• Grammar and spelling errors
• Frustration at not knowing the correct rule for a grammatical construction
• Issues with false friends and not knowing the correct word in English
• Problems with consistency in quality in the written English you produce
• Writing in English takes you a lot of time
• Failing to find the correct style, tone and even dialect for your audience

Fortunately, with the Linguix writing assistant, these mistakes and frustrations can become a thing of the past. Here is how Linguix can help you write more fluently in English:

Linguix identifies the grammar and spelling mistakes that you make

You may struggle with the spelling of particular words in English (everybody does). Or there may be particular grammar points that always catch you out. Linguix will identify these mistakes for you and give you the suitable (and correct) alternative.

But Linguix does more than that. Because you don’t want to be making the same old mistakes over and over. So what you need is information regarding why what you have written is wrong. You might not know, after all, why what you have written is a mistake in the first place.

Linguix gives you detailed rules descriptions so you not only fix the mistake, but you stop making it in future too.

Linguix can help you write in the correct tone and dialect

Knowing your audience is an essential part of writing effectively, and can really make a difference in situations such as writing marketing text. But when English is not your first language it can be a little difficult to strike the write tone and voice in your writing. For example, you may sound overly formal when you were aiming for a more conversational, friendly tone. And then, of course, there are slightly different English dialects that you may need to master to ensure that you are reaching the right audience in the right way.

Linguix can solve these style and dialect problems for you. 

First, in the settings menu set the English dialect that you wish to write in. Here you can also personalize the style that you mostly write in.

Next, in your sidebar you can click on the ‘audience’ tab and then select the tone and voice you are looking to use in your text.

Now all of your mistakes will be assessed with the parameters you have set in mind. So if you write something in British English instead of American English, that mistake will be flagged, for example. And if you have chosen a general tone but your text is overly academic, again the relevant mistakes will be identified. And of course, you’ll get suitable corrections offered too.

Linguix can eliminate mistakes with false friends

False friends are words in a language that look similar to a word in another language, but in fact have an entirely different meaning. 

As an example, ‘actualmente’ in Spanish looks a lot like ‘actually’ in English. But the correct translation is ‘currently’, which is ‘realmente’ in Spanish.

You can see how easy it would be to make that mistake.

But Linguix picks up on those errors with false friends, ensuring another stumbling black for non-native speakers is overcome.

Linguix can help you write faster in English

One of the most common problems facing multilingual speakers when they attempt to write in English is that it takes up precious time. You may find that writing in English – as your non-native language – takes twice as long as writing in your mother tongue. That’s a common complaint.

Once again Linguix steps up to the plate. With the Linguix templates library you have a starting reference point for tons of different useful documents and emails. You can avail of academic paper templates, company document templates and more.

And then, when you do produce a nice piece of written English that you would like to use again in the future, you can allocate a shortcode to it with the Linguix snippets feature. It’s then ready for you to use again at a click of a button.

So, you see, an intuitive writing assistant like Linguix really can make writing in English easier. Become more consistent and more fluent in your written English with Linguix.

The post How Linguix Can Help Multilingual English Speakers Write More Fluently appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Linguix eliminates mistakes and improves your grammar

First and foremost, Linguix is a writing tool that not only checks your writing but offers up solutions to all manner of mistakes. And we’re not talking simply spell-checking here.

That’s because the Linguix tool has been developed by professional linguists to pick up on any number of written mistakes you may make. Of course this may be spelling, or simply using the wrong word. But that’s far from all. Linguix will help fix grammatical mistakes that undermine the value of what you are writing. Your grammatical mistakes may in fact cause misunderstandings that can cause harm to your reputation or business.

But that’s not all. Also select the characteristics of the tone and voice you wish to communicate in and even get suggestions on words and phrases that do not fit that tone and voice.

What is more, the Linguix tool is available as an extension for Chrome, Firefox and Edge, meaning that the equality of your writing can be checked when you write directly on the web in many of the world’s most popular websites and apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Slack and more.

Your writing will not just be more accurate with Linguix, it will be more appropriate for your audience too.

