As a twenty-something I cannot express how much I love this “at- your- finger- tips”  kind of communication. I use it constantly to stay in touch and stay on top of what I need to get done during the week. With instant communication I can share exactly what I am thinking, at almost the exact time I think it.

However , I’ve begun to believe that this “insta-talk” can also have its drawbacks. Sometimes my first thought isn’t the best or most helpful one to share with others (shocking I know). How many of you have quickly responded to an email from a co- worker only to wish you could un- send and put the words back in your mouth? I think that with instant communication we often send out the first rough draft of our thoughts, rather then the published edition.

It’s with this thought in my mind; I can’t help but hear my mom’s voice , “Erica, think before you speak!” Just because I can communicate instantly doesn’t mean I should. Sometimes the best way that I (and you) can speak with others, is by taking a few extra moments to keep our mouth shut.

Compare these sentences:

I didn’t steal that car.

I didn’t steal that car.

I didn’t steal that car.

I didn’t steal that car.

I didn’t steal that car.

If you read them carefully, they all have different meaning by putting emphasis on different words within the exact same sentence.

We all sat through 8^th grade English right?  Who thought then what we were learning was going to be so important now?  One of the biggest struggles in business is proper etiquette through email.  How do we know what the sender meant if we can’t hear their voice or read their body language?  We rely so much on technology that our face to face communication is less and less.  Sales, customer service, IT….most departments within your company rely heavily on email to communicate with internal and external customers.  How are you as an individual preparing yourself and/or your employees to communicate this way?  I can tell you that if you are “assuming” or “expecting” that someone already knows “the rules”, you may be sadly mistaken.  Right now a lot of companies are experiencing 4 generations in the workplace and this means that they are dealing with 4 different types of communication styles.  This is going to continue on as the baby boomers retire and generation Z enters the workforce.  Emails may start to look more like this:

LOL!  Sry I missed ur call.  I wuz OTL.  I gthrd some 411 4 u.  Pls CMB when u have a min.

Ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme.  My point is that one word, or lack of, can make or break a sales transaction, a customer relationship, or giving instructions to your team.  TTN offers e-learning courses covering this topic and there are many helpful websites available that you can reference or direct people to.  By providing the right tools, you are setting others up for success.  Email is your voice, what are you really trying to say?