Writing isn’t the same as talking. Duh!

When you’re in a one on one conversation, your tone helps convey your attitude. Unfortunately, when writing, if people don’t know you well, it could come off the wrong way.

I shared a tweet earlier today which triggered some interesting ideas and I thought of sharing those ideas with you:

3 Changes To Your Writing That Could Change The Tone Of Your Message:

1. Give a sense of choice as opposed to compulsion

   Using words like ‘should’ might impose an opinion. A simple change to ‘could’ might sound better. This of course is subjective. If you’re confused, rereading your lines with should and could might help.

2. Being specific about the use case

   The reason I’m writing about this is because, sometimes, a polite tone can change the outcome dependent on your message. You might have the right intentions but the person reading might interpret it as snobby or condescending - a situation most of us have been in.

3. Not always resorting to a solution

   Most essays I’ve written stem from a combination of what I’ve read and applied. Some of it factual, some of it subjective. It might seem like there’s a solution to everything but no one has all the answers. These things work for me but they may not work for you.

Solutions are dependent on many things, the same way our problems are dependent on our circumstances. We receive the guidance we can, but the solutions are our own to decide.