Did the last email you send have punctuations or emojis, or was it just plain text? Did you check your phone while in a video call, or did you speak over someone else by accident due to internet connection troubles?

They’re examples of “digital body language:” it shows the mood and meanings of words we say in texts, on the phone, or in video calls. In a survey of 2,000 employees, 70% pointed to poor digital communication as their main issue working from their homes. So how do we solve this? Leadership expert Erica Dhawan suggests, for example, adding a fist bump emoji to show that everyone agrees to an idea and replacing “Regards.” with “Thanks!” to sound livelier. You should also give a warning such as sending a message in the chatbox if you need to excuse yourself to show respect to the people in the meeting.

It’s difficult to fully explain what we want to say through digital communication. That’s why it’s important to master digital body language to avoid confusion and misunderstandings behind our devices’ screens.