Because I Refuse To Use Emojis As Punctuation, That’s Why.

I enjoyed a good laugh the other day with a colleague about her tendency to be misinterpreted via her written communication. Personally, I find it analytical and concise, but interpretation is far from a universal trait.

If you’re like me and want to avoid succumbing to the evil that is using emojis in business communication, it pays to check the tone of your written communication.

To that end, I’ve been using IBM’s online tone analyzer to spot check my messaging and I highly recommend you do the same. I published an article ArtHacker with an overview of the tools and how to use them (spoiler: it’s super easy).

Check Your Tone

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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