First Writ-pressions
First impressions are everything.
We’ve been told this since we were kids. That’s why we learn how to give a firm handshake, greet everyone with a smile, speak clearly, listen and dress neatly and appropriately for the occasion.
Many people know how to make a stellar first impression. Their smiles are winning, they are articulate and ask engaging questions, and when they walk away, those they were meeting often stop and say, “He seemed like a pretty nice guy.” But there’s another form of first impression that many of these same people tend to neglect - the written impression.
When I meet someone, I make somewhat unconscious notes of how they act. Did they look me in the eye when they said hello? Did they mumble? Were they accommodating? Then, weeks later, as we work together, I’ll get the first ever written communication from them. And that person that impressed me so much face-to-face? They send an email like this:
From: Bob Schmoe
To: verisimilitudo
Subject: The thingy
Attachments: none
Want to get yoru opnion on this one. its attached. Tell me what you think. -Bob
Suddenly that person who, five minutes before the email, was the most amazing person I ever met was taken down about six or seven pegs. What is it about writing that makes people stop caring? Why do they riddle their emails with spelling errors, grammar mistakes and plain stupidity? Why do they insist on ruining the first impression with a second first impression that sucks?
I’m not going to lie. I do some of the same things. I rely on my spell check, which does not run through my subject line, so I’ve been known to send out an email to a list of 30 people that is called “Management Teeam Meeting” and forget the attachment, so that I have to send another email proclaiming how silly I am for forgetting. But this is not about my mistakes.
The first time I send an email to someone important, I read it through at least three or four times. To heck with that - I usually read all my emails at least twice before hitting the “send” button. But there are people out there who don’t focus any attention on these things. They write what is in their heads - whether it is grammatically correct or not - and fire it out into cyberspace without another thought.
But beyond that - I read today some goals that our executives had to create for their next fiscal year. These are goals that are going to be submitted to the holiest of holies; the man that founded the company. As I read the goals for the woman who I am technically the underling of, I was appalled. Her writing contained things like, “2% meet of meet goal” and “1innovation” and “comlpete.” This woman is in currently second in command at this hospital. Second in command, and she can’t even compose a document with a measure of perfection that she must know will be scrutinized by everyone in the company.
So I wish that while our high school counselors are impressing upon students the importance of a firm handshake and a friendly attitude when meeting someone new, that they would also emphasize that their first email, text message, report or skywriting effort is going to be judged in the same way that handshake was.
We’ve been told this since we were kids. That’s why we learn how to give a firm handshake, greet everyone with a smile, speak clearly, listen and dress neatly and appropriately for the occasion.
Many people know how to make a stellar first impression. Their smiles are winning, they are articulate and ask engaging questions, and when they walk away, those they were meeting often stop and say, “He seemed like a pretty nice guy.” But there’s another form of first impression that many of these same people tend to neglect - the written impression.
When I meet someone, I make somewhat unconscious notes of how they act. Did they look me in the eye when they said hello? Did they mumble? Were they accommodating? Then, weeks later, as we work together, I’ll get the first ever written communication from them. And that person that impressed me so much face-to-face? They send an email like this:
From: Bob Schmoe
To: verisimilitudo
Subject: The thingy
Attachments: none
Want to get yoru opnion on this one. its attached. Tell me what you think. -Bob
Suddenly that person who, five minutes before the email, was the most amazing person I ever met was taken down about six or seven pegs. What is it about writing that makes people stop caring? Why do they riddle their emails with spelling errors, grammar mistakes and plain stupidity? Why do they insist on ruining the first impression with a second first impression that sucks?
I’m not going to lie. I do some of the same things. I rely on my spell check, which does not run through my subject line, so I’ve been known to send out an email to a list of 30 people that is called “Management Teeam Meeting” and forget the attachment, so that I have to send another email proclaiming how silly I am for forgetting. But this is not about my mistakes.
The first time I send an email to someone important, I read it through at least three or four times. To heck with that - I usually read all my emails at least twice before hitting the “send” button. But there are people out there who don’t focus any attention on these things. They write what is in their heads - whether it is grammatically correct or not - and fire it out into cyberspace without another thought.
But beyond that - I read today some goals that our executives had to create for their next fiscal year. These are goals that are going to be submitted to the holiest of holies; the man that founded the company. As I read the goals for the woman who I am technically the underling of, I was appalled. Her writing contained things like, “2% meet of meet goal” and “1innovation” and “comlpete.” This woman is in currently second in command at this hospital. Second in command, and she can’t even compose a document with a measure of perfection that she must know will be scrutinized by everyone in the company.
So I wish that while our high school counselors are impressing upon students the importance of a firm handshake and a friendly attitude when meeting someone new, that they would also emphasize that their first email, text message, report or skywriting effort is going to be judged in the same way that handshake was.