One of the most important skills you can learn is how to communicate. Sometimes it seems like the more tools available for communicating, the worse we get at it. Even when people speak the same apparent language, there are often huge misunderstandings that happen, especially when communicating online.
Choose the Right Tools
When you know who you need to communicate with, you should also have an idea of the type of medium you need to use to deliver the message. You may want to use email, social media, chat, text, conference software or something else entirely.
Know Your Goal
What is the point of the message you plan to deliver to them? What action do you want them to take after they receive your message? Knowing that one thing can help you frame the entire message better so that they know they are supposed to take some action after your communication.
Understand the Audience
When you know who your audience is that you need to send the message to, you can ensure that you use the right words, the right tools, the right medium to get the message to them in a way that they understand. In some cases, like with your mom, you know how to do it, because you know her, but if it’s a stranger, you may need to do some digging.
Keep Choices Limited
Anytime you communicate online, it’s best to keep choices for the receiver of your message limited. Too many choices cause confusion and stunts action. Even if you can give them many choices it’s better to try to narrow them down in your communication by categorizing them in a way that makes it easier to understand.
Show Instead of Tell
This is a method used in writing all the time. Most online communication is going to be text-based, other than web conference calls. Giving example that brings the situation to life for your audience will help them act. Showing enables your audience to feel something that helps them act. This might mean giving them a step-by-step or demo of what you’re trying to explain.
One Thing at A Time
If anytime you communicate with someone you can focus on the main guts of your message instead of everything else, they’ll understand you more. Even if ultimately you need them to do more than one thing, if you start with that one thing, you’ll help them listen better next time due to getting results.
Use Emoji’s When Appropriate
If it’s not too serious of a conversation online, one way to ensure that others understand your tone is to use emojis. This is not appropriate for any type of serious conversation for the most part, but between friends and known people it can help avoid problems.
Remember, as the person giving the message, you are the one who is responsible for ensuring your audience receives it. For this reason, you need to know who they are, how they speak, and a lot of other information that will help you communicate the message you want them to receive in the way that they need. This takes a little extra work upfront, but it’s more than worth it.