Your email is a thriller
By Emily Halloran | 2-minute read
Have you ever opened an email and not been sure what it was about? You may have just read a thriller. Jargon had you getting out your enigma machine, cliffhangers kept you on the edge of your seat, red herrings threw you off the scent, plot twists created a convoluted tale. The suspense built until you finally reached the end, and all Sam wanted were the quarterly figures for Friday’s meeting. Let’s save thrillers for the movies and focus on clear, human communication.
Cryptic messages
Your reader doesn’t have time to reach for the enigma machine to understand corporate jargon and officialese. So save time by choosing short, simple alternatives that still convey your meaning. For example, why choose ‘for the purpose of’ when ‘for’ will do?
Red herrings
Want to set your reader up for success? Choose a subject line that doesn’t keep them guessing. We like to include our main request or information in the subject line. For example: ‘Please send me the draft annual report by Tuesday’.
Cliffhangers
Cliffhangers leave things unresolved, but that’s the opposite of what you want to achieve in your emails. Get things done with the active voice: it’ll help everyone know who does what.
Avoid: ‘The expense reports still need to be reviewed by Wednesday.’
Prefer: ‘I still need to review the expense reports by Wednesday.’
Plot twists
Multiple clauses, brackets and semicolons turn your email a plot no one can follow. Keep sentences to between 15 and 20 words on average, and remember to cover just 1 topic per sentence. If you have a long sentence, break it up with full stops, vertical lists or a table.
Suspense
There’s no need to keep your reader in suspense. Put the spoilers first: let your readers know what you need from them or want them to know early in your email. For example, ‘Thanks for your time on the phone earlier. As we discussed, please send me yesterday’s meeting minutes and tell me when the next meeting is.’
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