If you missed yesterday's PMUG meeting here's my handout:
Well, Mac users, what better use for your skills than to write something on the computer -- writing that can be in different fonts, different sizes, different layouts -- and today I want you to consider writing that expresses your appreciation for someone.
Your skills, abilities, and experiences can put you in a position to show appreciation to others. You can find words and even punctuation to assemble a writing that someone will be surprised to receive!
Birthdays, promotions, graduations, heading into new territory, going into the hospital, the university, the armed forces, etc. these are but a few opportunities for you to gather up words in a picturesque way. Got a color printer? Add photos or illustrations. Got only black ink? Buy some pretty paper at Staples or OfficeMax. You can find a variety of certificate paper, too. Consider: your printer might not handle metallic paper.
Here are some suggestions. Write something. Let it rest until tomorrow. Go at it again and see what improvements your clever brain has thought of over night.
Certificates
A poem, rhyming or not
Parodies
Old songs with new words
ABC list of the person’s great qualities
Achievements
75 reasons why you deserve a special birthday celebration. (I wrote 16 and repeated them!)
Bragging on your kids to your siblings
Bragging on your siblings to your kids
Encouragement that’s descriptive
Acrostic poems don’t have to rhyme, just start with a letter of the alphabet that spells something going down from the top line.
An acrostic from the middle of words lined up to describe this special person’s qualities
Declare an imaginary holiday to celebrate any special occasion
My niece argued a case before the court in Boston, and the video was put out by her college there. Yes, I could have just emailed, “good job, Teresa!” But why not make my compliment clear. Besides emailing her we sent CC to her mom and dad: “Don and I watched the Flip4Mac program that brought up the video from Teresa in court. We brought the picture up to full size on our big screen. Ed and Deb, you must be proud of Teresa and Andy for both going into law. You did a good job raising those two cute little kids. Teresa looks confident and well-prepared. She speaks clearly and carefully, making her points understandable. We enjoyed watching her.”
The emails went first, of course, but then a nice printed-out piece of paper went to brother Ed and his wife Deb —and Teresa— via the post office.
Pages makes it easy. Fonts make it fun. Here’s a couple of examples to nudge you into action. Click to enlarge this screen shot:
Explore what you can do with all those words you’re accumulating! Surprise someone!
Of course, save a copy on Mac. Make a folder for this writing and associated correspondence. You can drag an email to the folder. Do Command + “i” when you highlight the title of this new document. Put some key words at Spotlight Comments which will make this new writing easier to find next time.
So, 2, 4, 6, 8 who do you appreciate? Have you told this person recently? This is a good time to let Mac help you do a nice job of giving compliments!