Being a freelance translator working from home, it’s important not to lose contact with the real world. This is true not only regarding your personal life, but also when it comes to communicating with clients and colleagues. So much is done virtually, via e-mail, Skype and social media such as Facebook or Twitter, it is easy to forget that there are real people involved on both ends. And it is a real treat meeting people “in real life” after having only had virtual contact, as I got to experience not so long ago.

The graphic below shows the different stages of communication, starting with face-to-face talking and ending with the kind of universal Twitter. 

It probably won’t hurt to check how much of our daily communication takes place at what level, and to maybe adjust things a bit to get more into the more personal area between 10 and 7 (when was the last time you wrote an actual letter to someone that wasn’t a company or included a check?).

Hm, I wonder what level blogs are…