 What is up guys? Hope you've had a great week. I'm happy to be back in action with Aaron, one of our improv coaches here at the AOC boot camp. Thank you for having me, AJ. I'm glad to be back because I had an idea for a YouTube video. Oh yeah? Yeah, yeah. I was watching your episode on digital detox and it got me thinking technology has given us so many platforms of which to communicate and we tend to take the easy way out and avoid confrontation that way or just any communication in general. It's so true. I feel like it's not just emailing. I've got all these work related apps that keep me in touch with my team and most of the time I use them not just because they save time but they also allow me to save face. They allow me to quickly respond when I would never do something like that in person often removing the emotional context from the conversation. Yeah, yeah, they let you avoid real conversation because we like to think that makes life easier but it's not always the case especially when it comes to resolving conflicts. Right. That's why you never really hear about a doctor emailing your test results. They always keep it face to face. Yeah, or if you're dating someone for four years and you want to move on, you don't text them. I mean hopefully you don't text them. Yeah, that's not funny. Trust me. Oh, well today we'll give you three reasons to put down that phone and resolve those conflicts and conversation. Tell you why it's bad for you, bad for the other person and finally why communicating in person is so much more effective. So first off, texting removes all nonverbal communication and emotional context from that conversation. Yeah, pro tip. An emoji or a gif does not convey your emotional state. They are fun though. Right. And how do we deal with that confusion? We have to ask more questions and now the person has to explain themselves, increase in the communication but not getting us anywhere. Yeah, absolutely. And for someone I will say I'm very sarcastic and in text, I'll say something sarcastic going, I know that the other person is going to understand this and then I get something back and I'm like, oh no, no, no, no, no. And have to re-explain and re-explain and dig myself out of the sarcasm hole. That's the worst when you forgot the emoji and now you have to explain and that was just a joke. I know but I try to like not have too many like just kidding. Yeah, and gifs. But yeah, when in doubt use a gif because that is the perfect way to explain your emotional state. Like the Michael Scott. No! Jeff, you know that one? No. That brings up our second point which is how texting can affect the person you're contacting just as much as it affects you. Forget just mere confusion. Stop and think about how easily a text can be taken as an insult. When we text, we do it because we're often multitasking and sometimes we even forget to be polite. Oh yeah, it's like people don't have the time to type out thank you or please or hello for every text when you're curts that can really turn the other person off. We're missing so much of the context that phone calls or even better a real-life conversation have. We totally lose the ability to understand the other person's state of mind. So many times I feel like I've sent a text asking for something or wanting to resolve something and the other person is in a bad place. You know maybe they just got some bad news and it's better to just check in first to make sure that you know it's the right time to have that conversation. That brings us to my final point which is that interpersonal communication is just so much more effective in almost every way. Social media and smartphones have made us feel like we're accessible 24 seven and we need to respond immediately. Like what happened to the girl days of just having a phone at home with a voicemail and someone had to leave you a message and they just had to wait until you got home like that that was kind of nice when I get home. We don't have to be accessible 24 seven if an email or text brings a strong emotional reaction put your phone aside take a few beats think things through like why did I react so strongly to this what is bothering me what could I do differently to resolve this and what do I want from this situation. Yeah that's gonna help a lot with handling those emails and texts but it's even better if we can get into a conversation with someone that way we have their full attention and we can easily explain where we stand on things and and understand their slide as well. Right now there's an actual signal we can control not just text code they hope to crack. We can tell them and offer solutions immediately which will help relax people instead of frustrating them. Yeah there's no point in just laying your emotions out get you know go in knowing what you'd like to change or offer solutions this gives you a chance to connect and learn more about the other person and strengthen a relationship in a way you just can't through your computer or a phone. So next time you feel like you're having a conflict with someone put down the phone and try to meet with them in person so you can resolve it. Now comment below ring the bell and let us know if you have any questions about today's episode. Better yet we would love to hear some tips or stories from you guys on how you handle the difficult conversation in this crazy world of technology we live in. And if you want to hear more from Aaron on the podcast we recently had a great discussion about facing your fears through improv with Aaron and fellow coach Suzanne. Yeah thanks AJ I had a good time on the show. Yeah it was a great conversation. Yeah yeah I mean you should probably have me back again on the podcast. We'll see. Okay. Thanks a lot tune in next week.