Fierce Tip of the Week: Choose Conversation over Email

The written word is powerful. To make the most of this type of communication, time and energy needs to be spent choosing the exact words and assembling your thoughts very specifically to avoid confusion.

How many of us put forward enough time and energy when writing emails?

Oftentimes, emails are sent off quickly and not always with much thought behind them – leaving more than enough room for people to make assumptions and misinterpret what is being said.

Why?

Because an email’s best function is to relay basic factual information not communicate a large or complex idea.

This week’s Fierce tip encourages you to have a conversation when sharing an idea more complex than simple facts and figures.

Having a conversation allows you to use more than just your words. It gives you the advantage to use the tone of your voice, and if it’s an in-person conversation, your body language and facial expressions to help convey what you are trying to say.

If your mind is already jumping to how much more time having conversations will take, think about how much time is wasted with all the follow up conversations needed if an email is misinterpreted.