I'm Louise Fletcher. As President of 
Do you know how you come across in writing?
I ask because I just had an interesting experience with a client. After sending her new resume by email, I waited for her feedback. When it came, her email was abrupt and curt. She gave me some suggested changes, but didn't mention whether she liked the resume. Certain word choices were almost insulting, but I ignored that and made the changes.
Her second email said only: "I hope you made these changes because they're the right changes to make and not just to get me out of your hair."
Maybe I'm over-sensitive, but that felt a little insulting to me, as the implication was that I might cut corners just to save time. Still, I answered politely and received the following email:
"Thanks. Excellent work. I'll definitely recommend you to other people."
I was genuinely suprised as I had the sense until that point that my client wasn't entirely happy. And it made me think about the seismic shift that has taken place in the way we communicate over the last few years. Email has forced many people to write a lot more than they used to, and when we write, the recipient can't see our facial expression or hear our tone of voice. All the subtleties of meaning have to be communicated with word choice and grammar and many people are not naturally good at doing this.
Whether you're looking for a job, or developing your career where you are, communicating well by email is now an essential skill. Before you send important correspondence, ask someone you trust to review it for tone. If you don't you may be making the exact opposite impression to the one you intended.
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