pellchecker on your documents and proofread them at least twice. Have someone else proofread them as well, then proofread them again yourself. You'll be amazed at how many mistakes you'll find on even the third reading. I've had the pleasure of working with some very smart people. I've worked with CCIEs, PhDs, teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, and many other people with far more education than I have. I am constantly amazed by the unreadable docu- mentation produced by people of all ranks. If you want to be taken seriously, make sure your documentation is grammatically sound and looks professional. How to Sell Your Ideas to Management Take emotion out of the equation Any emotion involved in the delivery of your message will be held against you. The only possible exception to this rule is passion. Feeling passionate about your ideas is a good thing. Keep an eye on your passion, though, as it can easily turn into anger or frustration. If you're like me, you feel passionate about the things you believe in. As an engi- neer, it's very easy to believe in an idea or concept. We all know that following certain best practices can make our lives easier, but I've seen engineers lose their cool because a VP approved only one DNS server instead of two. A calm engi- neer should be able to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of redundant DNS servers, and perhaps convince the VP to change his mind. An emotional engineer will simply be ignored. As soon as you inject emotion into your presentation, you will lose credibility. I like to argue. I don't mean that I like to scream at my wife while she hurls cooking utensils at me. I like to argue in the strict definition of the term. I like to debate a proposition with an opponent whose premise differs from mine. If I'm arguing with you, and I can get you to become emotional, I've practically won. Why? Because when emotion swells, reason abates. The more emotional you become, the less reasonable you will be. If you become emotional while presenting an idea, everyone around you wi