It provides consistency in your writing

With the help of the corrections that Linguix gives you, see a vast improvement in the quality and consistency of the written work that you are producing. Linguix will pick up on all of your most consistent mistakes and much more besides to ensure you are producing consistent, quality written text that will impact your audience in the way you want it to.

It gives you a helping hand to start your writing

The comprehensive Linguix templates library provides you with a large number of high-quality templates that you can rely upon to get your writing started. Find the structure and style of content you need for all manner of business and academic style texts, including academic papers, company press releases, sales emails and much more besides. Save time, and improve quality with this valuable tool.

Linguix allows you and even your team to write faster and more efficiently

As well as making your written text better, Linguix can help you produce your content at a greater speed thanks to the expert-developed snippets tool.

Simply assign a shortcode to a piece of text that you wish to reuse and then add it whenever you want at the simple click of a button. Furthermore, your team can use those same shortcodes too, meaning precious time is saved and consistency is maintained in the message you are sending.

Linguix helps you to learn as you write

It’s all well and good having a tool that can improve your writing. But what if it helps you learn during the process too, ensuring that you become a better communicator?

The comprehensive Linguix dictionary offers up definitions of thousands upon thousands of words and can be used with a simple click of a button whenever and wherever you are reding on the web.

And what is more, the Linguix synonyms tool provides a comprehensive list of similar options that can be used to make your writing more appropriate and powerful, and of course, works to expand your vocabulary at the same time.

Linguix can help you become aware of your writing’s readability, and even assist in hiring and quality processes

Linguix offers a fully comprehensive and responsive list of statistics that can be used to truly understand the quality of the written work you are producing.

Get a readability score based on the highly respected and widely used Flesch-Kincaid readability score. See how you improve and even use these insights to maintain quality across a team or even an entire organization. You can even assess candidates for your company by getting a true understanding of their writing quality.

You then get other stats such as reading time, average sentence length, and more to help you produce the writing you need when you need it.
Linguix can help you do all this and more. See what it can do for you and check out the specially designed Linguix for Business tool which helps businesses hit the heights with their written content.

The post How Linguix Helps You Make Your Writing More Impactful and Consistent appeared first on Linguix Blog.

What is Linguix?

Linguix is an AI-powered writing assistant. To start, you can download the free Linguix extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge and see how Linguix can help you identify your writing mistakes – be that grammatical, spelling, or punctuation-based – anywhere you write on the web. 

But it’s not just about identifying your mistakes, it’s about fixing them too. When a potential mistake is highlighted, you will get a potential replacement word or phrase to benefit the quality and accuracy of your writing.

So, if you are writing a social media post, an email, or anything else, the Linguix extension will flag up and then fix errors that will help you improve the quality of writing. It works with all popular sites including Gmail, Facebook, or WordPress, for example.

It’s designed for those who have English as a mother tongue as well as for those who don’t. It works with many different variations of English too, including the American, British, and Australian, for example. And for non-native English speakers, the Linguix tool can also help you find the right combination of words (called collocations) so your writing can sound much more natural. The tool is context-appropriate too, meaning the suggested edits are suitable for what you are writing. 

The Linguix tool has been developed by a combination of professional linguists, technology experts, and content creators and helps fix literally millions of possible mistakes. And not only that, it helps with creating your content too. And it has also been proven to speed up the writing process by up to 90%. 

What Are the New Linguix Keyboards For iOS and Android?

Now you can avail of the full suite of Linguix corrections on a mobile, tablet, or other portable devices with the new Linguix keyboards for iOS and Android.

When activated, the keyboard works whenever you open the textbox on your device so whether it’s on WhatsApp or Instagram, for example, through your cell phone or tablet or whatever it may be, you get the same insightful recommendations to fix all of the frequent types of errors you may make. That goes for spelling mistakes, grammatical and structural errors, or even mistakes with misplaced (or missing) commas and periods. The tool will also make suggestions in terms of words that may be more suitable in the context. 

There’s even a new ‘helper’ panel which you can open simply by tapping on the Linguix logo. With this tool you can scroll for all of the suggestions that are offered up for your whole text, allowing you to make corrections even more quickly.

