:) !

Do you use smiley faces in your emails?

A lot of us are not using enough emoticons in our typed correspondence. You might think they’re annoying – but according to Daniel Goleman, author of “Social Intelligence,” if an email’s tone is neutral – we assume the tone is negative. Using caps is a pretty effective way of conveying shock or anger – and the same goes for that typed facial expression.

That smiley face will never replace that warm human smile – but it’s a newer form of punctuation that can change the whole tone of what you’re trying to convey – as long as you don’t overdo it.