How do you gauge whether you’ve reached consensus in a meeting? Everyone may not think the decision made is the very best decision, but they can support it while feeling that nothing major is being left out.

Do you consider whether you write in active voice vs. passive voice? You should. Active voice makes for clearer, more concise, and more vigorous writing.

Don’t write:
Tests were run and it was determined that errors still exist in the program.
Write:
Testing showed that errors still exist in the program.
Or:
We ran the tests and found that errors still exist in the program. (This one shows ownership.)

Tip 22 from Strunk and White: “Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end.”  Example:

Don’t write: “Humanity has hardly advanced in fortitude since that time, though it has advanced in many other ways.”

Write:  ”Since that time, humanity has advanced in many ways, but it has hardly advanced in fortitude.”