8
TRILLION
text
messages
are sent
500
MILLION
tweets are
tweeted
WHY YOU
SHOULD
‘CARE LESS’
When writing or speaking,
should you use “I could care
less” or “I couldn’t care less!”?
This one is tricky because the
two phrases have different
meanings:
¢ I COULD CARE LESS implies
that you care and have less
care. For example: I love my
audiences, but I could care
less about those who don’t pay
attention.
¢ I COULDN’T CARE LESS
implies that you don’t care at
all, and there is no less that
you can care. For example: I
couldn’t care less about the
opinions of people who only
want to see me fail.
Elements of Style states:
“The dismissive ‘I couldn’t care
less’ is often used with the
shortened ‘not’ mistakenly (and
mysteriously) omitted: ‘I could
care less.’ The error destroys
the meaning of the sentence
and is careless indeed.”
Next time you are deciding
if you “could care less” or
“couldn’t care less” make sure
you know the difference or just
share that you simply don’t care.
Excerpted from The Elements
of Style, William Strunk Jr. and
E.B. White, Fourth Edition.
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BRIEFS
The sheer amount of information people are bombarded with is overwhelming. And while
email, texting, and social media are great tools to reach people, if you want to get more
speaking gigs, you may need to start using one of the oldest marketing tools available:
the telephone.
People buy from people they like and trust. If all you do is email people and never talk
with them or meet them in person, you’re not giving decision-makers an opportunity to
like and trust you. Plus, because so many speakers use nothing but email, picking up the
phone and calling people will help you stand out.
Excerpted from Speak More. For more ideas check out Chapter 28 by Pam Lontos, MA.
Pick Up the Phone
EACH DAY AROUND THE WORLD
269
BILLION
email
messages
are sent