Now, thanks to the Linguix keyboard for iOS and Android you can produce error-free and high-quality content right there on your portable device. 

What Else Can Linguix Do?

Linguix is designed as a Swiss-army-knife-style solution to all your writing needs. There is any number of additional tools and services which will help elevate the quality of your written work. 

For example, the Linguix definitions feature allows you to highlight any word that you read online and get a definition of that word. The synonyms tool – activated by pressing Alt and then double-clicking – provides a number of words with similar meanings that can help you select what is most appropriate. The Linguix tool is educational as well as practical.

There are other features provided by Linguix that can assist you to write not only better but more quickly. The snippets tool allows you to allocate a shortcode to text that you may wish to use again. So instead of having to retype the same text time after time, you can simply click and add the suitable text that has been previously saved. 

Then there are templates for all manner of useful purposes, such as typical emails, blog posts, essays, and much more, all of which can help you structure and write your desired content more efficiently. 

 Is There Anything Else?

You can upgrade to Linguix Premium in order to avail yourself of even more features and corrections. There are vocabulary enhancement suggestions as well as settings that allow you to select the right kind of ‘voice’ for your writing, ensuring you are correct in tone and formality. 

And then Linguix for Business comes with additional tools and insights which allows you to keep track of writing quality across a whole team or organization and provides a host of relevant statistics. It’s even won awards for its UX.

The post New Linguix Keyboards For iOS and Android appeared first on Linguix Blog.

“Text me”

“Email me”

“I’ll Google it.”

Now we can WhatsApp to the growing list of applications that have become an indelible part of communicating in the 21st Century. “I’ll WhatsApp it to you.” “I’ll WhatsApp you tomorrow.” “Do you WhatsApp?”

But like any tool, you can fail to get the most out of WhatsApp is you use it incorrectly. For a start, you might not know that there is an extremely convenient WhatsApp Web tool.

Do you find yourself sitting at your computer but forever checking your phone to see if you have received a WhatsApp message? Likewise, do you need to pick up the phone every time you need to send a message on WhatsApp?

If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’ than you are missing a major trick. That’s because WhatsApp provides the opportunity to send and receive messages direct to computer through the WhatsApp Web function. Simply scan a QR code and then see WhatsApp open up as an option on your computer: now you will get a notification every time you receive a message, and likewise you can type in your messages directly on your computer.

So now you are using WhatsApp Web, here are just a few little tips and tricks to ensure you’re using this popular tool in the very best way possible:

Use WhatsApp Web shortcuts to save time

Did you know that there are a number of highly useful shortcuts that you can use to perform all manner of functions on WhatsApp Web. Here are just a few great examples:

• Ctrl + N: Start new chat
• Ctrl + Shift + ]: Next chat
• Ctrl + Shift + [: Previous chat
• Ctrl + Shift + M: Mute chat
• Ctrl + Shift + U: Mark as unread
• Ctrl + Backspace: Delete chat
• Ctrl + Shift + N: Create new group
• Ctrl + E: Archive chat

And don’t forget you can use all your normal Windows or Mac shortcuts too now you are using WhatsApp on your computer.

Search and select emojis with your keyboard

Browsing for emojis on the phone isn’t always the most convenient activity in the world. But now you don’t need to as you can search and then select the perfect emoji for your chat with your keyboard. 

How? It couldn’t be simpler. In the chat box, just hit colon (:) and then type in the name of the emoji you are looking for. The search will immediately begin once you type so the more letters you put in the narrower your choices will become.
And if you just want to check out the options, seeking inspiration, then just hit shift + tab and now the emoji icon will be highlighted. Now just tab to scroll through the vast array of options.

Use WhatsApp in conjunction with Linguix

Not only is WhatsApp Web often considerably more convenient than typing directly on your cell, but you are now able to avail of a highly valuable tool to make sure your writing is free from simple mistakes that can seriously affect credibility. That tool is Linguix.

Linguix is essentially an AI-powered writing tool, but it comes with so many other valuable services that it can solve any number of content and writing needs. But at heart Linguix is there to ensure that you write effectively whenever you need to. 

