DECEMBER 2017
P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O R C A N A D A ' S O F F I C E S U P P O R T S T A F F
Administrative
Assistant's
UPDATE UPDATE
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INSIDE
Inspiring trust � � � � � � � � � � � � 2
It takes a good deal of effort, but
it's worth it in the end
Writing tips � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3
Usage errors that can distract
from your message
Depreciating yourself � � � � � � � 5
How women unwittingly put
themselves at a disadvantage
Excel workbooks � � � � � � � � � � 6
How to make workbooks
stronger through collaboration
By Helen Latimer
You may well be harbouring skills
you've never given yourself credit for.
Let me tell you why I think so.
I recently facilitated a workshop
on presentation skills. During the
wrap-up, we shared positive feed-
back with one another. One of the
participants heard how people
thought she was a very confident
speaker and looked at ease speaking
in front of the group.
She shared she was extremely
surprised by the comments. "I feel
so unsure about my public speaking
skills, I had no idea I looked confi-
dent."
Then another participant, who
had also received positive feedback,
chimed in with "I thought I was the
only one who felt like that, it's so
good to know I'm not alone."
What's going on? Why are two
very capable presenters both dealing
with feelings of self-doubt, unsure
about their public speaking abilities
and both hesitant about taking on
larger speaking roles at work?
Did I mention both these people
are women?
In her book, Lean In, Sheryl Sand
-
berg says of women "We consistently
underestimate ourselves. Multiple
studies in multiple industries show
that women often judge their own
performance as worse than it actually
is, while men judge their own perfor-
mance as better than it actually is."
There's a place
for small talk
"I hear lots of reasons from women
why they don't want to make small
talk. Some women say it's not
their personality. Others say if they
make small talk with men, the men
will think they are flirting.
"Think again! Small talk is
an important business tool. It
breaks the ice with people, estab-
lishes common ground, and allows
people to get to know one another
better.
"And you can talk to men
without your intentions being
misunderstood. Just keep the talk
professional and not too personal."
Barbara Pachter
(www.pachter.com)
Continued on page 4
Take time to see
the expert in you
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