Watch your tone!
Comments:6
Ever have one of those moments when you are emailing someone, send off the email, and then think, ‘did I sound harsh/dumb/silly/desperate/bored ___? ‘ (feel free to fill in the blank with your own adjective).
These days, an online presence is more important than ever for job seekers and entrepreneurs. It’s a lightening fast way to develop connections, cultivate friendships, and foster online community collaborations and support. Whether it’s emailing, IM’ing, DM’ing, tweeting, or texting– especially if we don’t know the other person in real life– it’s important to remember your tone.
Certain aspects of your “tone” can mean certain things, or certain words you say could mean something different to another. Evaluate how you want to be perceived and how to write in a way that will get your message across the way you want. If the wrong tone is perceived, the reader may become offended. Whether subtle or loud, tone is attitude.
A few simple tips include:
1- Don’t write in ALL CAPS. It implies yelling.
2-Avoid emails that make assumptions, “I’m sure you agree..”
3-Try to avoid sarcasm or slang. It may not come across as you would like it to.People have different types of humor. Yours might come across to them as rude.
4-If you are emailing to a global audience (international jobs), avoid using words that other countries may not understand, i.e. “my bad”, “what’s up”, “what’s happening?!”, etc.
5- Use spell check and grammar check. If emailing to prospective employers, as always, it’s important to keep an eye out for spelling or syntax errors.
Your tone is like your body language, so be sure to have it in check when emailing people you want to impress. Sit up, look alive, smile and send online correspondence with confidence.
Written by Erin Kennedy, MCD, CMRW, CPRW - Visit the website to hire executive resume writer Erin Kennedy, CERW, CPRW
Erin is an internationally renowned certified resume writer specializing in professional and executive level resumes and career services.
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Another disadvantage of emailing is that you are able to respond almost immediately. Try to answer in a word processing document first and proof read for ‘tones’ and ‘hidden messages’ that you don’t mean to relay. Specifically for work emails, always reply in a diplomatic way, never emotional (and yes, avoid smiley faces if you can).
One more disadvantage of emailing is that if the reader in not in mood, he may read and perceive it badly.
If you are emailing or texting, it is better if you read what you are going to send twice so that you can convey what you really want to say and not the other way around. Most of the time, people who receive our messages interpret what we said in a different manner. that is one disadvantage of just relying on email or text messaging. If you are going to say something important and requires details, I suggest that you speak to the person personally or over the phone. That way both of you will be able to clarify things if ever there are something that he/she did not understand.
Katie Smith
My Blog: iContact Discounts
I definitely agree with your last statement: “Your tone is like your body language, so be sure to have it in check when emailing people you want to impress. Sit up, look alive, smile and send online correspondence with confidence.” If you don’t want to mess with the people you are communicating with, it’s best to be neutral. Avoid jokes that your recipients won’t buy. This article makes people aware about do’s and don’ts of online socializing process.
Mary’s
E-Mail etiquette is vital for an effective communication.
Sometimes we got to understand the end users thinking & can frame our messages accordingly.
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