Digital Body Language in Business Writing: How Do You Come Across?

Co-author Diane Bailey-Boulet

Last month, CSO Insights conducted a webinar about “digital body language.” The concept might seem contradictory—after all, how can we have body language in a digital medium? Here’s what many fail to understand: Your writing carries your tone and personal brand when you aren’t speaking with someone face to face. (Have you ever read an e-mail from someone you don’t know and thought “What a jerk!”?)

What you write—and, just as importantly, how warmly (or not) you write it—defines and extends your personal brand and digital body language.

Your brand must reach a wide audience: on average, 4.6 people are involved in a sale

There has been a huge decrease in face-to-face selling in recent years. Instead of one person selling to another, proposals are sent electronically and distributed among decision makers, giving everyone a say. It’s rare to meet everyone you are selling to when you are pitching your ideas.

Advice: Your writing must be thorough, clear, and personable

To make a good impression with decision makers, you must appear warm and knowledgeable in writing as it may be the only thing people have to form an opinion of you and your solution.

There is a great deal at stake here. People do business with people they like and connect with. Will your writing allow people you’ve never met to connect with you, or will it hinder any progress you’ve made? If your writing is knowledgeable and clear, readers will be won over by your warm, professional “digital body language.”

With the increased digitalization of our lives and work, your digital body language is vital to your success. Your written word represents you to people you might never meet, and your writing will shape others’ opinions of you. Writing carries your brand—don’t you want to make a great impression?

To learn how to warm up your daily e-mail messages, read our blog titled “Is your daily business writing TOO business-like?”