Want effective communication? Stop those typos!

The problem with communication is the illusion it’s occurring smoothly and effectively. A short article in the September/October 2021 issue of the Harvard Business Review (“Those Typos in Your Emails Matter More Than You Think”) illuminates the point: The typos, according to a recent study, will inadvertently send subtextual messages to the reader. Read on.

Is my manager angry?

So, people reading an e-mail containing typos will interpret the message as being more emotional than the writer intended. Here’s a scenario from the study: The e-mail dresses down a subordinate for failing to submit a timely report. One version had three typos, the other none.

The group reading the e-mail with typos rated the manager as being “significantly more angry” than those who read the message with no mistakes.

Are you joyful?

Switch the content to an e-mail about a joyful event. The readers of the messages with typos perceived the sending manager as being significantly more joyful for the employee than the e-mail with no errors.

Why the difference?

When humans encounter anything unexpected, our brains seek out an explanation. They tell us intense feelings (anger or joy) lead to cognitive mistakes (i.e., typos). In short, communication errors act as amplifiers of the perceived intensity of an otherwise expressed emotion. Think of a bullhorn!