These Work Email Punctuation Mistakes Can Lose You Credibility

These Work Email Punctuation Mistakes Can Lose You Credibility Ive a thing with punctuation. I cant date a man who doesnt know how to identify an em dash from a hyphen. Ive an affinity for exclamation points because lowly periods following enthusiasm instill me with social anxiety. Semicolons properly executed with two complete clauses fulfil me mora than stuffed crust pizza. And statements freighted with trailing question marks are rather nausea inducing.But Ive recently learned that my own punctuation choices in schmelzglass are perhaps setting the precedent for my conversations and not always in my favor. While traveling with a photographer, collaborating with hostels and hotels, weve discovered that her emails receive more cooperative, compliant, friendly and frequent responses than mine. One client actually stopped responding to me entirely and still responds to her emails but were working on the same project. The difference, weve concluded Shes grounded and Im somewhere in la la land.I will send you 10 photos, she states, firmly. Meanwhile, Im effusively typing away, Great Does one blog post and a TripAdvisor review sound good to you? Im not even sure why I ask thats always the deal unless otherwise specified.Some recent interactions have me thinking a lot about how much I just love exclamation points And how uncertain I sort of somewhat maybe sound in my emails. I make myself come across as an overeager pushover (Im not), and Im potentially losing credibility because of it.While putting periods in place of exclamation points pains me at points (I also have a thing for alliteration its unintentional, I swear), Ive been working on it. And Ive also been mulling over my evidently questionable email punctuation choices in general. So after taking a deep dive into some cringe-worthy reviews of my own email exchanges, Ive decided how Ill try to use punctuation going forward and why. And you may want to consider these guidelines, too.Periods They set the ton e that you mean business. Periods take precedence over exclamation points. Theyre simply the most benign punctuation option. Theyre also definitive and clear, which is how Id like my professional emails to read. Exclamation Points They set the precedence that youre either not being genuine or just overeager. Unless Im wishing someone happy holidays or a happy birthday, Im going to strive to steer clear of exclamation points. Women are too often afraid of coming across as bossy if they dont go out of their way to be the smiling suckers were socialized to be, but I want to be a boss so, so be it.Ellipses I dont see a real need for the ellipses in most email conversations besides, they usually imply incomplete thoughts. Emails should have complete thoughts and, ifa thought isnt yet complete, perhaps that email shouldnt yet be sent.Question Marks I vow never to use a question mark unless I am, indeed, asking a question. A legitimate question to which I dont already know the answer. An d a question that doesnt give someone else the ability to walk all over me, like the aforementioned one.Parentheses The way I see it, theres always a way to avoid parentheses. They break up thoughts and, therefore, generally make sentences harder to read. Emails should be easy to follow I dont want to give anyone the idea that Im all over the place.--AnnaMarie Houlis is a multimedia journalist and an adventure aficionado with a keen cultural curiosity and an affinity for solotravel. Shes an editor by day and a travel blogger at HerReport.org by night.