Linguix provides a comprehensive an grammar checker where you can directly enter text and receive notifications in terms of all manner of writing based errors, such as spelling mistakes, incorrect grammatical constructions, failures to use punctuation properly and so much more. And then the Linguix extension for Chrome, Firefox and Edge means you can avail of the Linguix tool anywhere you write on the web.

And that means on WhatsApp Web too.

Because, if you think about it, how many times have you made a mistake writing on WhatsApp? Many of those mistakes may come about due to predictive text on your cell, so using the WhatsApp Web tool is a great place to start to eradicate the number of errors you make.

But if you really want to make sure that your writing is totally free from mistakes, then use the WhatsApp Web tool in conjunction with Linguix. That’s two intuitive modern tools dovetailing together to ensure you are communicating to the very best of your ability. 

One more thing. When you do use WhatsApp directly on your phone, you can download the Linguix iOS or android keyboard to bring the very same high level of spelling, punctuation, tone and grammar corrections straight to your mobile. No more embarrassing writing mistakes on WhatsApp. 

The post Simple Tips to Help You Use WhatsApp Web Effectively appeared first on Linguix Blog.

To start, remember that Slack is a real-time messaging service

The purpose of Slack is a platform by which teams can collaborate effectively in real-time on different projects. That means it is not a place for sending out essential information that needs to be retained for later reference. For that reason you may want to have another channel where those types of communications are available for reference at any stage.

Appreciate the difference between what Slack labels ‘teams’ and ‘channels’

An important distinction to make when you are using Slack is that between what is termed ‘teams’ and that which is named ‘channels’. The difference is subtle but important.

To be ‘on Slack’ you need to be in a team: that is the fundamental difference between using Slack and being on WhatsApp, for example. And you can be in any number of teams at the same time of course, because you probably perform multiple functions in your company, or at the very least you will be a member of the organizational team, where you might receive company-wide insights, for example, and then your specific work team.

A channel, on the other hand, could be a sub-division of a team. So, for example, while there may be one organizational team, there may be multiple channels within that team, some which are relevant to you and some which are not. You can then organize your channels efficiently, such as switching off notifications, so as not to be bombarded with irrelevant communications. 

Getting your teams and channels effectively organized is essential to efficient use of Slack.

Effectively use the ‘do not disturb’ feature

Due to the very nature of modern teams working across time zones and multiple locations, you cannot all be available at the same time. So, while Slack is brilliant for when you are all online, you also need to manage the ‘do not disturb’ feature so your colleagues are aware of when you are online and when you are not. As you will not be notified when that feature is set (and so will the sender), there can be a proper understanding of when a reply can be expected and when it cannot. This is an important aspect of working in any team, and as such becomes an important characteristic when using Slack.

Post your Slack messages globally rather than in private

There is tendency on Slack, like there is on WhatsApp, to begin posting one-to-one and entering into all manner of private chats. The problem now is that no one can truly understand what is going on from a wider perspective. So, keep things on the global channel as much as possible.

Use the Slack Web App in conjunction with Linguix

Did you know that if you use the web app version of Slack, then you can now type all of your normal communications but at the same time availing of an incredibly convenient writing tool such as Linguix.

Linguix is a writing assistant that has been developed by linguists and professional writers to ensure that your writing can become error-free. Available as a web extension, and therefore compatible with Slack (and not to mention a whole host of the most popular apps and tools across the web) Linguix will automatically check your writing as you input it into the Slack text field, offering up expert-stocked alternatives to any mistakes that may be highlighted.

And the variety of mistakes that Linguix can pick up upon is truly impressive. From typos and grammatical errors, it can also easily pick up on incorrect punctuation usage and even mistakes in tone and formality. By setting parameters for your writing in terms of the audience you are seeking to reach (friendly and informal, say) then the Linguix tool will also highlight language that is unacceptable for these pre-defined characteristics.

And what is more, the Linguix tool allows you to access word definitions and synonyms for any word you choose. So, as well as making sure you are free from mistakes in what you have actually written, Linguix can enable you to improve upon that content with additional insights. Plus, the Linguix snippets tool allows you to apply shortcodes to frequently used text which can then be entered with a simple click, vastly improving communication speeds. 

