Shirley Taylor

Shirley Taylor is a popular keynote speaker and communication skills trainer. She delivers motivational and success keynotes like ‘Rock Your Role In Our High-Tech World’ and ‘Grow Your Business By Connecting Your Dots’. She is author of 12 books, including Model Business Letters, Emails and Other Business Documents seventh edition, which has been translated into 16 languages and sold over half a million copies worldwide.

Shirley is a high-energy and high-content speaker who engages with audiences quickly, and shows them how the strategies she teaches can easily be applied both personally and in the workplace. Her aim is to educate, inspire, inform and motivate individuals and teams to make a difference in the workplace and to communicate and lead with heart. Shirley was President of Asia Professional Speakers Singapore, and currently serves as 2017-18 President of the Global Speakers Federation.

Check out Shirley's popular signature business writing programme.

Find me on:

Have you ever wondered where all the rules out there governing grammar, punctuation, spelling, and so on come from? Is there really a dictator called the Grammar Ninja hiding in a cave or bunker somewhere, thinking up evil ways to make your writing ‘wrong?’ Is he or she inventing new words to make your life miserable?

I recently watched the sad news of another high school shooting in the U.S. The news reporter was emitting a tone of horror, sadness and sympathy when she interviewed a student witness. However, the student answered in a very objective, flat, almost disinterested, tone. The difference in the tone the student used and the tone the reporter expected were so different that the reporter actually mentioned it on air.

In today’s business world, all – not most – positions require teamwork. The old days of going to work, doing your job, and never connecting with another human being are long gone. Whether through emails, phone calls, or face-to-face, you are required to work with others constantly, regardless of your physical work environment. You might be lucky enough to have a hard-wall office with a door, but it’s more likely you have a cubicle or even just a desk in an open space floor plan.

The typical executive today spends approximately 20-25 percent of their time writing. Yet, writing is one of the last skills that people seem to want to work on. With the amount of email that you probably send out each day, it is vital that you know how to write intelligently.

The office grapevine has always reminded me of the game ‘Telephone’. Imagine you whisper something in someone’s ear, and they whisper it to another person and that person tells another person, and so on. Imagine you start with, “On Saturday, Sue gave Mark the hugs that we all sent for their new baby.”  By the time it gets to the last person, it might sound something like, “On Saturday, you gave Mark the drugs heavy all scent further new baby.”  Doesn’t make much sense, right? That’s the game of Telephone!