Ch. 2

This chapter contained a lot of useful tips for presenting yourself well both in and out of the workplace. Since I am still fairly new to the office environment, it was nice reading some things that I have been doing well and some other items I could improve upon. I spend a lot of time on the phone, so I especially enjoyed the table with helpful phone tips.

The tips on teamwork were also helpful. I do not work in teams much at work, but will definitely be using some of these ideas for collaborative writing in the upcoming projects.

Ch. 11

Despite this chapter being about the mechanics of reports and proposals, I actually found it quite interesting. It was helpful to learn all the vocabulary words of these types of documents that I hear all the time, but never knew exactly what they referred to.

The same goes for the discussion on charts and other visual aides. While I am not responsible for producing many reports and proposals in my current position, I know this will all be excellent information to reference as I begin ton advance my career (hopefully).

Ch. 5

This chapter contained a lot of excellent tips for conciseness and clarity. I especially liked all of the examples of re-worked sentences. I find that reading good writing helps me absorb it into my own writing habits.

Paragraphing, using headings, cutting out unnecessary words, etc… are all techniques I have already heard of, but seeing them in action and reading about why they help, further encourages me to always be mindful of how I can make my messages more simple and effective.