But that’s not all either, because if you choose to invest in Linguix for Business then you now have further tools at your disposal to ensure that teams are writing to quality and to consistency across the business. 

Use Linguix in conjunction with the Slack web app and take your writing to another level.

Turn off Slack when you need to focus

Because of the nature of Slack being a real-time communication tool, it can get a little distracting at times, so understand the right time to turn it off so you can focus. But if a colleague needs to get in touch, set it up accordingly.

The post Easy Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Slack appeared first on Linguix Blog.

• Acquiring new customers can cost up to anywhere between five and 25 times as much as retaining existing ones. And a poor customer service approach can be incredibly costly in terms of retention. Last year 49% of Americans switched due to poor customer service.

• Customers that you retain are much more likely to spend. Not only are they more likely to buy a new product, they spend 33% more on average. 

• Happy customers talk. And that means more future customers. 

If you are not yet convinced, then you really should be. And the fact is there are plenty of tools out there to make your customer service process more seamless and efficient. So what are you waiting for – let’s see what’s out there:

Intercom

Intercom calls itself a Conversational Relationship Platform. The basic principle of the software is that you can easily identify who is using your website or product and then target them specifically with relevant content, suitable marketing channels, and responsive support.

If you know the behavioral characteristics of the user, then you know how to talk to them. That’s what Intercom can do, and why it has proven so revolutionary for businesses in terms of their customer service approach and support services.

HubSpot

HubSpot is an inbound marketing platform. What does that mean? Well, in simplistic terms, it provides all of the software support for your company’s marketing activities, and that includes, importantly, customer support.

So how can HubSpot assist? Well, you may have existing software for each customer service channel that you use, but what the HubSpot platform allows is the automation and self-servicing of all your different channels and your all-important data in one convenient location. The result is efficient, scalable customer service support.

Trello

Trello is a user-friendly collaboration tool which allows the efficient and intuitive organization of all your projects, including customer service-related activities. With Trello your customer service team can chat, swap all-important notes and organize work like never before, helping to ensure team success.

Asana

The Asana web and mobile application facilitates the organization, management and tracking of all projects within your company teams. Essentially a project management tool, Asana allows an effective means to improve team collaboration practices, and in terms of your customer service support team, that is worth its weight in gold.

Linguix

There are all manner of reasons why you want to avoid spelling mistakes, poor grammar and other connected errors in terms of your business content and customer service activities.

Firstly, spelling mistakes have been proven to eye-wateringly expensive in terms of lost customer sales. And then there’s credibility. 

“Nothing can make you lose credibility more quickly and seem uneducated than a spelling mistake.”

So says Roslyn Petelin, who work at the University of Queensland in Australia as an associate professor of writing. And you can be sure that a loss of credibility will have consequences for your business. 

Quite simply, in terms of your written customer service communications channels – be that on email or live chat – you just can’t afford text full of errors. At best it will make your company look bad, at worst you will lose the customer and all the financial benefits that brings.

And the solution is simple. Linguix for Business. With this affordable and intuitive tool, you can ensure that all of your customer service interactions are perfect in terms of spelling, grammar and tone (something hugely important to consider in your customer service approach). Linguix’s grammar checker has been comprehensively developed by experts.  

Not only does Linguix integrate seamlessly with all the tools we have already included here, you can avail of the full suite of Linguix tools, including a full templates library and even snippets, to ensure efficient and cost-saving writing practices. 

Snippets are a great way to ensure your customer service content is accurate and consistent. Team admins can pen the content you want to use and then assign a simple shortcode. Customer service agents simply need to use the shortcode to enter the relevant text at the relevant time.

Get error-free content every time with Linguix and ensure your business retains both credibility and customers.

