PERFECT PHRASES for WRITING COMPA NY ANNOUNCEMENTS d Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Powerful Internal and External Communications Linda Eve Diamond and Harriet Diamond New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2010 by Linda Eve Diamond and Harriet Diamond. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-163548-6 MHID: 0-07-163548-3 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-163452-6, MHID: 0-07-163452-5. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. 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The Right Phrase for Every Situation…Every Time PerfectPhrasesforBuildingStrrrongTTTeams PerfectPhrasesforBusinessLetters PerfectPhrasesforBusinessPrrroposalsandBusinessPlans PerfectPhrasesforBusinessSchoolAcceptance PerfectPhrasesforCollegeApplicationEssays PerfectPhrasesforCoverLetters PerfectPhrasesforCustomerService PerfectPhrasesforDealingwithDifficultPeople PerfectPhrasesforDealingwithDifficultSituationsatWWWork PerfectPhrasesforDocumentingEmployeePerformancePrrroblems PerfectPhrasesforExecutivePrrresentations PerfectPhrasesforLandlordsandPrrropertyManagers PerfectPhrasesforLawSchoolAcceptance PerfectPhrasesforLeadGeneration PerfectPhrasesforManagersandSupervisors PerfectPhrasesforManagingYYYourSmallBusiness PerfectPhrasesforMedicalSchoolAcceptance PerfectPhrasesforMeetings PerfectPhrasesforMotivatingandRewarrrdingEmployees PerfectPhrasesforNegotiatingSalary&JobOffers PerfectPhrasesforPerfectHiring PerfectPhrasesforthePerfectInterview PerfectPhrasesforPerformanceReviews PerfectPhrasesforRealEstateAgents&Brrrokers PerfectPhrasesforResumes PerfectPhrasesforSalesandMarketingCopy PerfectPhrasesfortheSalesCall PerfectPhrasesforSettingPerformanceGoals PerfectPhrasesforSmallBusinessOwners PerfectPhrasesfortheTTTOEFLSpeakingandWritingSections PerfectPhrasesforWritingGrantPrrroposals PerfectPhrasesinAmericanSignLanguageforBeginners PerfectPhrasesinFrrrenchforConfidentTTTravel PerfectPhrasesinGermanforConfidentTTTravel PerfectPhrasesinItalianforConfidentTTTravel PerfectPhrasesinSpanishforConfidentTTTraveltoMexico PerfectPhrasesinSpanishforConstruction PerfectPhrasesinSpanishforGarrrdeningandLandscaping PerfectPhrasesinSpanishforHouseholdMaintenanceandChildCarrre PerfectPhrasesinSpanishforRestaurantandHotelIndustries Visitmhprofessional.com/perfectphrasesforacompleteproductlisting. Contents Acknowledgments viii Introduction ix Part One Sharing Information: The Whys and Hows 1 Chapter 1: Your Message 3 Media Choices 3 Internal Announcements 5 External Announcements 6 Promotional Writing Basics 7 E-Mail Basics 8 Blogging, Facebooking, Twittering . . . 9 Words Are Forever 10 What Works for You? 11 Chapter 2: Style 13 Target Your Audience 13 Pinpoint Your Message 14 Get the Phrase Out! 15 Image Matters 16 What’s Your Style? 17 iii Contents Part Two T he Perfect Phrase 19 Chapter 3: Company News 21 Newsletters 22 Press Releases 25 New Customer Service Initiatives 30 New Products 32 New Services 34 Announcements to Investors 37 Chapter 4: Customer Care and Events 41 New Online Features 42 Special Sales 45 Contests 48 Event Announcements and Invitations 52 Conferences 55 Free Consultations 59 Online Feedback Forums 62 Product Recalls 64 Chapter 5: Announcing Transitions to the Public 67 Renovations 68 Closing / Moving / Adding Locations 70 New Management 74 New Partners 76 Mergers and Acquisitions 78 iv Contents Chapter 6: Internal Announcements to Inform and Inspire 81 Message of the Day / Week / Month 82 Internal Newsletters 85 Encouraging Wellness 88 Company Incentives 91 Congratulations to the Team 94 Training Opportunities 96 Conferences and Expos 100 Company Events 102 Chapter 7: Other Important Internal Announcements 105 Restructuring / Reorganization 106 Changes in Policy 109 Cyberspace Policies 112 Raising Morale in Tough Times 115 Layoffs 119 Workplace Safety 121 Performance Reviews and Feedback 125 Customer Service Reminders 128 Chapter 8: Personnel Announcements 131 Now Hiring 132 New Management 136 New Team Members 139 Promotions 141 v Contents Chapter 9: Reaching Out 143 Opinion Polls 144 Links and Affiliate Programs 148 Working Together 150 Participating in Your Community 152 Seeking Testimonials 155 Chapter 10: Purpose-Specific Nonprofit 159 Membership Drives 160 Fund-Raising / Requests for Donations 163 Requests for Volunteers 165 Engaging the “Next Generation” 168 Great Voices to Inspire 170 Chapter 11: Thank You! 173 Thank You for Your Business 174 Thank You for Your Dedication 176 Thank You for Your Donation 178 Thank You for Referrals 181 Part Three W riting Your Perfect Phrases 183 Chapter 12: Your Perfect Phrases 185 Have You Made Some Perfect Notes? 185 What Makes a Phrase Perfect? 186 A Perfect Brainstorm 187 vi Contents A Perfect Buddy 188 Six More Perfect Phrase Tips 189 Perfect! 196 Chapter 13: W rite On! 197 Six Steps to Good Writing 198 Perfect Structure 198 The Top Five Grammar Flubs 199 Translation Flubs 203 Grammar-Check, Spell-Check, and Human-Check 206 Conclusion 207 Resources 209 vii Acknowledgments O ur thanks, as always, to Donya Dickerson and our other perfect editors at McGraw-Hill, Gigi Grajdura and Alison Shurtz, and to Grace Freedson’s Publishing Network for introducing us to McGraw-Hill’s Perfect Phrases series. viii