make a reader tune out.

Here are the most commonly repeated words to avoid:

What to do instead: Try reading your draft out loud, using the text-to-speech function on your phone, or running it by a colleague before sending it off. Grammarly can also help you catch these repeated or overused words.

7 Robotic language

Email may be a descendant of snail mail, but that doesn't mean your messages should sound like an old-timey version of yourself. In fact, emails should sound like the person who is writing it. So using phrases that sound like something out of a Victorian novel isn't the best move if you want to connect with the reader.

"Let's face it: Nobody wants to read a college textbook. You want to read a blog or an article or a real conversation. They're a person, they're not a robot. So use language that sounds like something you would say if you're just sitting in a coffee shop," says copy chief Schafer.

What to do instead: You can get a more natural effect by pretending you're writing to a friend or having a conversation with a friendly acquaintance. For example, you probably wouldn't say something like, "Greetings" and "I hope the weather is fair where you are" if you were meeting someone for coffee. You'd say something like, "Hi" and "Thanks again for your time."

8 Overuse of exclamation points!

Enthusiasm is great. But in certain contexts, the overuse of exclamation points can do more harm than good. This is especially true if you're forging a new relationship or contacting someone outside of your company. You are, after all, a representative of your work when you use a company email address. But people love exclamation points, and they're still something that many people rely on to convey a positive tone.

For example, here are the most common sentences and words people use with exclamation points in emails:

What to do instead: After you've written your draft, do a quick search for exclamation points and use your judgment to determine which (if any) to keep based on your relationship with the recipient. As a general rule, try to keep it to one or two per email with colleagues.

Next-level email writing moves

Once you've got the proper email format and you know what mistakes to avoid, it's time to focus on making your drafts stand out from the myriad emails most people get every day. Here are four strategies to take yours to the next level:

Think positive

Sending an email that is remotely negative, or even neutral, can put you in a tricky place. And as with any written communication, there may be room for misinterpretation.

"In the absence of other information, our interpretation often defaults to the negative," explains communication-etiquette expert Post Senning. "When you're talking about negative communication, you're [missing] the information that is tone of voice, the twinkle in your eye, the good humor that you intend something with or even the genuine care or concern with which you're offering critique. So be really careful. When something reads as negative to you, it probably comes across as even more negative to someone else."

Strike the right tone

You wouldn't want to get an email that reads, "Dear [client]," or which references your work in public relations when you're actually in sales, because it would immediately show that the sender is either mass emailing you, or they didn't do the proper research and find the right contact. Similarly, you'll want to make sure that every email you send has a tone that's crafted specifically for the recipient, and that you're sending it to the right person.

So even though it may be tempting to use templates, it's important to personalize it and keep in mind the communication style of the recipient before hitting send. To accomplish this, a quick Google search or a peek at the recipient's LinkedIn or Twitter feed can do wonders.

Before sending, try putting yourself in the recipient's shoes for a gut-check on tone and content. And if you have a hard time reading your own tone in email, Grammarly's tone detector can help you determine how you sound to your recipient.

Follow up-in good time

If you're sending an email, you're likely looking for a timely response. But with the large amounts of emails most people sort through each day, things can end up getting lost. As a general rule, a follow-up message should never come less than twenty-four hours after sending the initial email.

In other words: Don't be the person who sends a follow-up request two hours after sending. In extreme cases, that kind of behavior can even get you blocked. "When you're taking more time and actually caring about the person on the other side of the email, you're immediately going to see a much higher response rate. I had to learn that the hard way," says copy chief Schafer.

Make it easy on the eyes

Most of the messages you send will likely be on the shorter side, which is great for rapid responses and getting things done. But for longer emails, scannability is the name of the game. That's when things like bolded font, bullet points, underlined sentences, and a TL;DR (too long, didn't read) section come in handy.

There are a lot of factors to keep in mind when composing an email, and there's a wide margin of error. But after all is said and done, it isn't about perfection. It's about effective communication.

"I think people feel this pressure that you need to be this perfect communicator with this huge vocabulary and these perfectly structured sentences. And I don't know that that's always the case because you're just two people, communicating," says freelance writer Boogaard.
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Email is a powerful tool - use it wisely.

If you already get more business emails than you care to open, read, and respond to, you're definitely not alone. According to Statista, roughly 281 billion emails were sent and received each day in 2018 - and the figure is expected to increase to over 347 billion daily emails by 2023.

