Netiquette IQ - More Tips on Tone, A Critical Part of Netiquette

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Netiquette has many rules for many items. Noe is more imoortant than tone. It can be direct, subtle or percieved differently by the reader and sender. Alwats pay special attention to it!
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By Judy Steiner-Williams | Monday, July 14, 2014 from Lynda.com

Watch Your Tone: Email Etiquette for Business

Watch your tone.

That’s an expression commonly heard when we speak. But written communication —especially email—also has a tone that needs to be “watched.” Why? Because the tone impacts the reader’s reaction, resulting in higher or lower morale, expanded or reduced sales, and increased or decreased ratings.

You’re more likely to achieve the correct tone if you recognize what impacts tone, how readers react to tone characteristics, and how you can control those elements. Here are five red-flag areas to consider:

1. Be Sincere  

Insincere flattery, false promises, and non-apologies are instantly recognizable, as in these examples:

“I know how competent you are—you’re certainly one of our best employees. That’s why your job duties are being expanded even though we can’t pay you any more” or “This new team I want you to lead will require only about an extra hour of your time per week.” Call me cynical, but the flattery prefaced the bad news that I get to work more for the same pay. And in my experience, increased job responsibility results in increased time demands much beyond an hour. Most of us would be skeptical and question both the sincerity and the accuracy of these messages.

More insincerity:

“I’m so sorry that you learned through the grapevine that you didn’t get the promotion. That was a mistake. I intended to tell you tomorrow.” Is the person apologizing for not promoting me, for not notifying me, or for getting caught for not delivering the bad news in a timely way? That apology has an insincere tone.

2. Be Confident  

You’ve just completed a letter to a disgruntled customer. You offer a product replacement and you want to end the letter with goodwill, so you mistakenly say this:

“I hope you’ll do business with us again” or “If you ever do business with us again, you can use the attached coupon.”

The message you are sending is this: “I’m not certain if I’ve satisfied you, and I doubt if you will ever do business with us again.” If the writer isn’t confident, the reader will be left wondering if she should give your company another chance.

Instead, end with confidence: “Here’s a 20% off coupon to use the next time you’re in the store.”

3. Be Positive

State what is or can be, rather than what isn’t or can’t be. If you write with a positive tone, readers are more likely to focus on the advantages rather than the disadvantages.

Which is more positive?

“Your office won’t be ready until Friday” or “Your office will be ready Friday”?

“We can’t allow you to extend the warranty longer than two months” or “Your warranty can be extended for two months”?

“If you had read your emails carefully, you would know that the plant will be closed during the holiday” or “The holiday plant closing information was emailed to all employees last week”?

Won’t and can’t vs. will and can. Accusing vs. a neutral statement.

Neutral, tactful statements result in a positive tone.

4.  Be Friendly

You are writing to human beings, not to robots.

If you type,“THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD IN OUR CAFETERIA” readers will wonder why you screamed at them. That’s the impact of typing with all capital letters; it isn’t considered friendly.

Neither is over-formality:

“Per your request, enclosed herewith please find the previously requested items.” Would you say that if you were speaking face to face? A friendlier message would be, “Here are the items you requested.”

5.  Be Professional

Slang, lack of proofreading, and emoticons suggest a hurriedly composed message or one more intended for a personal friend or from a 10-year old than for a business associate.

Don’t write: “When R U N UR office?” or “WOW!!! Great meeting today!!”

Those don’t send a professional tone. Instead, try: “When are you in the office?” and “You did a great job conducting today’s meeting.” Those are still friendly, but also convey a professional tone.

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In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, "Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County New Jersey.
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