This is a place for displaying some concepts of the Sherpa System.
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Using Tone of Voice to Your Advantage
Imagine you tell an associate you are meeting with that you’ll be late, and you get this text in response: “Okay.” Is it a cheerful acknowledgement, or are they upset? Without tone of voice and other vocal cues, it’s hard to say. This happens all the time in the business world.
You may have heard the statistic that non-verbal components of communication make up 65% of the meaning in a message. While facial expressions, gestures, and other body language does account for much of the lost meaning in written communications, new studies show that up to 90% of this “lost meaning” can be conveyed just by simple vocal cues, such as tone, rhythm, and breath .
FACTS:
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65% of the meaning in a message is non-verbal.
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90% of this “lost meaning” can be conveyed by tone of voice and other vocal cues.
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Emails, texts, and other text-based communications deliver none of this meaning.
In the storm of a busy work day, we choose the path of least resistance. Switching to Outlook and firing off an email seems easier than picking up a phone, so that’s what we do. This often becomes a form of self-sabotage. Our communication isn’t clear, so we often get caught in a day-long email ping pong marathon when things could have been resolved with a five-minute phone call.
Emails also contain a strong negativity bias. A message from other members of a new group project asking “do you need any help with your part of the project?” can be interpreted as condescending or sincere. Research shows that people that doesn’t know each other well have a bias towards assuming worst interpretation. If they call you with the same message, their tone of voice might just assure you of their helpful intentions.
Solutions
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Avoid using emails in cases when tone of voice might be significant.
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Use phone calls instead of texts – even a voicemail conveys vocal cues.
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If you must send an email, include an audio link. You can generate these with a service like Speak N Send, Loom, or Vimeo, etc.
“We evolved to share information using our voices
and our ears, not using text.”
- Celeste Headlee, author, reporter and TED speaker.
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