Social Media Communications – To Tweet or Not to Tweet!

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Hi folks. Have you tweeted yet today? That is the question.

If you don’t know what I am referring to, don’t worry it’s nothing dirty or too personal! It is what we do when we post an update of our life on the popular social media site Twitter.

I have recently had discussions about using current social media like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter with a few different people, and the potential benefits that can arise from being ‘on message’. Some people were managers, entrepreneurs, budding coaches, moms and new graduates. Here, in a nutshell, is my best advice that I gave them. I hope this helps you too, whether you are currently using social media like the above-mentioned, or a blog, or whether you are pondering the idea of setting up an account and profile but are not sure how to use it.

DO follow the trend. If it has not gone away after a few months, and if everyone is talking about it, including people on TV, you know it is a keeper. Stay current, especially if you need to advertise your product or service or have friends all over the place you want to really stay connected with.

DO share personal insights and stories. Sharing yourself (within reason) encourages others to appreciate your openness and respond in kindness. Building rapport is much easier when both people are sharing the same level of intimacy.

DO mix business with pleasure. There is nothing wrong with letting people know about your new blog, entrepreneurial venture, newsletter, ebook or condo for sale in your updates, as long as that is not the ONLY thing you are telling them. Share other aspects of your life too, and then it does not seem so out of place or ‘salesy’ when you want to let people know about something they might like.

DO NOT be afraid of today’s technology. It is even easier now than when I started in 2002. With a little research online you can find free and easy ways to set up a blog, website, newsletter, and of course, accounts in MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. These days everything is drag n’ drop, import photo from your computer, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing. There is no need to learn html or any other computer programming/language. Just point and click! Plus, these sites have online tutorials.

DO NOT jeopardize your job or education. Remember that everything you post online from an tweet to a text message is recorded somewhere. Complaining about your boss or teacher online is about as smart as advertising on bus benches that you cheated on your spouse! Some conversations are better left for the phone or face-to-face interactions. There have already been students disciplined and workers fired, regardless of what you and I may think of the ethics involved in such cases. Be prudent.

DO NOT lie. There is really no need for it. If you have something to say or something to sell, just let people in your online community know about it, and be satisfied with those interested parties that respond. People have gotten job interviews from these social mediums. Could you imagine if they lied online? What to do in the interview then? The same rules apply to online dating profiles. By lying you are only setting yourself up for embarrassment. People these days want to know what you are about before buying from your company too. On Twitter you can find profiles of coaches, sports teams, TV stations, restaurants, celebrities and of course – online marketers! Be careful not to get fooled by anyone though. It is still a ‘buyer beware’ world!

I hope you have found these tips on using current social media helpful. If you want to view my profiles or even follow me, here is where you can connect with me:

http://twitter.com/CommCoach (Twitter)

http://www.youtube.com/CommCoach73 (YouTube)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toronto-ON/3V-Communications-Communication-Skills-Training/14886705364 (Facebook 3V Page)

*Please note I do not share my personal Facebook page with people I have not met. It is my personal space. However please join my Facebook group or follow me on Twitter.

Thank you,

Coach Ric

Important Idioms from Baseball

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I love baseball, especially watching my Toronto Blue Jays team.  It’s my favourite part of summer.  I was preparing some baseball idioms and expressions for one of my clients soon, when I thought that I should at least add a few here, on this blog, for you too! 😉

It is easy to find lots of sites that have baseball idioms and expressions. You can find many with a simple search. However, knowing the idioms does not mean that you understand it. Therefore I suggest you also find a source that explains what the expressions mean as well.

