Comments on: Authentic Twitter: Are exclamation points unprofessional?

By: Personal Branding: It's Different for Girls

Personal Branding: It's Different for Girls — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:46:19 +0000

[...] Personal Branding Stifle your Authentic Voice Defend Your Personal Brand. Barbara Boxer shows how. Authentic Twitter: Are exclamation points unprofessional? ¹ Note, I’m not a wholehearted fan of personal [...]

By: cv harquail

cv harquail — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:22:37 +0000

Barbara-
I try to put hearts over my i’s but twitter won’t let me. hrumph.
just kidding. I think that would drive me over to CuteOverload.com.
cv

By: cv harquail

cv harquail — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:21:30 +0000

Hi Jim-
You catch an important criterion for !!! appropriateness, that holds for email in general– there is much more latitude when offering positive comments. I like to think that !! give positive statements extra potency– maybe making them more powerful against negative feedback?
Thanks so much for sharing your perspective– exclamation points, and positive communication in general, should be all inclusive!!
cvh

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:15:49 +0000

I was recently told that starting an email with “Hi” is too girly. I would not start an email to upper management proposing a change to our workflow or anything along those lines with a “Hi,” but I do use this for less formal communication, and I thought it conveyed a friendly tone.

Am I off base?

By: Jim Everett

Jim Everett — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:34:13 +0000

Depends on who you are writing to (or to whom you are writing). I am a male and will occasionally use an exclamation point with someone I know, or to express or underscore a professional thought. With a broader audience, I would limit their use to non-contentious statements, and then sparingly. The can be used to make a point of humor, but you do need to know your audience.

I have learned that, for the most part, the best emotions that can be effectively expressed in an email are positive ones, such as congratulations, excitement, joy for another person’s success etc. Expressing negative emotions or feedback, especially one-on-one, is best done live. One exception may be indignation in an OpEd or forum. But then you ARE opening your comments to the world.

The article was fun, whimsical, and I enjoyed it!

By: Barbara Govednik

Barbara Govednik — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:39:37 +0000

I don’t have a problem with exclamation points in general. They serve a purpose and give writers the ability to express their authentic self, which is what I advocate for myself and all the writers I work with. However, I do have an issue when exclamation are used in bulk in a short message (three out of four sentences would fit that category in my book) or used in multiples (!!!). Might as well just dot your I’s with a heart at that point.

By: Bret Simmons

Bret Simmons — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:15:19 +0000

Not professional? Bullshit!

By: Anne Marie McEwan

Anne Marie McEwan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:59:14 +0000

One very senior woman used to scare the living daylights out of me. She is one of the kindest, warmest people you could meet. I still do not use exclamation marks with her – not sure I would. Another very senior woman in a large corporate, litters her emails to me with exclamation marks. I respond the same way but would never have instigated.

Male colleagues – only those I know well enough not to misinterpret informal communication for flirting. A rare few get kisses. This excludes one dear friend who would regard this as improper.

Like many (most?), my online presence, including blogs, email, Twitter, reflects a workplace persona. The temptation to let rip is sometimes overwhelming.

By: cv

cv — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:13:53 +0000

Hi Michele –

I’m glad I’m not alone in using symbols to express what simple letters cannot— and I also share with you that sense of self-censorship. There are not only many men, but also a few women, with whom I find I censor not only the !! but also probably some of my realness. Shame on me. I’m fine with adapting communication style to the audience– that seems completely appropriate– but squelching to much of the ‘real’ me worries me.

Hey Erica– Your comment makes me think that we might have a subtle sense of what amount of ‘exclaiming’ (pointing?) communicates warmth, and what amount communicates that you’re off your rocker.

I will have to ask some other male colleagues what they think.

But I’m glad that this has struck a cord and that I’m not the only one out there looking for ways, especially within 140 chars, to be warm and real.
Thanks both of you for sharing your insights.
!!!
cv

By: Erika W.

Erika W. — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:48:24 +0000

As a fellow exclamation point (mark?) user, thank you for this post. Within the past few months, I’ve made a conscious effort to cut back on using them and had two people misunderstand the tone of my message. Correlation? Well, I’d like to think so!

I agree with your statement “I refuse to equate appreciativeness, friendliness and warmth with being “unprofessional” I see excessive (i.e., after every sentence in a paragraph; more than 5 after a sentence) exclamation marks kind of like all caps – it’s hyper shouting and should be limited. Using them to slightly change the tone of a message – this is fine with me!