You Are How You Type

You are perceived by how you communicate via email.

Don’t kid yourself… People form opinions based on initial perceptions all day, every day. It’s just what human beings are wired to do.

We do it offline when we meet someone new or see someone walking down the street. We form perceptions, even subconsciously, as a natural response to what we see, feel, and hear.

In-person Impressions

For example, when meeting someone new or viewing a passerby:

Are they into personal hygiene?
What language (casual or formal) do they use when speaking to you?
Do they look you in the eyes when they talk to you?
Do they offer a firm or timid handshake?
Do they enunciate when they talk, or are they hard to understand?
Is their outfit suitable for the occasion?

All of the above things run through our minds when we form an initial opinion/impression about another person.

What about email perceptions?

Most of the above are unavailable to decide what kind of person is on the other side of the screen regarding email. So instead, we look at:

What level of formality is used?
What is the tone of the email?
Did the sender take the time to spell-check?
Did the sender take the time to be courteous and choose their words carefully?
Did the sender make an effort to communicate in such a way that you know exactly what they meant?
Did the sender care enough to have proper sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation?

People make judgments almost every minute of every day. You can say that you don’t — but you do. How you email someone speaks volumes about what you feel is essential, how seriously you want to be taken, and your level of perceived education.

Don’t Forget About Social Media

I was on Facebook the other day and hoped our global enemies would not judge our culture based on what I saw there. I’m not a fan of social media and use it primarily for my business.

This time, I went off the beaten path and checked out some trending topics. Yikes! Posts filled with profanity, sexual innuendo, and ignorance. What I saw confirmed why I’m not “into” social media.

Most comments made it seem that the author couldn’t put a correctly structured sentence together if their life depended on it, and many had a negative, condescending tone.

I form opinions based on how I am contacted, either directly via email or through my website forms. I wonder if they are pulling my leg on my business sites, as there is no way they can believe that anyone would take their inquiries seriously.

Site owners and recipients of your messages don’t know you and only have the way you choose to communicate as a window into who you are and what you feel is essential. Never underestimate that you are how you type…