Using emojis in text

Acceptable in professional context?

Emojis are available pretty much everywhere (digitally). They help convey a message. Especially helpful because you don’t see the face of the writer, e.g. when they are conveying sarcasm. A smile-wink emoji 😉 will help the reader understand the tone of the message you are writing. As will emojis like:🙄😠&😆

Can you use emojis in professional contexts?

Emojis are used in very professional settings right now. You’ll find loads of them on LinkedIn. Most are used for emphasis, or to create more engagement.

For emphasis, bold letters and exclamation marks(!) are less fun than emojis/images. Emojis often used for emphasis on LinkedIn are arrows ➡️ or pointing hand 👉: emphasizing anything, and running person 🏃 to illustrate/emphasize things like: pushing forward, building momentum, get going, run with it!

More engagement (and fun) can be created by adding context related emojis instead of e.g. bullets in a list. If writing an article with helpful tools, use a wrench 🔧 in front of each item. If writing about training, each exercise listed can be initiated with a flexing arm 💪 instead of a bullet point. 

Just like proper use of air in text makes it more readable; no one wants to read a wall of text, emojis entice readers to make the effort to read. 

From my 7 years in corporate project management jobs I’ve seen use of emojis on chat become the norm (as well as gifs and other imagery/video), in emails emojis are becoming more common, but it still is considered un-proper to use in reports and presentations per default. If you’re unsure, I suggest you do what I do: ask. Ask colleagues and bosses what is considered proper and stick to that. 

Till next time! 😎