For now, here is an excerpt from one such blog:

Baseball English – Important Idioms
(excerpt from “Kenneth”, a blogger on English Café.com – and that site may be expired) http://www.englishcafe.com/node/8616

Baseball Terminology

to get to first base – There are four bases in baseball. You must get to first base to start.
to come out of left field – to be thrown from the left part of the playing surface. This includes third base and the left outfielder position.
to have two strikes against you – Three strikes and you are out in baseball.
to hit a home run – to hit a ball which can not be fielded and sends the batter around the bases to score a run.
ballpark figure – The ballpark is where baseball is played.
to play hardball – Major league baseball is hardball. A hardball is a small, hard ball. There is also softball which is larger and softer.
to touch base – To touch the base with your foot
to pinch-hit – to bat for someone else
major league – the top professional baseball league
minor league – the secondary professional baseball league
to play the field – to catch, throw and generally play baseball. Playing the field is the defensive position of a team, while batting is the offensive position.

Baseball Idioms

to get to first base – accomplish the first step in a process
to come out of left field – to not be related to the current topic / to seem strange in a given situation
to have two strikes against you – to be in a difficult situation
to hit a home run – to have a large success
ballpark figure – a rough financial estimate, not exact but enough to give an indication
to play hardball – to be extremely competitive often in an unfair manner
to touch base – to contact someone – often someone with whom you haven’t been in contact for a long time
to pinch-hit – to substitute for someone
major league – serious competition or competitor
minor league – competition which is not threatening (opposite of major league)
to play the field – to date several different people

The best way to learn idioms is to organize them by a theme (like sports, or one sport in particular) and learn what not just how to use it in conversation, but the history of the expression or the ‘normal’ use of the phrase, just like it’s outlined above.  Pick a few of the expressions that speak to you, and try to use them in the next couple of days.  Watch for feedback.
Enjoy!

Why are Mexican and Czech Visas Now Restricted?

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Canada now requires a visa for people coming from both Mexico and Czech Republic. Mexico is the biggest source of refugee claimants in Canada, with claims tripling since 2005 to 9,400 last year, or 25 percent of the total. Only 11 percent were accepted. There is a group of ‘Roma’ refugees from the Czech republic that have piled into Canada in that last year as well.
The recent flood of refugee claims, and the suspicions that most were not legitimate, caused the government to re-instate a visa requirement.

E.U. is angry. Tourism takes a big hit.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is defending the decision to impose visa requirements for Czech and Mexican nationals after Canadian businesses and foreign diplomats criticized the move. Click this for a short video explaining it:

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-ca&brand=sympatico&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:51e01113-0483-48f2-a324-97233cf0f64e&showPlaylist=true&from=inline&fg=gtlv2

For Yahoo! News article click here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090713/canada/canada_us_visas_1

The Worlds Best and Worst Travellers

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According to an article on Yahoo! News today, here are some best and worst traveller rankings:
French are the worst, Japanese are the best.
To learn more about this, plus Americans, Canadians, Spaniards and Greeks, please click the above title to this post or click here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090710/oddities/lifestyle_tourism_travel_france_offbeat

What do you think about these results?

For me, I am reminded that stereotypes are based in truth. Most of these make sense from my experience travelling and from teaching people from all over the world.

Note – this article does support my opinion that I made in a blog posting a couple entries ago, about Canadians being very adaptable. I was happy to see that.

Enjoy the short and interesting article.
Enjoy your weekend too!

Happy Canada Day – Tips About Us

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July 1st, 1867, Canada was officially born. At that time of what we called ‘Confederation’, only 4 provinces made up Canada! Now, we have 10 plus 3 territories.

Canadians are proud of their country and culture, and I thought it would be good to share with you a few points on dealing with Canadians (whether business or tourism) so that you can make a good first impression and avoid accidentally insulting someone.

1 – Canadians are not Americans. Just as we are not British or French citizens, we are not Americans. We may look and sound similar to our big brother at first glance, but as you get to know us and this country, you will understand there are lots of differences. Some similarities yes, but lots of differences.

2 – We are open-minded almost to the point of apathy. We believe so much in the ‘live and let live’ axiom, that sometimes we don’t bat an eye to new ideas, cultures and laws. Generally speaking we are happy if you are happy, and we want you to respect our ideas and decisions. We do not appreciate a bully or a preacher. Having said that, we are painfully polite and patient, so you could probably talk our ear off and we will just smile.

