The Multigenerational Workforce: Do Writing Teachers Need Better Training to Serve Today’s Students?
by Wilma Davidson, Ed.D.
Training Magazine, June 2, 2019
​
In 2014, we surveyed more than 250 working professionals about their insights into their own workplace writing. After analyzing the responses, we suggested pragmatic ways for college students and others to improve their business and technical correspondence. (See “Get It In Writing: New Survey Reveals Paradoxes About Workplace Writers” at https://writingcommons.org.) Among the results showcased then was the indication that working professionals bounce between a mix of uneasiness and confidence when they write—and they ultimately still struggle to define and deliver their messages to others.
As a result of that study, we wanted to know more:
-
Were responses skewed by age?
-
What effect did the available technology and apps have on writing effectiveness and ease of writing?
-
Was writing instruction received in high school or in college adequate for writing in the workplace?
2 B or Not 2 B a Social Media Zealot
by Wilma Davidson, Ed.D.
Training Magazine, January, 2018
​
Texts. Tweets. Twitter. Blogs. YouTube. Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Yelp, LinkedIn—just for starters. New Internet possibilities for communicating emerge almost daily. And while phone, in-person conversations, Keynote, PowerPoint, InDesign, Camtasia, Skype, in-store signage, and even highway billboards remain staple “older media,” newer social media seduce us to engage appropriately—and not—with friends, colleagues, customers, and the cosmos—or at least the Twitterverse.
Polish What's Dull, and Wax What Shines
by Wilma Davidson, Ed.D. and Richard D. Easter
Journal of Accountancy, July 2011
​
For managers, the one activity more dreaded than receiving a performance review is writing one. So it’s no wonder many reviews fall short of their real intention: to provide a springboard for further growth and accomplishment. How can the performance review guide a productive discussion about an employee’s potential or shortcomings? These tips can make writing and conducting a performance review less painful—and more behavior driven—for manager and employee alike.
Ace Your Presentations
by Wilma Davidson, Ed.D. and Susan Kline
Journal of Accountancy, March 1999
​
If you'd rather schedule a root canal than speak in front of an audience, you're in good company. Sir Winston Churchill, a master of oratory, is known to have said, "There are only a few things in life from which I derive intense pleasure — and speaking is not one of them!" Still Churchill overcame a lisp and lack of a university education to ...
With Pen in Hand, We Hesitate
by Wilma Davidson, Ed.D.
New York Times, July 3, 1988
Look at little children. Crayolas in hand or fingers in paint, they happily leave their marks on the wall, on the floor and on papers that adorn our refrigerators. So, if children start out wanting (even needing) to leave a permanent mark for the world to see, how did so many adults, once children, learn to hate writing? ...
