A Few Words on Wording
Professionalism in written communications seems to be dying a slow death. Texting lingo has blended with emails. What we are left with now is a hybrid kind of writing, highlighted by emojis and gifs. I do appreciate it as a form of expression. People have found a new shorthand way of saying what they mean and then they get to highlight it with humor or moving images that drive the point home. It is a casual form of dialogue that is not going anywhere, but I do not believe it belongs in the business world.
Recently I have seen more and more of this casual writing entering professional emails. It can start as simply as a ‘:)’ making an appearance instead of a ‘thank you’. Then the letters ‘y’ and ‘o’ start disappearing and we are left with ‘u’ and ‘ur’. Then it can escalate to a misspelled proper noun, or forgetting to capitalize these nouns. Finally, the most horrifying, the complete disregard for the universal understanding that sending messages in all capital letters is read as yelling. I’d like to thank all of my language and writing teachers, and my favorite authors, for nurturing the anxiety inside me that bubbles up when I see these etiquette breaches.
The world has absolutely changed in this regard, and we all have to learn to understand and deal with it. I am prepared to accept casual hybrid text communications and to a much lesser extent internal email communication. The caveat on internal email is that you should never send anything in written form that you would be embarrassed by or cause reputational harm with. Just because you send an email to someone does not mean they will censor language for you if they forward a chain to an outside party.
An easy way to avoid possible writing gaffes is to imagine you are saying what you are writing out loud, at your grandparent’s kitchen table. This is a simple and effective tool to help you be more mindful of what you send out into the world from your keyboard. If what you are typing would draw a shameful head shake from grandma, or an iron look from grandpa, consider rewording before you proceed.
External emails are different. This is not only your voice, but how you choose to represent your business or the company you work for. In a world where common sense is not anything we can assume, training and quality control are key. Review, revise and repeat as needed. Lose the hybrid casual text and be respectful and direct. And never get upset when someone asks you to review language before it goes to a client or a vendor. Take it as a compliment that someone has trust in your professional writing and review skills. By helping them get better, the team will be stronger.
Try to commit to your communication quality and avoid as many self-inflicted dramas as possible. The added benefits to maintaining email professionalism, and using polite language, is that they can help you avoid a lot of headaches later. Save your time, and your ibuprofen money.