Emails are a part of business, for both employed professionals and job seekers alike. Since most people are being inundated with emails every day, you want to do everything you can to ensure that the emails you send get read. From a respectful email greeting to a professional email format, writing well can make a big difference. So read on for professional email etiquette tips that will increase the odds of your emails being read rather than trashed.

Specify your subject line

Title your email in such a way that the recipient immediately knows what the message is actually about.

For instance, if you're emailing to inform a colleague about a specific meeting, you can title your email something like, "Info about budget meeting." If you're sending an email to inform a co-worker about an impromptu meeting, you might title the email something like "Meeting in the conference room at 2 p.m. today." All in all, you want your title to get to the point right away.

Use a professional email address

Proper email etiquette calls for sending emails from your business email address, rather than a personal email address. Using a personal email address for business purposes can be seen as unprofessional by some, especially if you're discussing confidential matters. Also, by keeping your business and personal email separate, you are ensuring that nothing urgent gets lost amid spam emails, marketing messages, and other personal communications.

Use professional email greetings

While it may be tempting to use informal salutations when emailing associates and friends at work, you should use the same professional greetings you typically would if writing business correspondence with pen and paper. So think "Hello" rather than "Hey."

Other examples of greetings you can use include:

(Mostly) avoid "reply all"

It's usually a good idea to forego the temptation to hit the "reply all" option when sending professional emails.

Proper email etiquette aside, it can be quite annoying for people to be included in a group email if the content of the message has nothing to do with them. So be considerate and only hit "reply all" if the message would be of interest to all of the recipients.

Another way to avoid spamming people with unwanted emails? Utilize the polite alternative of moving to BCC. This means that if someone were to "reply all" to a message with both CC'ed and BCC'ed parties, only the CC'ed parties would receive the reply. By moving someone to BCC, you are keeping the conversation going without that person - sparing them emails they don't need to read. Just make sure you inform them that you will be BCC'ing them beforehand; you don't want to kick someone off the email thread without being transparent.

Proofread

Sometimes people pay less attention to spelling and grammar when composing emails than when writing actual letters, which is the way business correspondence was traditionally done. But the truth is that proper spelling and grammar still counts, even in the virtual world. After writing your email, read it out loud to ensure that there are no errors, as they could overshadow your message. The reason for reading it out loud is that sometimes your ears will catch something that your eyes skim over.

Keep it short and sweet

When it comes to your business emails, the shorter the better. Keeping your emails concise and to the point means not only less time spent crafting your email, but also a timely response from the person you emailed. Trust us - no one wants to read a novel in their inbox.

Acknowledge emails

With business email etiquette, it's always a good idea to send a response, regardless of if the person emailing you requests one. You should not only acknowledge all emails, but also do so in a timely fashion.

This sort of courtesy is not always extended, and you'll be surprised at how much your professionalism can set you apart.

Avoid all caps

Using all capital letters in written communication is like shouting in a face-to-face conversation - and no one likes to be yelled at. So it's usually not appropriate or proper email etiquette to employ all caps in order to convey your message.

If you know what you want to say, let your words show how you feel and leave the caps lock button alone. One obvious exception would be if you're using acronyms or initialisms.

Examples of common business acronyms and initialisms in professional emails:

Attach carefully

In the event that you need to send large attachments, you should first ask the intended recipient whether or not doing so is OK. Assuming you get the go-ahead, you should use a program to compress or zip the attachment so that it takes up less space in the recipient's email inbox. It's also a good idea to let the recipient know when you plan to send the attachment.

Another great alternative to email attachments is sending links to files that are hosted using cloud storage such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Not only will this take up a lot less space, but it will also allow you to host multiple files and stay organized. Instead of leafing through emails and finding the right attachments, you and your co-workers can have everything in one place. Plus, most cloud storage providers are free up to a certain GB, so you won't break the bank.

Double-check the email address

When it comes to business matters, the last thing you want is to send an email to the wrong person. That's why you should double-check the recipient's info before hitting the "send" button. If you make a habit of verifying the receiver's info, you'll avoid making these mistakes.

Some email providers, such as Gmail, also offer a feature called "Undo Send." Upon hitting send the first time, an option will appear at the bottom of your browser window asking you if you want to undo this action before it permanently sends. If you accidentally added the wrong person, this is a life-changer. Instead of pinging them with an email not meant for their eyes, you get another chance to send it to the right person without causing any harm.

Sign off in style

It's a good idea to have an email signature as a component of your corporate identity. It will make your emails come off looking more legitimate and professional. In fact, you can look at your email signature as the digital equivalent of your business card. That said, you want your email signature to be as properly formatted as your printed business card. So drop the multiple font types and go for standardization to present a nice, professional image. Even with an email signature, you should still close your message with a professional sign off.