The post The Tools You Need to Improve Your Customer Support Practices appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Now, think about some of the potential problems that may arise as a result of staff members generating these various forms of content. These problems could be, but might not be limited to:

1. Poor quality of written content, complete with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and poor tone.
2. Inconsistency of content due to the fact you have various individuals producing the content. As a result, there is no clear organizational voice.
3. The sheer volume of time that is spent producing this content. For example, employees can spend large parts of their day simply compiling emails. And as you well know, time is money.
4. The inability to effectively manage the quality and consistency of the content. You don’t have one easy organizational tool or set of statistics which regularly and reliably informs you about the quality of content your team is writing.
5. The difficulty in hiring staff based on the quality of their content production.

So, that’s the bad news. The good news is that Linguix for Business will solve all of these issues for your organization. Here’s how:

AI-based writing assistant

Linguix is an AI-powered writing tool that spots written mistakes and instantly offers up expert-driven recommendations to improve the quality of content. Mistakes such as typos, grammatical errors, punctuation misunderstandings and even errors in tone and voice are picked up upon and corrected. Ensure that the content your organization is producing is free from the type of mistakes that put off potential customers, affect SEO and undermine credibility.

Educating your team members

The Linguix tool may take away the issues of writing errors, but through the dictionary and synonyms services, as well as the grammar editor, it seeks to educate team members in their writing capabilities. With this kind of tool at their disposal, staff members’ ability to write well will only improve. This is corporate English learning at its best.

Advanced stats and team management features

Linguix for Business also offers up an incredible array of insights and statistics in relation to the content that your staff is writing. Get readability scores (based on the highly regarded Flesch-Kincaid system), as well as indications of error consistency. Not only can you use this to manage the talent you already have, but it’s incredibly effective as a hiring tool, helping to ensure you bring in only the most capable individuals.

Corporate snippets

Writing takes time. And time costs money. But what if you were able to save large amounts of time by automating writing tasks through the use of Linguix snippets? Simply allocate shortcodes to text you wish to reuse across the business and then at a simple click of a button allocate the text in the right place. You could save up to $10,600 a year that easily!

What should I do next?

If you can see the value that Linguix for Business will add to your organization, then the next step is to book a demo. All of the advantages of this intuitive set of writing tools and accompanying services and management services will soon be available for you to work with.

The post Linguix Tips: How to Use Linguix For Business appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Highly productive people are great at prioritizing their tasks, and then following through.

At any given time you may have a number of tasks that need to be completed. Not all of those tasks are of equal importance, however. The trick here is to quickly identify the most important tasks, and then concentrate on those first, no matter if they are the ones you least want to do. Don’t spend time procrastinating or dedicating your time to tasks that lack importance: highly productive people identify what is the priority, and get it done. You can do that too.

Highly productive people understand what distracts them, and they cut those distractions out

Everyone is susceptible to distractions. The trick here is to recognize very well what those distractions are – be it emails, chatty colleagues, your phone, visits to the coffee machine, or a million and one other things – and then work to cut them out.

For example, if you work in an open-plan office and are easily distracted by chatty colleagues, then allocate time at home, in a private office, or wherever it may be to get your most important tasks done. If the problem is checking your emails, then simply close the applications that you use to check them. If it’s your cell phone, then leave it somewhere out of reach. Of course, all of these actions require discipline, but you have to start with the right intention.

Highly productive people break tasks down into manageable pieces

Feeling overwhelmed is the quickest way to damaging productivity. Feeling overwhelmed introduces elements of doubt. Doubt fuels inactivity. Inactivity is inefficiency. As the old adage states – “How do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time. So instead of focusing on the entirety of the task at hand, break it down into manageable chunks which can be easily handled one piece at a time. And like a jigsaw puzzle, fit all the pieces together and you have a pretty impressive whole.

Highly productive people place value in their achievements rather than time spent working

Are you one of those people who likes to be first into the office and last to go home? Is that the prevailing culture at your place of work? If so, then you are following one of the most misguided principles that ever entered the workplace.

The only true measure of productivity is what you have achieved. Someone who spends 60 hours completing the same amount of work to the same degree of quality as someone who spends 40 hours doing the same thing is not productive. That’s a fact. So, place value on what you have done, not how long you spent doing it

Highly productive people use the right tools

Do you use the right tools to get the job done? You wouldn’t cut vegetables with a spoon, would you?

