Many companies see the importance of investing in good training programmes. With the ever-increasing speed of technological change, it's important to stay up-to-date not just with new equipment and technology, but also with with new procedures and modern thinking.

During the last 3 years I have been very happy to receive a number of repeat bookings for my business writing workshop Power Up Your Business Writing Skills - it's great to know that so many companies are investing time and money to enhance their staff's communication and writing skills. So thanks to all these companies, and I look forward to working with you again soon:

A C Nielsen Research (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Asia Pacific Breweries (S) Pte Ltd, Singapore
Bosch Rexroth Group, Shanghai
BP, Shanghai
Chevron Oronite Pte Ltd, Singapore
Comfort Driving Centre Pte Ltd, Singapore
(photographed here in January 2005)
Daimik Electronic Industries Co Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
Epson Singapore Pte Ltd
Far East Organisation, Singapore
GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd, Singapore
Golden Village, Singapore
Great Eastern Life Assurance Co Ltd, Singapore
IBM Opus IT Services Pte Ltd, Singapore
Kenwood Logistics (M) Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
Maybank, Singapore
National Healthcare Group, Singapore
Pacific Internet Ltd, Singapore
Prudential Assurance Co (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Sears Buying Services Inc
Singapore Cable Vision, Singapore
StarHub Pte Ltd, Singapore
ST MicroElectronics, Singapore
TransQuest Asia Publishers Pte Ltd, Singapore
Yokogawa Engineering Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore

Thanks to Terence Tan, Head of Corporate Accounts from Comfort Driving Centre, for saying "Thank you so much for coming by to conduct the workshop for us over the past 2 days. I had a blast! I have benefited greatly from the workshop and have already started telling my colleagues about what I have learnt from you. I will most definitely refer you to my friends and business associates."

Thanks for that Terence. I had a blast too! Remember: effective communication gives a professional impression of you and of your organisation. Effective communication helps to get things done. Writing effectively is perhaps the most demanding work we do. Writing requires imagination, creativity, organisation, careful planning and many other skills if a message is to be effective and get results. And as Terence added, "I suppose practice makes perfect!"

If you are interested in organising a business writing workshop for your company, please contact me on shirley@shirleytaylor.com or give me a call on 64726076.

In recent newsletters I have presented the A, B, C, D and E in my A-Z of Bloopers, Blunders, Common Errors and Clichés. Here I'd like to present the F's:

Fetch or Bring?
Use bring when the other person is at a different point to you and you want him or her to get you something.
For example:
Please bring me the book when you come over to my place later.

Use fetch when the other person is at the same point as you are.
For example:
Please fetch me a cup of coffee from the canteen.
(Now the other person will have to physically go to the canteen, get the coffee and bring it back to where you are.)

NB: Fetch is commonly used with dogs when we throw a stick.

Fewer/Less
Fewer relates to number. Less relates to quantity.
For example: My friend Joe has much less hair than Ricky.
Patrick has fewer carpets than Douglas.

Fill up
To fill up means filling up something that is empty with something else, like filling up a glass with water. If you are referring to a form, you fill in a form (British English) or fill out a form (American English).

I thought I'd share with you a funny letter a friend forwarded to me recently from the New York Times. This letter to the bank below is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 80 year old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times. I think we can all relate to the frustration that caused the lady to write this letter.

Dear Sir

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire retirement and social security check, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, prerecorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation income, debts, assets and liabilities, must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment.
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call. Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year.

Your Humble Client, Lydia B. Hodge

I'm finishing this month with this lovely little fella, the green rooster. Wednesday 9 February marks the start of the Year of the Rooster. It's a brand new year, and I hope it will be all that you hope for. I'll see you again in March - till then, Gong Xi Fa Cai . . . Happy Chinese New Year to you all!

Love from Shirley xx

PPS: 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 2005. 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.