Have you ever taken a psychology class? If you have, you know that psychology deals with why people behave the way that they do. One topic that is covered in psychology is verbal and nonverbal communication.

Verbal communication, of course, is what you say. People listen to what you say and watch how you behave as you say it. If your behavior, or nonverbal communication, matches what you say, people can believe that you are telling the truth. If you exhibit different behaviors, however, such as looking down or looking away, the person might suspect that you are lying. In personal relationships, this might result in breaking off a friendship. In business relationships, this can result in fewer duties, fewer hours, or termination. What about text messages, though?

Cell phones are used to send text messages, and people love to send them. Text messages are a fast, convenient way to communicate with others. These messages use emoticons, or combinations of letters and numbers that, when put together, make faces. Emoticons are used to convey emotions. For example, a colon and right parenthesis would be used for a smiley face. Even with a cute little face attached to a message, however, a text message is just a text message. Is the person telling the truth? It is difficult to lie to a person who is right in front of you, but not so difficult when you cannot see the person. When you receive a text message, the person is not right in front of you. He might be next door, down the street, or across town. He might send you a text message that says, "Can't talk right now. I'm in a meeting." Is he really in a meeting, though, or does he just not want to talk? There is no way to know for sure. All that a person can really do is follow up later.

In the case of work, a message such as "Can't talk right now. I'm in a meeting" should likely result in more hours and a better life for the individual and his family if the person was in fact telling the truth. If the person was lying, however, the family's living situation will remain unchanged and the family will become suspicious about what was really going on.

Text messages are a good idea for messages such as "Pick up some milk on the way home, please" or "Watch out for that accident in town". For serious conversations, however, put the phone away and talk face to face. There is little chance for any miscommunication that way.