A screen is devoid of personality

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Take a listen to two emails, both with the same message, but with two very different approaches. (air whooshing) (chiming pings) - [Jess] Yo guys, our retreat is February 1st, 10:00 A.M., everyone's got to be there. Send your updates to me a week ahead of time. See you there! Thanks and yay, later, Jess. (chiming pings) - [Jess] Dear Colleagues, the annual planning retreat is slated for February 1 at 10:00 A.M. Everyone must attend. Send me your project updates one week prior. Thanks in advance for your cooperation. Regards, Mrs. Stratton. - [Narrator] As I said, both of these emails communicate the same relative message, but they strike drastically different tones. And probably neither one is the best tone for this type of business communication. Too casual and you sound juvenile and slapdash. Too formal and you sound stuffy and impersonal. It's often best to work toward finding the right balance of approachable warmth and straightforward messaging to reflect your professionalism and your personality. (air whooshing) (chiming pings) - [Jess] Hi, everyone! Just wanted to send an update that our annual planning retreat is scheduled for February 1st at 10:00 A.M. Everyone should please plan to attend. Also, if you could send me your project updates a week in advance, I'd appreciate it. Please let me know if you have any questions at all. Thanks so much, Jess. - [Narrator] There's a lot that goes into thinking about tone and it can be hard to get it right. You're trying to express important information through text without the context you'd normally get through nonverbal cues like tone of voice, facial expression, and body language. What seems straightforward to you can be read as aggressive and curt to others. Well-meaning jokes can fall flat and seem off-color. An attempt to build rapport and understanding can instead be seen as rambling and tedious to your reader. Of course, all of this can be rather subjective. But in addition to exercising some good old common sense, you can also glean a lot from just observing your colleague's email habits. Does your boss send well-structured emails that err on the side of formality? Probably would be best for you to do so as well. Does your team occasionally incorporate funny memes and jokes within discussion threads? In that case, your humor-laden work culture likely gives you some more latitude in expressing yourself. There's a lot of nuance here for sure, but even with more casual emails, there are still some general netiquette rules. Because while some well-meaning people may believe that typing in all caps shows that they're emphasizing their point, (keyboard typing) that seems to most readers as if the sender is shouting. In fact, all caps text is usually seen as one of the most annoying and aggressive forms of communication. The same goes for overusing exclamation points. Others prefer to indicate tone by inserting smileys, and other emoticons, or abbreviations like LOL. Again, in some work cultures, these whimsical additions are fine if used sparingly. In other environments, they can be seen as juvenile and trite. So take the lead from your own observations on etiquette to determine if they're acceptable in your workplace culture. Also be aware of cultural differences in etiquette, because even if you believe that you're following all the norms, you might inadvertently send the wrong message because of cultural disparities that you're not aware of. For example, high context cultures like Chinese, Japanese, or Arabic, may be more personal in their writing, setting the stage before launching into the main point. Low context cultures like American, or German, or Scandinavian tend to get to the point more quickly. Also using idioms or sarcasm often backfires when communicating across cultures. So it's usually best to drop any non-literal messaging and instead practice more straightforward interaction. Finally, just make sure to take the time to reread your email before sending it. - [Robotic Voice] Analyzing now. - [Narrator] Consider everything from the reader's perspective. Try to imagine how things might be misinterpreted, and adjust and soften your language accordingly. Again, so much can be lost in tone, and you don't want to run the risk of this happening within the rigid confines of email. (descending music)