Do You Live Under a Rock or in a Cave?

Okay, it’s time for another pet peeve of mine that has been rearing its ugly head in recent months. I can understand people using phrases like “unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know about …” in conversations with people they have rapport with. But lately, I’ve seen these snide remarks used in business situations.

In addition to publishing my own e-zine, I also subscribe to a number of others in the topics that interest me. In the last month or so, I’ve seen people use these idiotic and condescending phrases in their e-zines. First, people were using it in reference to Susan Boyle’s rise to stardom. Now people are using it to describe the news regarding the recent deaths of celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett.

Two Quick Tips to Stop Mumbling

Photo by Andriyko Podilnyk on UnsplashYou have a lot to say and are enthusiastic about what you have to say, yet you’re lacking one key ingredient — no one can understand you because you mumble. You may mumble and not even be aware of it — although a good indicator is when people are always asking you to repeat yourself because they didn’t hear or understand what you said.

Correcting Others Makes YOU Look Bad

Correcting Others Makes YOU Look BadHave you ever misspoken, only to have someone correct you right away? Are you thankful that the person cared enough to point out your error to everyone within earshot? Some people just can’t resist pointing out other people’s errors, regardless of who’s present and how minuscule the error is.

I once knew someone that would jump at the chance to correct everyone at every chance he could. From grammatical errors to pronunciation mistakes to misspellings in email messages, this guy couldn’t resist adding his two cents and showing everyone how smart he was and how dumb everyone else was. How did people like this person? They hated him.