3 – We have history. Yes we are a young country, and we realize that Europe and Asia among other regions have a long documented history. However that does not mean that we were created yesterday either. We know our history and are proud of our contributions on the world stage.

4 – We have a military. Canada made significant and memorable impressions on our allies and enemies in WWI and WWII, even being the first soldiers to be called ‘Storm troopers’ in WWI, due to our grit. At the end of WWII we had the 3rd largest navy in the world. We did not focus on military expansion however, and moved into mostly peace-keeping roles which led us to our limited military today. We fought bravely in the Korean war, the Vietnam conflict (yes, some volunteers were there), the earlier Gulf war (to free Kuwait) but stayed out of the recent Iraqi war, because we knew there were no WMD! We are currently serving our NATO and UN partners in Afghanistan on the front lines.

5 – We are highly adaptable. We can tough out most situations and we can adapt to multiple cultures and languages. Because of this we are excellent travelers, hosts and business partners. We are curious to know more about other people and cultures.

These are just a few points, straight from my head, to give you a little clearer sense of who we are and how we view ourselves. Of course there is no blanket truth for any culture, and you will meet individuals who do not agree or who do not follow these points. Surprising even to me, I have met Canadians who do not drink, do not like maple syrup and/or who do not view hockey as the one and only true religion!

If you are curious about this bilingual land of vast nature, free health care, same-sex marriage and subtle patriotism, (with a little bit of smugness thrown in…) the best thing to do is simply ask a Canadian about their country and culture.

Happy Canada Day!

Coach Ric

Canadian English Pronunciation

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Today, July 1st, is Canada Day – our birthday. I thought this might be of interest to those who enjoy the sound and study of Canadian English.

Canadian English (CanE, en-CA) is the variety of English used in Canada. More than 26 million Canadians (85% of the population) have some knowledge of English (2006 census). Approximately 17 million speak English as their native language. Outside Quebec, 76% of Canadians speak English natively. Canadian English contains elements of British English in its vocabulary, as well as several distinctive “Canadianisms”. In many areas, speech is influenced by French, and there are notable local variations. However, Canada has very little dialect diversity compared to the United States. The phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon for most of Canada are similar to that of the Western and Midland regions of the United States, while the phonological system of western Canadian English is identical to that of the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and the phonetics are similar. As such, Canadian English and American English are sometimes grouped together as North American English. Canadian English spelling is a blend of British and American conventions. (source: Wikipedia)

I would also like to add my two-cents to this. I was born in a small town and now live and work in Toronto. I personally hear different English dialects here in Canada. I hear the standard “mid-west” accent that Hollywood and the media love to use, although it is split up into 2 accents. One is the ‘professional’ accent which you will hear in the big cities and in professional circles. The vowels are tighter, proper grammar rules are adhered to and the vocabulary is richer.

The other accent is the ‘relaxed’ English, which you can hear in small towns and in manual labour or “blue collar” circles. In this dialect, the people do not mind purposefully breaking some grammar rules, have a variety of rich and colourful slang and favourite expressions used, and sound more “American” in their pronunciation of longer, stretched out vowels.

There is also the distinctive French-Canadian or “Quebecois” accent (Think Georges St.Pierre from the UFC) which is quite different from accents from other French speaking countries. There is the distinctive “East-Coaster” accent, due to the previous immigrants from Ireland and Scotland (hence Nova Scotia – New Scotland) and finally there is the native/Inuit/aboriginal accent.

A few resources to study Canadian English Pronunciation:

http://www.accentoncanadianenglish.com/
http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/3vc-accent-reduction-program-description/7349543
http://voicetoword.ca/index.html
http://www.voiceandspeech.com/
http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/britishcanadianamericanvocabcanadianpron.html
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/Canadian/canphon3.html
http://www.esl-guide.com/links/search.cgi?Country=Canada

I apologize that most of these resources are Ontario-based. Please do a local search to see what in-house or online resources are available to you. Find a good teacher, tutor, coach or trainer with experience and references, and for goodness sake – ask if he or she was born in Canada!

