
I have to recommend this book: Digital Body Language by Erica Dwahan. My friend Jesse Dresselhaus told me about it and it looks at how a whole new set of nonverbal cues are being used in the virtual workspace.
The chapter I found especially fun and interesting is on how we write emails, texts, and slack messages. Because we lack the usual nonverbal cues, we rely on other messages that lie between the words. For instance,
…When do you use an emoji? 🤔 Is that too silly for your organization? 😮
…Should you use an exclamation point!? or is that too enthusiastic????
…WHEN DO YOU USE CAPS? OR IS THAT JUST TOO MUCH YELLING????
…Brevity is good. Wait! What does that even mean?????
Her point is a good one. Take a few extra seconds to consider what is appropriate for the message you are going to send. Never underestimate the assumptions someone might make about you or your message based simply on your use of punctuation?


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