“Different generations don’t merely use different digital body language they also have different interpretations of the same digital body language cues”. I enjoyed the funny explanation of digital mansplaining. There are interesting insights into inclusive language rather than that with masculine or feminine skews. Men speak up more in meetings so facilitators have to encourage women to contribute. “I’ll be as specific as possible to”) and explain motivation. To be authentic but use framing statements (e.g. There are HBR observations that women need to be seen as warm as well as confident and influential. Yet guidance on showing confidence suggests otherwise. perhaps, might, maybe), absence of detail or lack of back-and-forth questions can be perceived as a problem in a relationship with women.

“Women who communicate directly are perceived as cold, ruthless or withholding”. Linguists are cited who report that gender patterns have little boys being more assertive and girls being more indirect and taking the feelings of others into account. There are fascinating insights into unconscious bias around gender – when we look at the name of the sender of an email and interpret the tone of the message. The third part provides a valuable guide to navigating gender, generation and cultural differences. I wrote on article about trust in business relationships. There is advice on how to create psychological safety including modelling the behaviour you want to see, leaders being vulnerable and creating digital watercooler moments. Trust totally – “Trust is not about what we say but how we say it”.I produced a short video on achieving buy-in Collaborate confidently – Stay in the loop, understand what other departments do and focus on stakeholder management and achieving buy-in, build team confidence, fight thoughtless deadlines and avoid digital group think.There is a short video on the secrets of successful writing – especially being concise. She advises you to think before you type, to slow down, to be tone-deft, to consider the visual impact of messages and to take care with length, complexity and familiarity. Communicate carefully – “G etting to the point while considering context, medium and audience”.The importance of an appreciative environment and the work of is Nancy Kline is mentioned in this article on feedback. She explains how to show you are actively listening in a digital conversation.

Move from unstated appreciation to stated recognition. Value visibly – Be attentive to people and clearly communicate “I hear you”, “ I understand you” and “I value you”.The second part examines the author’s four laws of digital body language: The first part starts with an eye-opening exploration of digital style.

It provides a treasure chest of practical advice – and assessments and checklists – on how to avoid miscommunication in the workplace. And there’s valuable content on how to establish online executive presence. And the author argues that digital body language is important for the client experience too. There are also some helpful insights for crisis PR communications. The book will be vital for those who focus on internal communications. It will be particularly valuable to those leading virtual teams – especially those comprising different genders, generations and cultures. The detailed points on how to build better team communication in geographically and culturally diverse teams will be welcomed by many. Do you know how to convey trust, engagement, excitement and urgency in digital communications? As such, the book has a wide appeal as we all need to develop our digital communication skills. So the book provides a way to interpret non-verbal digital cues. The author observes wisely: “We’re all immigrants in today’s digital workplace”. Just what we all need as we polish our virtual presence in these remote working times! However, the book is concerned with how we express emotion and empathy, create trust, build virtual relationships and encourage collaboration through the digitally written word – in texts, chat, instant messages (IM) and emails. I was excited at the prospect of reading this book – assuming it would address the differences in physical body language in a virtual environment. A shorter version of this book review: Digital Body Language – How to build trust and connection no matter the distance by Erica Dhawan was published in the Summer 2021 edition of Professional Marketing Magazine which is sent free to members of the Professional Marketing Forum.

Digital body language