Media training 101 for small businesses

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Great news: you just scored a big press interview to promote your business. The story will expose your brand to the perfect new audience and drive meaningful traffic to your website. So…don't blow it. Yes, just as quickly as the excitement for the opportunity arrived, the realization that you now have to do an interview sets in. I get it—press interviews can absolutely be intimidating. The resulting coverage represents a significant opportunity to acquire new customers, drive sales, or raise awareness, and you want to be sure to represent your brand well and really compel the audience to check out your company. On top of that, you have to contend with adrenaline and nerves in the moment. You may be thinking, "So many other business owners are so polished and articulate in their interviews. How am I going to pull that off?" Deep breath. A successful interview is usually the result of good media training: preparation and practice in advance of an interview. I've tr...
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How to (appropriately) use emoji at work

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My editor Deb loves to ruin things. One time she used her Ph.D. in Italian to ruin an entire emoji.

guys I think there's a major misunderstanding of what :italian-hand-gesture: means and it makes me lol every time. It means what the hell but zapier uses it to replace kissing the hand

The emoji in question is a common Italian hand gesture that, roughly translated, means "what the hell?" This isn't how our team was using it. At some point, we collectively decided to use this emoji to mean "perfection."

katie: hahaha that is beautiful italian-hand-gesture

From what I can gather, people thought it represented kissing your fingertips, the way chefs sometimes do.

Dozens of people used the emoji this way until Deb pointed out the (hilarious) discrepancy. And you know what? Some people still use this emoji to mean perfection. They will probably never stop.

This is a harmless example, but it does point to the inherent ambiguity of emoji—and communication in general. Symbols only have meaning because of a shared cultural context, which means you can't assume everyone is interpreting emoji the same way. That can lead to some awkwardness—especially in a work context.

Once upon a time emoji were considered too informal for work communication, but that time has long passed. We think they're essential, particularly in team chat apps like Slack. Why? Read about how we use emoji at Zapier to learn more.

Maybe don't wink at your coworkers

Consider the

from The Zapier Blog https://ift.tt/2X9yi8G

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