Technology has made life so much more convenient in so many ways, but its effect on our written communication skills depends on the individual. It’s great to be able to get a text message to someone in record time using the new short-hand of a single letter or digit representing a full word (“u” for “you” and “2” for “to” for example), and  because it’s so quick and easy, it can become a habit. There’s nothing wrong with this when you’re sending texts to your friends and family. However, the way in which you write can make all the difference to the results you get in work situations and in business – even in texts, but certainly in emails and letters.

1.  Your vs You’re and To vs Too vs Two It’s important to brush up on your usage of the spelling of these words as they are the most common errors in written communication in recent years. They’re often mixed up by perfectly well educated people. In some cases the misuse of these words is due to ignorance, but in many more cases it’s due to laziness and/or not reading a message, letter or email before sending it. As mentioned before it usually doesn’t matter between friends and family, but it can be vital in a work situation – especially in the current economy. If an employer receives two applications for a position, and one of the covering letters is using “to” in place of “too” or “your” in place of “you’re” if all else is equal, this kind of error will very likely be the aspect that helps him choose the other candidate. In many cases employers will be “put off” by errors like these before they’ve even considered the application.

2.   Proof Read One of the most basic ways you can improve written communication is by reading it before you send it. No matter how short time is, it’s worth taking a moment to read through that email before you press send. You’ll almost always find at least one error. Once you’ve corrected any errors, read it again. Don’t skimp – especially if it’s an important message. The few extra minutes it takes to read through your communication one more time will be nothing compared to the effect it could have.

3.  Spell Check  Again, this is something people often avoid because it feels like it’s time-consuming, but in the greater scheme of things, it’s really only a couple of minutes (if that) – a couple of minutes that could change the outcome of your communication. And, as mentioned above, once you’ve corrected any spelling errors, read it again before you send it.

Considering the competitive state of the workplace today – especially in certain industries – good written communication skills can be the difference between getting a job or a promotion, and not getting it. The truth is that the way in which you write has an impact on the person reading what you’ve written, in the same way your voice and tone affect how you come across over the phone. It’s worth putting in the effort to improve written communication skills; it could change your life – literally (if you’ll pardon the pun ;) )