Be Heard Clearly When You Write
Your tone of voice can signal what you really mean. these 2 sentences are similar but they are not the same. “I never promised to promote John.” “I never promised to promote John.” So how do you keep your tone of voice in your memos, reports, grant requests, depositions and e-mails?
3 key ingredients are: Grammar, job title, and reputation.
Grammar is not dead, despite what you see in your e-mails and letters. It amazes me when e-mailers blow-off capitalization and commas. That’s ditzy not cool. It’s now ok to use bold, italics and underlines in your writing. I think that’s cool. If your grammar skills need updating, go buy a style manual.
Your job title makes a difference. When many of us read a misspelling in a memo from the VP of Finance we tend to think, “She’s human.” But let the new kid in the mailroom do the same thing and we think, “What a dummy.”
And your reputation counts. When people read what you write, they guess what you sound like and what your tone of voice would be. If you have a reputation as intelligent, dedicated and professional they will read it that way. If you are seen as careless, unprofessional or you get drunk at every office party, then you’ll have to pack in more examples to demonstrate you know what you’re writing about.
It’s smart to remember your tone of voice when you write.
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