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Get to the Point

Do Your Gestures Belie Your Words?

My "Get to the Point!" columns talk about writing and speaking. But you communicate another way, too — through body language. Studies show that your gestures may speak more loudly than your words and can even contradict them. You may have ...

Theda C. Snyder - February 7, 2018
Profanity in the Legal Workplace

Oh, balderdash! I just read that using profanity enhances team building in the workplace. Say what? Apparently, a vocabulary of four-letter words brands you as part of the “in” group in the information technology industry, and the practice is ...

Theda C. Snyder - January 10, 2018
You Lost Me Right From the Start: Avoiding Communication Turn-offs

You’re articulate, right? You appreciate and emulate good legal writing. So why do you turn off so many listeners and readers so soon?

Theda C. Snyder - December 12, 2017
The Death of Capitalization

It started with the iPod, the iPad and the iPhone. Capital letters appeared in places they never appeared before. Grammar rules call for capitalizing proper names, but now the correct reference to some brands calls for capitalizing in the middle ...

Theda C. Snyder - November 7, 2017
You Can Conduct an Internet Search, But Should You Google?

I once defended a product liability case where the client was adamant that the product always be called a “personal watercraft.” It most definitely was not, he insisted, a Jet-Ski. The issue was the use of a trademark to refer to a similar ...

Theda C. Snyder - October 3, 2017
Don’t Be Tricked by These False Friends

Some words sound like they mean one thing when they actually mean something very different. Using one of these false friends incorrectly could cause you a problem. But It Sounded Right … The term “false friends” traditionally refers to words ...

Theda C. Snyder - September 11, 2017
Contronyms: Context Controls Comprehension

Sanctions. That word has always troubled me. It’s a contronym, a word that has opposite meanings. Lawyers know that a motion for sanctions asks the court to penalize an adversary’s bad act. But other English speakers define a sanction as a ...

Theda C. Snyder - August 7, 2017
Why Superlatives May Not Be So Super

Get to the Point has previously preached that specificity enhances credibility. In fact, I’m working on a cross-stitch with this aphorism to place on the office wall. Using an unsupported superlative flouts this rule.

Theda C. Snyder - June 13, 2017
Qualifiers Do Not Increase Quality

You can’t be persuasive if your message is confusing. Whether you’re arguing a motion or giving an interview on a political issue, clarity is what counts. A qualifier changes the meaning of another word or phrase. Too many qualifiers convolute ...

Theda C. Snyder - May 10, 2017
You Can’t Practice Law Without Math

A big part of a lawyer’s role is negotiation, and that means numbers. A lawyer has to be able to calculate the value of whatever is being negotiated. Case evaluation is part art and a lot of math. Pulling a number out of the air and hoping the ...

Theda C. Snyder - April 12, 2017
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