When we were children, some of us had a basic understanding of electronic messaging (email, instant messaging, and text messaging). Texas Instruments created the predecessor to today’s interactive and animatronic “Leap Frog” toys, it was called “Speak-And-Spell.”
Speak-And-Spell was an electronic version of her classroom spelling bee. The huge red machine asked one to spell out a word like “crocodile”, carefully pecked “ALIGATOR” on the yellow keys and hit answer. Speak-and-spell would repeat the word and tell you if you were correct or not.
Preferably, I am a Mac user. On Mac, you can enable a voice active tool from the Apple menu. Until now I thought this feature was not very useful, but then I started reading a lot of poorly worded email stories or email threads that should have been read aloud in a speech tool or Speak-And-Spell before the e-mail editor will press the “Send button.
I’m the only one who has noticed the email missteps. The Learning Channel (TLC) began to mention how complacent we have become with email as well. This month, TLC created a “Life Lessons” figure with the caption, “Email and Merlot Don’t Mix.”
The figure touches on the usual epidemic of sending correspondence by email and thinking about nothing else: write, click, send, don’t think about your email. In some cases, it causes nothing but embarrassment, other times, especially professionally, it can cause serious ramifications: loss of job, accidental redelivery of company assets. [http://www.essentialsecurity.com/Documents/article1.htm]etc.
Many embarrassing messages would be noticed and data breaches prevented if people just took a moment to check their email or read their messages aloud. Rather than not having a Mac or connecting your old Speak-And-Spell to your PC, here are three things you can check before hitting the “submit” button:
1.) Avoid sending emails when you are excited:
For example, work situations can heat up, and if you write when you’re angry, some of those emotions can negatively influence your correspondence. Walk away, have a latte, take a deep breath, and then write your email. Now that you have some perspective on the matter, check your email, read it out loud, and finally click “send.” Long, concise emails like those between attorneys Diana Abdala and William Korman (the Bla, Bla, Bla email thread) could be avoided.
2.) Read the email before replying:
A few words: FEMA and Michael Brown. Mr. Brown’s failure to acknowledge the content of the emails caused him much scrutiny during the Hurricane Katrina disaster and later the loss of his job.
3.) Recheck the “To” field:
Suppose everyone in your contact group gets your message, former Golden State Warriors Public Relations Manager Eric Govan will confirm that this is a good idea. Think twice before forwarding jokes, pictures, or sending out messages (see # 1). The former NBA team PR manager for the Warriors accidentally pressed send when he forwarded a link to “Ghetto Prom” images. The email was sent to dozens of sports journalists, columnists and editors, as well as radio and television stations, rather than a short list of contacts.
Now that I’m done writing, I raise my glass of wine to a wonderful communication tool, send an email, and thank TLC for creating the perfect figure to remind all of us to check and double-check the content of our email and look at the “stop” field twice before pressing. the “submit” button.
Health and Salu.