I had a bad experience recently, which I would like to share with you. OK so some of you will tell me how stupid I am, but whatever ... here goes ...

One day my laptop crashed - it wouldn't do anything. Panic-stricken, I searched and searched for my back-up disks ... which were 5 months old!! Yes I know, I hear you, I should do back-ups more regularly than that! I KNOW, OK?! The good news is I had 5 month old back-ups of my key files, the bad news is I didn't have a back-up of my Outlook program, which I use for all my e-mails!

My good friends Tian Hong and Lorraine looked after me very well at the IBM support centre at Changi (MANY THANKS again!) but they gave me the bad news that my hard disk had in fact died and they could not rescue the contents - everything was LOST!

After a few stiff drinks, I ventured to a data recovery centre who have quoted me S$1560 to salvage my copious files from my very poorly hard disk, but with no certainty that they can recover the Outlook files. Is this a nightmare or what? As I write this newsletter, I'm still puzzling over what to do and looking for alternatives.

The good news is that I've bought a super new IBM laptop - and yes I've got the latest Norton anti-virus program and Internet Security installed, and live update is running several times a day!

So the moral of this story is - be sure to back-up your files at least every week, and run live update daily! I certainly will! Wouldn't hindsight be a marvellous gift?

Many thanks to Kamal Kant for contributing this month's special article.

Jazz musicians often speak of the experience of learning to communicate their unique music as finding their own voice. If you want to communicate in your own unique style, you need to compose your own 'music' and 'orchestrate' your own personal message. As a Career Management Professional, I often come across many clients who are at a loss on how to communicate effectively. Some even have difficulty responding to "Tell me something about yourself" at interviews.

Whether you are a secretary, a PA, a high-powered executive or a knowledgeable professional, you need to have a personal script to introduce yourself when you meet clients, participate at a professional meeting, or attend a training workshop or a job interview. Enabling yourself for both effective professional and social interaction requires your personal introduction to focus not only on your professional image but also your image as an individual person who has interest and life outside work. This is where a good command of the language, vocabulary and grammar are critical. Articulate yourself with the right words and phrases, accompanied with the appropriate body language.

The opening sentences must be sufficiently crisp and clear to break the ice between you and your audience or the person you are conversing with. It must prompt the audience or other person to not only know more about you but also begin to provide connectivity to build a relationship bridge. Convince your audience of your earnestness, sincerity and conviction. It is critical to know about your audience so you can convey a natural and true image of yourself. If it is a professional seminar or training workshop, find out ahead of time the type of people likely to be present. If you are attending an interview learn about the organisation and who is likely to interview you. Tailor your 'script' appropriately.

Kamal Kant has more tips for you on how you can communicate more effectively, so be sure to continue reading this article.

A recent British study revealed that 74% of Britons believe that businesses deliberately use jargon to confuse and deceive their customers.

More than half of the people surveyed (56%) thought that people who don't know what they're talking about used jargon as a cover.

Surprisingly, nearly a third (31%) admitted to using it themselves to impress their own customers and clients!

Please ... don't try to impress your readers with long-winded jargon and 'great grandfather' phrases. Instead, impress them with plain English, clear writing and good arguments.

If you want to communicate clearly, be understood and achieve results from your writing, be sure to:

1. Structure your documents logically
2. Organise your points visually
3. Trim down your sentences
4. Remember paragraphs and punctuation
5. Eradicate jargon
6. Use familiar terms
7. WRITE AS YOU SPEAK!

To learn more about what each of these points mean, click on this link.

I hope you've enjoyed this issue of Shirley Says. If you have any ideas about what you would like me to include in future issues, please write to me at news@shirleytaylor.com.

PS: You may reprint this newsletter or forward it to your customers and colleagues. However please keep this copyright and contact information intact:

Copyright Shirley Taylor 2004. Shirley Taylor is author of several popular books on effective communication and business writing. She lives in Singapore and works as an international trainer, seminar leader, professional writer and conference speaker.