Examples of professional email sign offs include:

Further help

If you're not sure of the right thing to say in your next email, we've got examples and email templates for these common professional situations:

Conclusion

As you can see, there's quite a bit to think about when it comes to email etiquette at work. Email in the workplace is a fact of life, and there is research that suggests that this will be the case in the years ahead as businesses continue to rely on emails to communicate both internally and externally. What this means is that you need to learn how to use email effectively, particularly if you want your messages to be read rather than deleted.

Maintaining a professional image includes communicating properly, and that, of course, includes emails. Email is a powerful, professional tool, both in the workplace and for networking, and these email etiquette tips will give you a good start.
Before you email your resume to your prospective employer, is it the best it can be? Check today with a free resume review.
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It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

Focus on the information in the article that is relevant to your research question (you may be able to skim over other parts). Think critically about what you read and build your argument based on it.

Organize your Notes

1. After you take notes, re-read them.

2. Then re-organize them by putting similar information together. Working with your notes involves re-grouping them by topic instead of by source. Re-group your notes by re-shuffling your index cards or by color-coding or using symbols to code notes in a notebook.

3. Review the topics of your newly-grouped notes. If the topics do not answer your research question or support your working thesis directly, you may need to do additional research or re-think your original research.

4. During this process you may find that you have taken notes that do not answer your research question or support your working thesis directly. Don't be afraid to throw them away.

It may have struck you that you just read a lot of "re" words: re-read, re-organize, re-group, re-shuffle, re-think. That's right; working with your notes essentially means going back and reviewing how this "new" information fits with your own thoughts about the topic or issue of the research.

Grouping your notes will enable you to outline the major sections and then the paragraphs of your research paper.
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5 Essential Elements of Every Community Outreach Plan

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Community outreach is a unique discipline within public relations.

For public agencies trying to change consumption behavior, developers wanting to inform a neighborhood of a change or non-profits hoping to gain support, the challenge is to influence the community as an outsider.

Along with posing additional communication challenges, the major difficulty for community outreach-and its differentiator from other forms of public relations -is that your target audience is typically not interested in what you're trying to say.

Think about it.

People seek products or services to solve immediate pain points. If there's no perceived problem, there's no need to seek a solution. Community members going about their daily lives typically aren't:

Proactively looking to change their behavior

Hoping to become informed about something they aren't aware of

Picking up another cause to support

In short, the people you're trying to communicate with don't know about your project and don't care.

Clearly, the main goal of community outreach is to make the target audience care, but the "how" is where some organizations miss the mark.

As with all sound communication plans, there is no silver bullet to achieve program objectives. Instead, organizations must develop a strategy that leverages the right content, across the right channels, at the right time.

It's easier said than done, but to ease the process, here are five crucial elements to developing an effective and efficient community outreach plan.
1. A good understanding of the target audience
Rule #1 of good communication: Know your audience.

What this really means is to know what unifies the community and what's important to them so you can effectively tailor your outreach.

Once you know what the community finds important, you'll be able to communicate how your project aligns with those values. The community is going to ask themselves, "so what?" to any new information thrown at them, and your outreach should always answer that question.
2. Be proactive
Since you know the community is going to question the information you're trying to convey, be proactive in explaining what's in it for them. Seize the opportunity to control messages that will make a first impression. If you don't, the door is open for detractors and the ill-informed to steal your thunder or create turbulence that will compete against accurate information.

Proactivity is necessary across all channels where conversations in the community are happening. Make sure journalists covering the beat are informed, have a website and social media presence to push information and identify other touch points to utilize. The more information you provide, the more you empower the community to be involved in the process.
3. Community partnerships
Find creative, mutually beneficial ways to partner with organizations already serving the audience you want to connect with. These groups have built trust with their members and those they influence, so a partnership serves as third-party validation of your organization, the project and its mission.

The best partnerships are with groups whose purpose aligns with the goals of your project. Determine how your project is complementary to their mission because you don't want to compete for the same attention.
4. Engage in-person
The old saying, "advertisements don't sell products, people sell products" is true for community outreach. Make creating face time with the community a priority in your strategy.

People are skeptical. Face-to-face meetings are important for removing that skepticism and creating personal relationships. Even better, get influencers involved in creating a solution early on so that they become ambassadors for the project and its goals.

