Get to the Point

Advocates frequently confuse “implicit” and “explicit” in writing and particularly in oral argument.

You may be called on to write an obituary on behalf of your firm. Consider what the decedent would want people to know.

To avoid putting the proverbial keyboard in your mouth, do not use words or phrases until you are 100 percent certain of the meaning.

No, we don't mean your words go into the garbage. A tipsy vocabulary may enrich your communications. In the right case, soused language can be spot-on.

Stay away from shortcut, cutesy or slang expressions about hot-button issues such as racism, sexual harassment or the Holocaust.

Now lawyers use every term they can think of because some court somewhere once said the language in the contract didn’t cover the dispute. Sometimes that’s a good reason, but often it is not. Rather than a considered approach, most lawyers start ...

As you edit your work product, pay special attention to instances where a stronger verb could replace a verb and its direct object. Besides being less persuasive, weak verbs plus explanatory words lengthen your writing [not, “make it longer”].

Just because you see a word or phrase in public media doesn’t mean it is being used correctly. Here are five common incorrect usages. Nicole Kidman’s husband is real. Because a person is famous does not make that person an ...

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 ...

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 ...