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Email is not SMS

Written by: Kathie Thomas

Article Overview: Further to my email etiquette series, there is more to share.

Email is not SMS

i recv reely strang email at times, in sms typ. if i typed a letr like sms and sent it off it wd’nt b well recvd so wd y do th same in email? b4 sms came along i believe ppl took more care in typing.

Perhaps it’s an old school way of thinking but I much prefer my email to be typed properly – just as I would type any other document. Yes, I am a trained typist, and that may well account for the way I think but it really does annoy me when I see people who would otherwise be considered professionals, resorting to an SMS way of typing their email.

And being a trained typist even trying to type in that format is really difficult – it doesn’t come naturally so I hope my opening paragraph at least gave you some idea.

Doesn’t look very professional, does it? And yet I constantly receive email from people who resort to this type of communication. Resorting to all CAPS is another annoyance and a ‘no-no’ in email – online it’s recognised as shouting, but perhaps it’s because they get sick of switching the caps on and off, or perhaps they don’t understand the use of the shift key. However, I know of many two-fingered typists that tap out documents very adequately, at a speed of over 40wpm (40 words per minute to the uninitiated). My husband, an electronics engineer, is one of them and he is amongst many others like him at work. Not everyone has the luxury of having administrative support these days to do the typing for them – and considering that computers, and the internet are here to stay, I think that learning to type, or at least getting familiar with the keyboard, is a good thing to do.

There are courses you can do online, or by correspondence and you can pick up books in the shops, or via Amazon.com or eBay.com about keyboarding skills or keyboarding technology. For those who like the challenge, you can even do a typing test – try http://www.typingtest.com for example.

My biggest concern is for people who expect to make a living providing services to others where the use of email is prevalent in their approach to business. Email has put us on show 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but if you’re experienced at typing, it should come naturally anyway, and shouldn’t be an issue when preparing an email to send out. In fact I struggle with SMS on my phone and usually resort to logging into telstra.com and use the Webnotes there to send an SMS to my family or friends. I’m rarely far from my computer so that’s easier and quicker for me to do – rather than fumbling through the numbered keypad and entering something incorrectly and getting a befuddled message sent. It amazes me how quickly my daughters can SMS – all with the use of one thumb it seems!

I know some of you are probably laughing at the image of my fumbling with my mobile phone to tap out a message! May I encourage you all to think carefully before sending out an email to ensure it reflects you and your business, in the way that you would want it reflected.

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