Always remember that communities want to be a part of the process, not have something thrust on them.
5. Be responsive
Being part of the process also means dialogue should flow two ways. Some community input should find its way into the plan. Too often, agencies bring a 95% developed solution to a community and don't leave room for responsiveness.

The engagement must be early enough in the process to allow for stakeholder input. If you know a component of a project is a perfect fit for the community, engage them in a way that allows them to "discover" that component as a solution. People always love to support their own ideas.

Of course, the most important part is presenting a project that is valuable to the target community. Once you've identified the value, there are many different techniques and strategies to communicate it effectively. However, you only get one shot at a first impression, which is why it's always best to call on the communications experts for support.

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In the time before the Internet, salespeople would cold call prospective clients and sell their services via the telephone or pursue new business in person. Nowadays, a single email can put you in touch with influencers, clients, brand ambassadors and anyone else who could be vital in marketing your product or service. Through email outreach, you don't even have to pick up the phone. All you need is content to promote and an email account.

What is outreach and why do you need to do it?

Email outreach is a marketing tool that allows you to forge relationships with like-minded individuals or companies in order to help build your brand. Due to the large volume of websites that already live on the Internet, it's important that yours stands out enough to get noticed. The more you get noticed, the more your brand grows and can reach more people. The more people you reach, the more conversions you're likely to make. Conversions lead to sales and sales, of course, lead to revenue.

Due to the large volume of websites that already live on the Internet, it's important that yours stands out enough to get noticed.

No matter the size of your company or what product/service you're promoting, email outreach should play a key role in your overall marketing strategy. As with anything you do online, such as using social media and peppering your site with SEO keywords, you need an effective strategy so you don't unintentionally turn off potential customers, brand ambassadors and influencers.

On average, office professionals receive almost 100 emails per day, and for marketers many of those emails are asking for blog promotions or social media shoutouts. Proactively sending an email is great but you need to make sure it gets read. When people are bombarded day in and day out with emails it's safe to say some of them only get skimmed, which is a key element in planning your email outreach campaigns. When you succeed at email outreach you get the benefits of:

Increased traffic: All it takes is one link from an influencer to boost traffic to your site.

Better reach: Your content will be exposed to people that aren't subscribers or following your site who have the potential to be converted and drive growth.

Improved credibility: If the goal is to be an expert in your field, having other experts linking to your site and promoting your brand will help you appear more credible.

Make your outreach strategy a success in seven steps

1. Prospect the right contact

You shouldn't send your outreach emails to just anybody. You need to do your research to determine which company, blogger or expert's site your content fits in with. There are four key categories of people you should be reaching out to.

High rollers

These are the mega-influencers and experts. High rollers are high-profile individuals or companies that specialize in exactly what you do except they've made a name for themselves doing it. High rollers have vast audiences and extended reach that, should they decide to link to your site or feature your content, you'll be virtually introduced to. Unfortunately, high rollers rarely respond to emails from recipients they don't know. In order to raise your chances of a high roller reading your email, you'll need a killer email subject line. We'll cover this in #2.

Medium rollers

Not as well-known as high rollers, these are people who are able to maintain a sizable audience. Medium rollers are experts in their field and are more likely to respond to emails from senders they don't know. The best way to approach medium rollers is to ask for guidance or position yourself as someone who would like to get to their level and want advice on how to do that. With medium rollers, flattery will get you everywhere and if your content is good they'll share it without you having to ask. To reach medium rollers, you'll need a personalized email message. We'll cover this in #3.

Tiny rollers

Tiny rollers are influencers who like you, are trying to build their audience. These people are perfect for an email outreach campaign because you'll both benefit. They get to share your well-crafted content and you do the same with theirs so you can both build your followings simultaneously. Tiny rollers will be more likely to let you guest post on their site and in turn, you should let them do the same on yours. To get tiny rollers to respond to your email you'll need to demonstrate your and their value. We'll cover this in #4.

Almost rollers

These are people who are just getting started. They may have a new website but don't have enough traffic. Almost rollers are looking for people like you to swap content with like tiny rollers. Almost rollers barely have an audience and a link from their site may not be worth very much; however, they will respond to your email. Targeting an almost roller with an outreach campaign is good practice for when you move on to those with bigger followings. Almost rollers are easy to reach. All you need is a call to action to prompt them to want to share your content or link to your site. We'll cover this in #5.

