Imagine you’re in a conversation with a client or colleague.

You want to know whether they have any plans for the new year.

You could ask them, “Do you have any special plans for the coming year?“

In the worst case, they might reply, “No, nothing special!“

Perhaps you could try one of the following questions:

• What are your personal or professional goals for the coming year?
• Are there any new experiences or activities that you are looking forward to in the new year?
• What are you most excited about in the coming year?

Asking deeper questions can help you get to know others better.

And showing that you really care about what others think, can help you build a stronger connection with them.

Are you going to give my questions a try?

Or do you have any to add?

This is Kialo.com‘s mission.

Kialo is a powerful tool that makes it easy to have meaningful discussions, understand different perspectives, and make decisions together.

Just go over to the website. Choose your topic of interest, read the background information and press the “Enter” button to get the best arguments on both sides of a debate. 

Which topics could interest you most?

• Should European Monarchies Be Abolished?
• Should a Further Referendum Be Held On Brexit?
• Should We Adopt A Universal Language?
• Do We Need Nuclear Power For Sustainable Energy Production?
• All Humans Should Be Vegan
• Gender Neutral Bathrooms: Should They Be Standard?

Of course, there are a lot more.

How can this help you?

Reading alone can help you

• improve your language skills and increase your understanding of different topics;
• expand your vocabulary;
• develop critical thinking skills and increase your empathy, as it allows you to experience and understand different perspectives and points of view.

How do you know if your texts are correct and easy to read?

Let the Hemingway App check them for you.

Hemingway App is a tool that can help you improve your writing. It points out your mistakes in grammar, fluency and sentence structure.

It’s simple to use

1. Open the website and click on the “Write” button.
2. Add your text.
3. Click on the “Edit” button to see areas that may need your attention.

Over to your text

You’ll see a score that shows how easy or hard the text is to read, how long it will take to read, and the number of letters, characters, and words in the text.

• Remember, adverbs weaken verbs. To help you cut them out, Hemingway highlights them in blue.
• The passive voice can make your writing less clear and less direct. Hemingway highlights every instance in green.
• Hemingway himself said, “… there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”. That’s why complicated words are highlighted in purple.
• Difficult-to-read sentences are highlighted in yellow.
• Very difficult-to-read sentences are highlighted in red.

The advantages of using an editing tool

Give it a try and see if your writing is clearer and more polished. And if it helps your readers to understand and engage with your message better.

I believe it will.

The other day I read the word Aibohphobia meaning the fear of palindromes*.

I wanted to learn more about uncommon phobias and found an article on the BBC website about five of them.

But what are phobias anyway?

Phobias are intense, irrational fears of specific things or situations. They can cause a lot of anxiety and panic. Even when there is no real danger present.

Phobias can make it difficult to do everyday tasks and can interfere with your daily life.

Which phobias does the BBC website mention?

1. Sesquipedalophobia – the fear of long words (like “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”)
2. Nomophobia – the fear of being without your mobile
3. Omphalophobia – the fear of belly buttons (Bauchnabel)
4. Turophobia – the fear of cheese
5. Phobophobia – the fear of having a phobia

*By the way, palindromes are words or phrases that are spelt the same forwards and backwards.

Examples are “racecar,” “level,” and “A Santa at NASA.”

Do you know of any other examples? Even in your own language?