Sometimes what you say is less important than how you say it. Imagine you walk into a meeting and your colleague says, “Thank you for joining us.” If your colleague’s tone is pleasant and her body language is neutral, it’s pretty safe to assume that she’s genuinely grateful that you took time out of your day to attend the meeting. If she sounds annoyed and her arms are folded, you might want to check your watch because it sounds like you’ve kept her waiting. And if she delivers this line in an emotionless monotone—well, we wouldn’t blame you for feeling a bit thrown off.
Your delivery conveys a lot of information beyond the literal meaning of the words you use. In writing, it’s especially important to get your delivery right because you can’t rely on your voice or facial expressions to project sincerity, confidence, politeness, or whatever it is you’re trying to do.
That’s why Grammarly offers a range of suggestions to help you ensure that your message comes across exactly as you intend. Read on to see a few of the ways Grammarly can help you nail your delivery.
Hedging language
It’s easy to unconsciously sprinkle your emails with hedging phrases like I was just wondering . . . and I think we should be able to . . . The impulse is understandable, but your writing will portray confidence and poise if you leave them out.
Unconfident: This might be a stupid question, but why are we using Comic Sans?
Confident: Why are we using Comic Sans?
Politeness
Expressing disagreement with someone can be tricky at the best of times. When you need to do it in writing, things can become especially fraught. But subtle changes in word choice can prevent hurt feelings.
Harsh: Thanks for the offer, but I hate classical music.
Polite: Thanks for the offer, but I’m not too fond of classical music.
Formality
If you use a lot of slang and abbreviations when writing to your friends, sometimes they accidentally slip out in situations where you’d rather be projecting professionalism.
Too casual: Lemme check on that for u.
Professional: Let me check on that for you.