2. Use a catchy email subject line

A clear subject line that gets right to the point is crucial. You need to position yourself and pitch your content in one short sentence. The subject line is the first thing the recipient of your outreach email will see and if it doesn't catch their eye, they're not reading your email. Your subject line needs to be easy to understand, direct, specific and relate to your pitch. Something like " please link to my content " is not going to work so it's important to get creative. Here are some examples:

Visual for <SingleGrain>: Data-driven approach in <...>

Loved your post on <Hubspot>. Have some insights to share

Should I stay or should I go?

3. Add personalization

You need the body of your email to be personalized to the person you're sending it to. If you send the same email to different influencers they'll catch on and you'll be blacklisted.

By personalizing the email body to the recipient you are showing them that you are very familiar with their work, their audience and you understand how valuable they are. You should also ask for guidance if you are targeting a medium roller. Butter them up without groveling and they'll be more inclined to share your content or link to it on their site.

4. Demonstrate value

The body of your email needs to demonstrate your value. To do so, effectively communicate how valuable you are to the recipient of your email and vice versa. Show how linking to your site or posting your content on theirs adds value on both sides. Avoid long-winded pitches. Be concise and persuasive without begging for a link or a retweet and get the timing right.

Make sure what you are pushing is timely and relevant to their expertise and audience. Don't push content that you wrote a year ago or compliment them on something they posted back in the day. Remain current and you'll demonstrate how valuable you are to them and how they can be valuable to you.

5. Don't forget the call to action (CTA)

A good CTA will get you somewhere, whereas a great CTA will get you everywhere. A great call to action (CTA) will have a request, a link to the content you want them to look at and explicitly state what they need to do (whether it's a link to your site, retweet, or a post for your content). You will need two CTAs. The first within your pitch and the second at the end. The initial CTA will have the link to your content and the second one is a reminder/invitation of what you're asking for.

6. Follow up

Whether you've heard from the recipient or not, you need to follow up. Allow 3-4 days before initiating a follow-up email. The recipient may be very busy and did read your email but needs a few days to respond. When you do send a follow-up email, point back to the original pitch but tweak the message accordingly while still demonstrating your value.

Wait another few days after sending your follow-up email before crafting another one. If after following up twice you still don't get a response, it's time to move on. You can still contact this person in the future but wait a few months. Each follow-up email should be professional and polite, no matter how frustrated you are.

7. Track your campaign

All email outreach campaigns need to be tracked. It's the best way to measure your response rates and see which companies are outwardly saying "no" to your pitch and which ones are engaging with you. To help you stay organized while tracking your email outreach campaign, there is software available that is designed specifically for this purpose.

Outreach software like Mailshake can track how many links and attachments were opened and let you know who is opening them and when. Plus, outreach software will sync your emails so you don't have to do manual data entry every time you send another email as part of our campaign.

Here are some tools that we use for the outreach process at TechWyse, an SEO agency based in Toronto, Canada:

Voila Norbert - Email collection

Fullcontact - Email verification

URL Profiler - Data enrichment

Mailshake - Outreach

> Check out this comprehensive comparison of outreach tools- Spotlight Pitchbox vs Ninja Outreach vs Buzzstream vs Mailshake.

Now that you know how to effectively create an email outreach strategy, go forth and build some links! We would love to know how you get on, so let us know your experience in the comments section below.

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7 Elements of a Successful Outreach Strategy

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In the time before the Internet, salespeople would cold call prospective clients and sell their services via the telephone or pursue new business in person. Nowadays, a single email can put you in touch with influencers, clients, brand ambassadors and anyone else who could be vital in marketing your product or service.

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In the digital age of marketing, PR outreach has never been more important. Whether it's an attempt to secure a guest blogging position or a request for an interview with an industry leader, you can't afford to approach PR without a focused strategy or adequate preparation. In particular, you'll want to understand what is and is not appropriate.

Let's start by analyzing the best tips and advice:
Research before pitching. Offer something in return.
Additionally, you'll want to avoid making the following mistakes:
Additional Tactics and Techniques
If you've exhausted your opportunities or can't find a way to connect with industry resources, maybe one of the following advanced strategies can help:
Send a product trial or sample. Make a face-to-face connection.
Ultimately, it all comes down to your due diligence and patience. Relationships aren't built overnight and you can't afford to waste your time with people that don't align with your brand, business, or message. By focusing on these five do's and four don'ts, as well as the additional tactics and techniques mentioned in the latter section, you can increase your chances of successfully partnering with industry leaders and media sources.

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9 Valuable Tips for Conducting PR Outreach

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In the digital age of marketing, PR outreach has never been more important. Whether it's an attempt to secure a guest blogging position or a request for an interview with an industry leader, you can't afford to approach PR without a focused strategy or adequate preparation.

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