Happy Canada Day!

Are You Susceptible to Other People’s Opinions?

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Kevin Hogan has 3 new articles up this week to help your self-development.

1 – Getting Paid for What You Love
2 – Finding Yourself: Whose Life are You Living Anyway?
3 – SOOP – The Big Obstacle of Success (Susceptible to Opinions of Other People)

Interesting stuff. This week only. Click the above title or here:
http://kevinhoganprograms.com/aw.aspx?B=42&A=223&Task=Click
Enjoy!
Coach Ric

Acronyms for Crime and Policing

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To continue from a previous blog entry, here are some popular acronyms that you may hear on cop shows or cop films. Plus, if you apply to become a police officer, you should be aware of these acronyms. Our company proudly helps YRP – York Regional Police – with communication skills assessments and training of their recruits and officers.  Some are immigrants and we believe that having English as a second language should not stop you from enjoying dramatic shows or applying to serve your community!  Feel free to share this with those you know are applying to become a police officer in their community too.

E.T.A. – Estimated Time of Arrival
D.O.A. – Dead On Arrival
M.O. – Modus Operandi – Latin for mode or style of operation or the way a ‘perp’ performs crimes. The pattern s/he follows.
C.O.P. – Citizen or Constable On Patrol – “cop” is the common nickname for a police officer.
D.U.I. – Driving Under the Influence (of drugs or alcohol)
B & E – Break and Enter – burglary
P.I. – Private Investigator
C.I. – Confidential Informer/Informant – someone the police use to get inside info from the streets or criminal gangs.
B.O.L.O. – Be On the LookOut for – notice to all officers to search for or be aware of a particular person.
A.P.B. – All Points Bulletin – also known as a citywide – same as BOLO.
C.Y.A. – Cover Your Ass – Do the job right, by the book, and document everything to prove that you did everything correctly.
S.W.A.T. – Special Weapons And Tactics team/squad – highly trained paramilitary officers, used in hostage situations and other dangerous events. On TV and in film, they are always dressed completely in black.

That should be enough to give you a better English base for policing.
Memorize them and then incorporate them, and stay safe.

Cop Talk – Learning the Idioms and Slang of the Police

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Do you enjoy watching police TV shows like COPS, CSI, Law & Order etc. and police films in English? There are lots to choose from for sure. Or perhaps you want to apply to become a police officer? I have the pleasure of working directly with a local police service (YRP – York Regional Police) to offer English communication assessments for new recruits and also to train current officers in communication skills required by the job.  You NEED to learn a lot of idioms and slang, whether English is your second language or first.  You need to know a lot of ‘everyday idioms’ like “It’s pouring rain” (raining really hard – do not use the old idiom ‘raining cats and dogs’), it came from “out of the blue” (surprising, unexpected) and “The real McCoy” (genuine, the real deal, not a fake) but you also need to learn more industry-specific slang and idioms to do with policing and crime. For example:

There’s a “wino” in the alley – Wino means stereotypical alcoholic homeless person.

“Reefer. Blunt. Chronic. Mary J. Grass. Weed” – These all refer to Marijuana. There are many more too!

“Cuff him and stuff him” – handcuff the perp (perpetrator or suspect) and put him in the back of the squad car.

“Something’s going down right now!” – means some illegal action like a drug trade is happening right now.

“Hooker, Pro, Lady of the night, Streetwalker” – all refer to a woman who is a prostitute.

“I smell bacon” – bad guys say this when cops are around – refers to old nickname of calling the police ‘Pigs’.

There are literally hundreds more, and I will add a few acronyms for you next entry.

If you want to improve your English in police slang in order to apply to be a constable or just to further enjoy your favourite TV shows and movies, take a little time to improve your Cop Talk first!

Coach Ric