Second Cup: Write smarter emails

A listener shares a suggestion for keeping messages clear

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip comes from a listener who discovered how to
write much more efficient emails. Email is a great tool
I love hearing from Before Breakfast listeners. For instance, email

(00:24):
can be sent and received at whatever time works for
the sender and recipient. This is very efficient, but email
can also cause a lot of confusion. People skim long
messages and miss the last line asking for what the
message was really about. Or people read a long message
trying to figure out what the sender wants, only to
get to the end and realize that the sender doesn't

(00:46):
need anything. The email could have been processed at a
less urgent time. In any case, Before Breakfast listener Peter
wrote in with an email format that he uses. It
forces the writer to be more thoughtful, gets to the
of the problem quickly, and allows the recipient to deal
with it efficiently and effectively. He says, here's how it goes. First,

(01:08):
put in the subject line what you want the recipient
to do with the email. Example phrases include for approval,
for info, for endorsement, for action, update to previous email
and so forth. After you've written what the person should
do with it, then you write the subject. Peter notes
that this allows the recipient to sort win to deal

(01:30):
with it. So an office refurbishment project, for instance, might
inspire an email with the subject for approval new furniture purchase.
Then you start the email with what Peter calls a
b l u F. Maybe we'll say that's a bluff
that stands for bottom line up front, one sentence only.

(01:50):
Our furniture email might contain the bluff seeking your approval
to purchase new office furniture in line with new office
plan budget. If this is all the recipient needs, Peter notes,
then he or she can just reply approved, No need
to wade through anything else to get to the action required.
Perhaps the person choosing furniture has done a great job
with the last round of furniture purchasing and it's not

(02:12):
worth the manager's time to wait into the details. All
is good. Email has been read quickly and responded too quickly.
Now if the situation needs more explanation, then the next
paragraph should be a what this is a one to
two sentence expansion on the bluff. Remember that's the bottom
line up front. After that you can include a so

(02:34):
what paragraph. Now this might not always be required, Peter notes,
but if the person receiving an email needs to know
why they're being asked or why this needs to be
done by a certain point, this paragraph can explain it.
Then the final paragraph contains the what next statement. This
describes the next required action. Probably this was explained in
the bottom line up front the bluff, but in case

(02:57):
there's any confusion, you can spell it out again here
and then you're done. I like Peter's approach, and I
think it's a good idea in general. For emails. There
is a place for long conversational notes, but when someone
gets two emails or more a day, that place is
probably not his or her inbox. Explaining exactly what you

(03:18):
need in the subject line and putting the bottom line
up front increases the chances that the email inspires the
action you desire. How do you make sure your emails
are efficient and effective? You can let me know by
email before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In
the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

(03:40):
to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram at before Breakfast odd that's b E

(04:02):
the number four, then breakfast p o D. You can
also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

(04:23):
of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
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