USE THE PHONE
The more I use email, the more I regret it. From time to time I get accused of having tone that I did not intend, which on re-reading, I can (usually) understand. The problem is that I write an email in my voice, with my tone, pitch, pace and inflection, but they read it in their voice, which may or may not line up with mine. This is why, before I send an important letter or email, I ask my wife or my assistant to read it to me aloud, so I can fix anything that doesn't play back the way I meant it to sound. I almost always need to make revisions. It can be very enlightening to hear others read your thoughts and realize how your plain meaning failed to get across.
New research confirms that email causes rampant miscommunication. In a study of email partners, Senders predicted that their tone would be correctly interpreted 80 percent of the time. Recipients believed they correctly interpreted Senders' tone 90 percent of the time. In fact, Recipients correctly interpreted Senders' tone a mere 50 percent of the time.
This explains why I make men angry and make women cry. Just what do I mean by that?
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