Those individuals who are productive are partly so because they have identified the correct tools to assist them. So, whether that’s the best piece of equipment, the best app, the best software, or whatever it may be, conduct the necessary research to find out what can assist you best.

In terms of writing, highly productive people avail of Linguix snippets so they are able to produce first class written content on demand. How so? Linguix snippets allows you to allocate shortcodes to written text that you mean to reuse. When the time comes, simply enter the shortcode to place that text as desired.

So, whether you are penning an email opening that has been written many times previously, or putting together the perfect sales pitch that closely resembles one you have made before, Linguix snippets enables you to increase productivity while remaining consistent on quality.

What is more, highly productive writers – whether they are marketing executives, sales managers, or content writers – use Linguix templates so they can structure their content in line with best practice. This saves time but also ensures quality.

Becoming highly productive is within reach with the full Linguix AI-powered writing assistant suite. 

The post The 5 Essential Habits of Highly Productive People, and How to Adopt Them appeared first on Linguix Blog.

There are many kinds of inefficiency, ranging from operational to structural. However, a sensible place to start is by taking a look in the mirror. By first dealing with individual inefficiency you can then turn your focus to the bigger picture.

With that in mind, here are some practical tips to help you be more efficient at work, in turn leading to greater organizational efficiency:

Be organized

Being disorganized is a style that some people seem to revel in. They shouldn’t. “He’s a little disorganized, but he gets the job done” is a sentence that no one should be saying in the workplace. Because disorganization may not ultimately impact in achieving the goal, but you can be sure that it meant that the goal was achieved slower than it could have been, or at a greater cost.

So, get organized. How? Start with scheduling tasks and prioritizing. Create to-do-lists and regularly update those. Structure your day in a way that allows for future planning and reviews of tasks completed. This all greatly adds to efficiency.

Use the right tools

Failing to use the right tools can greatly affect efficiency. That’s true whether you are a plumber, an aircraft engineer or an office administrator. Select the right tool for the task at hand, and regularly perform research to ensure that there is not a better tool that can be used. Saying “but I’ve always done it this way” is simply not good enough. If that was the case, no one of a certain age would be using computers, for example. You have to roll with the times.

Use performance reviews and even evaluate yourself

Every effective company should have in place a performance review system whereby management provides relevant and structured feedback to staff. This feedback is invaluable, but it is something that you should be employing regularly as a means of evaluating yourself. Be self-critical after you complete every project and ask yourself, “how could I have done this better or more quickly?” Building in this kind of self-analysis will soon serve to increase efficiency.

Compare yourself and your work practices to colleagues and competitors

As children we learn not to always compare ourselves to others. But as a self-improvement tool, this is absolutely what we should be doing. So, have a look at what colleagues and competitors are doing. Of course, there will be some elements in which you are more effective, but it’s about picking and choosing those aspects of your work processes that you know you can improve upon to become more efficient in the future. That’s a good comparison to make.

Communicate effectively

There are any number of ways in which poor communication affects efficiency in the workplace. And again, this is often something that originates at organizational level. But also, again, you can start by looking at your own personal brand of communication and think, “how can I do this better?”

For example, how often do you write the very same words in emails? Think about the time you could save by simply having a shortcode by which you can click and paste the very text that is needed at that very moment.

In fact, think about if that very possibility was available at a business level, i.e. if all members of the team had the capacity to simply click and insert the required text at the required moment.

Here’s are some relevant statistics for you. Office workers spend around 28% of the working day managing emails. That means, by having a tool that allows the insertion of relevant pre-written text at the relevant time – a tool such as Linguix snippets – can save an organization anything up to $18 per hour or $10,600 annually. 

Here’s how you can do it: create your snippet, assign it a shortcode, hit ‘⌥⇧ Space’ on Mac or ‘Shift+Ctrl+Space’ on Windows to instantly insert the template.

So once again, simply allocate a shortcode to any text that you may need to use in the future, such as the start to a sales email, and when that time comes, enter the text through some simple commands. It really couldn’t be easier. And it creates consistency in message too.

