We’ve all seen the ads online that pop-up when you try to go to a new page. It’s a clever advertising ploy to essentially create a roadblock so you have to look at the ad before you go on to the page you really want.

When I see one of these pages, I immediately look for the “Skip this Ad” link, usually hidden at the bottom. But today I was going through Forbes.com and found myself at one of these roadblocks. As I instinctively looked for the “skip this ad” shortcut, I found instead “Skip this Welcome Screen” next to a “Thought of the Day” from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Skip the Welcome Screen? Why would I want to do that? I skip ads, not welcome screens. They’re welcoming me — heck, they’ve even given me a pithy quote — I should take a look here.

So while your day probably doesn’t begin and end with creating clever new advertising tactics for your website, or digging up quotes from Emerson, your day does involve interacting with your clients, coworkers and peers. So before you fire off that e-mail or wrap up that proposal, take a moment to think about the words you’re using. Put yourself on the receiving end of your message. The difference can go from disgust to warm reception.