Are you communicating to engage?

Did you notice that things don’t always go perfectly when communicating? With the many nuances of communication channels, tools, systems and platforms, it is a real wonder how we communicate at all!

When you add to the mix words, their different meanings and intentions, things can be easily miscommunicated. In addition, with the exponential use of social media to communicate, well, the personal touch is often lost in translation.

Just because your lips are moving, or you’re sending a text or email, doesn’t guarantee you will actually connect. A study done by the Radicati Group on Marketwired.com shows that by the end of next year over 316 BILLION emails will be sent EACH DAY to over 4.1 BILLION users, representing over half of the entire world’s population. That’s a lot of communication …but how many emails are actually read? How many will connect with your truest intention of the message?

Psychology Today published a blog that points out several barriers that impact not just the transmission of communication, but actual engagement with the end user, in both personal and professional exchanges. Since email went public 40 years ago, we rely on the platform more often as a default for the convenience and speed. But there are serious limitations to actually conveying the message successfully for a number of reasons, the first being that words can be misleading. Email is a flat medium comprised most often as text. Emoticons provide a broader opportunity to brand the emotion of the text, but still fall short in engagement. 

So how can we really engage?

Let’s get physical: According to the Psychology Today blog*, “The deeper the conversation, the more deeply our minds meld”. With face to face connection we are better positioned for deeper rapport. Too often we use automation which abdicates the personalization that comes with connecting in the present moment, like a phone connection. As humans, face to face connection provides the ability to connect through feeling.  This happens when there is an exchange of energy in the present, and real time moments cannot be duplicated with digital exchanges. Digital communication is an extraordinary tool to connect, but use real face to face connection whenever possible.

Pump up the connection with a video chat: When it is not appropriate or convenient to connect face to face, using email with video is a terrific alternative. Due to several technical reasons, video embedded in email has not hit big time mainstream even though it was introduced several years ago.   Delivering your message in an email with the latest platforms can bridge the gap from text to engagement quickly and with a freshness that a flat text message can’t deliver. Several platforms, like BombBomb and CoVideo, makes creating a video simple and doesn’t require complicated downloading. This visual messaging creates a heightened “experience” for the recipient that is more personal, and more interesting by including elements that resonate with the human side of connection. Hearing your voice, observing your facial and body expression helps to promote trust and encourages response or at least acknowledgment of the message. 

The personal touch: Getting a written note through the post office has become a rarity, but packs a personal punch. Budget time to send short handwritten notes every day. Thank you notes, congratulations, personal events like birthdays, anniversaries, job promotions, and other opportunities are deeply appreciated and definitely noticed. Forget lame excuses like your handwriting is not perfect, or you don’t have time. The power of personal connection trumps technology every time. For the recipient, it validates the thought, the time, and the energy you invested to share a moment in real time, and that implies and communicates value and acknowledgement.

Electronic connection is here to stay, but adding your personal touch will engage, accelerate, and differentiate your connections every time.

*Psychology Today: https://bit.ly/2pzXl2M

Terri Murphy is a Communication Connection Specialist, author, speaker, and Master Certified Coach. She is the author/co-author of 5 books, and TedTalk Speaker: https://bit.ly/2V2eD7k Contact: [email protected] or visit: TerriMurphy.com