This isn’t just about communication but also using the right tools and getting organized. All of those things together can lead to a huge increase in personal work efficiency. Employed across an organizational level, that is a huge change for the better. Just think of the valuable time and money that could be saved.

The post How to Be More Efficient at Work, Saving Valuable Time and Money appeared first on Linguix Blog.

There are any number of reasons why you may need your writing to be more appealing. And it’s not just about the content, but also the words that you use to create logical arguments that also contain enough emotional quality to convince. That is, convince someone that your product is the solution to their requirements, or that your brand is to be trusted, or that your point of view is to be believed, or even that you are the right person for the job.

Whatever the reason you need to be persuasive, here are 5 top tips for producing writing that lives up to the task:

Know your audience

This is key. If you do not know who your writing is targeted at, how can you hope to deliver what you need? You can’t, so this is where it all begins. To know your audience you can perform any number of tasks. Market research. See what your competitors are doing. Go out and meet them. Gather feedback. And if it’s a case that you already know who you are writing to, keep that in the front of your mind as you seek to persuade them. Remember what makes them tick. It’s not about you, it’s about them.

Grab their attention early

One of the biggest problems you face with your writing is actually catching people’s attention long enough to read it. Even in the case of an essay, where perhaps your tutor has to read it, there may be an element of the captive audience – they are doing it because they have to and are therefore only going through the motions. In short, you haven’t really got their attention.

So how do you do this? Obviously, a killer first line helps. But most importantly, offer up refreshing honesty and a novel approach – don’t just restate the same old things. Another smart approach is to state a fact that supports your argument. Or even a quote from someone influential who backs you up.

Examine both sides (being empathetic in the process)

Completely failing to acknowledge that there is a different point of view does not work for reasonable-minded people. There is not much in this world that is totally black and white – often the solution is a shade of grey. So even though you may be offering a solution, failing to recognize that not everyone will see it your way is an oversight and you will lose many readers with this approach. You don’t have to sit on the fence – you shouldn’t – but you must acknowledge that not everything is cut and dried. And that brings us nicely onto empathy.

Most of us are empathetic beings. To achieve empathy, be conversational in tone and speak directly to the reader. Use personal pronouns such as ‘you’ and ‘we’, and keep it simple. By using language that is overly complex you only succeed in alienating your audience.

Speak directly to the reader (through the use of structures such as rhetorical questions)

No one likes to feel that they are just one of the masses. There may be over 7.5 billion people on the planet, but at the same time we are all individuals, with our individual needs, worries, concerns and tastes.

Those who are truly successful in being persuasive are able to make the reader feel unique. Special. Who doesn’t want to feel that way?

As well as knowing your audience down to a tee, there are particular methods that you can then utilize to achieve this goal. For example, rhetorical questions are great because, firstly they succeed in showing empathy but also, secondly, they personalise the issue for that person you are reaching out to. 

You cannot hope to convey every possible alternative feeling, emotion, and problem in what you write, so instead allow the reader to ask themselves the question and formulate the response in their own mind. Now the issue has become personal, in the best possible way.

Use effective templates

The problem may be here that you are trying to reinvent the wheel when there is absolutely no need to. What you are trying to achieve has absolutely been done before. So save yourself a whole load of time and heartbreak by availing of Linguix templates so you can structure your piece of writing in the best way possible. All that is now left is to change the detail to make it yours.

Linguix offers a wide variety of quality templates for a number of different purposes. The business section provides templates for a whole host of email responses, a successful business bio, social media blog posts, press releases and a case study for marketing. Not only will your writing be professionally arranged and persuasive, but you can speed up your creation process by up to 600%.

In the essay category you can access an eclectic array of templates ranging from argumentative papers to literary analysis, an SAT essay template and even a short story. Unlock your creativity by accessing any number of these specially designed templates.

There is a well-stocked email section which covers a variety of email subjects that may be required in a number of business scenarios, including sales and meeting scheduling.

The resume section offers up a highly persuasive cover letter and CV template, while there are social and personal sections which include templates designed for persuasive social media posts, blogging activities and more besides.

The post 5 Practical Tips to Help You Produce Better-quality Persuasive Writing appeared first on Linguix Blog.