Living without exclamation points
Exclamation points have become the emotional fabric softener of workplace interactions, The Wall Street Journal reports. When female managers have experimented with eliminating this now-expected element of workplace correspondence for a month-long period, colleagues have struggled to cope. Research suggests that when male managers write in “blunt, terse prose,” red flags are rarely raised. Yet female managers “tread a thin line.” Too few exclamation points and they’re perceived as cold, and too many suggests they “lack gravitas.” In the experiment, they found themselves manufacturing workarounds to express warmth or likability and contending with puzzled underlings asking, "Are you mad at me?"