It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It, Idiot
The truth about tone
Words convey meaning. They also carry a tone. Often when we miscommunicate, it’s not because of what we said but how we said it—or how we were perceived to have said something.
Readers and listeners react to messages in two ways: rationally and emotionally. The former is usually associated with content. Did the information we provide make sense? Did it make a lightbulb turn on? Did it convince someone? Did it help with decision making?
Tone is often connected to the emotional response audiences have to a message. This can be positive, negative, or neutral. Ideally, we’d like people to not only understand and appreciate what we have to say, but how we say it. A positive ...
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