You Suck at Email

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The BAD news...

You suck at email.


Yes. All of you.

Yup. Even you.


The GOOD news...

You don’t have to suck at email.


We’re going to teach you...

how to NOT SUCK at email.


What we’ll cover today
1. Email is Permanent
2. The From Field
3. The “to”, “cc” and “bcc” ﬁelds
4. Subject lines
5. Main points up front
6. Close the loops
7. Bullets, numbers and choices
8. Signatures that work
9. Q&A


To drive a car,
everyone needs a license.


If email was driving,
you would look like this.


“When I send an email to one person,
there’s a 95 percent chance I’ll get a reply.
When I send to ten people, the response
rate drops to 5 percent.”
- Patrick Lencioni
Author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team


1. Email is permanent
like stone-tablet permanent

1. You can't recall an email you didn't
mean to send. Some software makes
you think you can, but you can't. Not
reliably.
2. Email lives forever, is easy to spread
and can easily show up in discovery for
a lawsuit.
3. Never email angry.
4. Double-check the “to” ﬁeld.


2. The “from” field
because you should send email as...you

Make sure the “From” field is your real name; first and
last. You can test this by looking at the email you sent on
a friend’s computer. Test from sending from all your
devices, including mobile.


3. Subject lines
how to write subject lines that make doves cry

The subject line of an email is the ﬁrst chance you have to tell the reader
why you need their attention. Lots of people waste the subject line. They
put “hi” or “Meeting tomorrow” or “an idea for you” or worse, nothing at
all, the dreaded “no subject”. None of these are useful enough.


3. Subject lines
Try to ﬁt the ENTIRE email into the subject line

Bad for storage units. Good for email.


3. Subject lines
examples of great subject lines
You have approximately 10-15 words to use to convey the main message:

DECISION NEEDED: Picking the new PajamaConf logo today

SCHEDULING: Check Tues. or Wed. 5pm for meeting with Fabi at Chipotle on Broadway

PROMOTION HELP: Looking for some blog and Twitter love for PajamaConf

[www.pajamaconf.com] seems oﬄine. You might want to check.

POPTECH ACQUISITION DEAL: Should we take it? (from ceo@poptech.com)

In these cases, I’ve ALL-CAPPED the major point or action required, and given you a sense of what you’re
going to do next for me. It’s prepping you for what comes next. Just like scary music in a movie means the
killer is in the closet, you know what’s coming next, and so you mentally prepare for it.


3. Subject lines
Let’s practice...


3. Subject lines
How about:


3. Subject lines
How about:
“How about a call Sunday with you and BJ - say 9am? - my dial in [eom]”


3. Subject lines
[eom] or <eom> or eom = End of Message
It’s a STOP sign for emails. You can stop reading at EOM.


3. Subject lines
Let’s grade and ﬁx this Inbox


3. Subject lines
Let’s grade and ﬁx Matt’s Inbox


3. Subject lines
Let’s grade and ﬁx this inbox


3. Subject lines
NEVER just reply to old emails.
Compose a new, awesome subject line.
Now you know how.

If you get emails with horrible subject lines...
FIX them. Everyone will thank you.


Be a journalist. Not a novelist.

Unlike writing a novel, where you build up to the important stuﬀ,
most emails would be better if you put the main points up at the very
top, the way newspaper stories are written.

Start with the lead, and then ﬂesh out the details, only as needed. This
way, someone who’s busy gets the main thing you’re telling them or
asking them right away up front.

Let’s look at some examples...


Be a journalist. Not a novelist.

“We’re going ahead with the deal. To close it, I’ll need you to gather three years of
ﬁnancials, and have them ready by Friday.”

“I’m looking to meet with you while you’re in town. I’m available at the following times.”

“My new blog about NYC real estate launches tomorrow, and I’m looking for some link
love.”

“I’ve got a client who wants to launch a social media strategy. Can you ﬂy to Phoenix for
a Thursday meeting?”

In these examples, the recipient understand that an action is
requested, and can even understand what comes next in all cases
without reading much more. The supporting info is great, but they can
guess most of what’s necessary right there. One line in, and they’ve got
the gist.


5. Close the loops.
Coﬀee is for closers. Loop closers.
We leave open loops in email all the time: places that can revolve back and forth in email circles
for ﬁve or seven spins. For example, try to plan a lunch with seven coworkers. If you have eight
restaurants, it will take something like 30 emails if people follow the average paths. Too many
open-ended questions, and too much up-in-the-air to nail down. Look at these two examples:


5. Close the loops.
Coffee is for closers. Loop closers.
Open Loop: “Let’s get together for lunch. What day is good? Where do you want to go?
Should we invite other departments or keep it a team meeting?”

Closed Loop: “Let’s get together for lunch. I’m thinking Thursday at 11:30 (to avoid the rush)
at Chotchky’s. Let’s keep it just a team lunch this time, but maybe next time, we’ll invite others.
Work for you?”

The differences are obvious. Know why people don’t send the closed loop type email? They’re
worried that they seem bossy. Here’s the truth: most times, most people don’t really care about
the details. If you recommend, it will come out quickly that Michael is off Thursday so
Wednesday is better, and Samir is allergic to seafood, etc. Closing the loops early helps
everyone.

Closed loop email means to me that you’ve taken back-and-forth cycles out of the process.


6.
• Bullets
• Numbers and
• Choices

Run out of bullets?
Take them from your presentations.


6.
• Bullets
• Numbers and
• Choices

Make it easy for people to reply to your email. If there are summary
points from a meeting, use bullets (not just new sentences) to
diﬀerentiate the points.

If a decision is required among a set of choices, make it easy by
numbering them.

Examples:
1.End all negotiations and terminate contract.
2.Respond with counter-proposal
3.Execute contract. (If this is chosen, please also email signed contract.)


7. Signatures that work.
Short but functional. Like Christina Ricci.

Make sure that the critical
signature information (phone
number, not logo) is in your reply.

This can have diﬀerent nuances via
platforms like iPhone &
BlackBerry


7. Signatures that work.
Short but functional. Like Christina Ricci.


8. Reply All.
When should you do it? Almost never.
Ten questions to ask before you hit reply all:*

1) Someone transmits good news to ten people. Do the other nine people really need to hear you say "Great news!"?

2) Do you need information from one member of the group before replying? Is there someone in the group you should probably check with before you agree
to something? If so, take the conversation off-line.

3) Does this really need to be a group conversation in the first place?

4) The organizer of a block party asks if anyone has a folding table they can lend. Does the whole block need to know that you can't? (No.) If you have one,
would it be useful for everyone to know that the problem is now solved. (Yes.). Does anyone else need to respond after that? (No.)

5) The organizer of a meeting asks if everyone is available Weds at 10 am. You have a conflict, but can suggest some alternatives. Does the whole group need
to see those, and start weighing in? Or can the organizer collect the responses, and propose a new time he thinks will work?

6) The Golden Rule: Do unto others. Would you want all those useless (to you) messages in you already cluttered inbox?

7) Multiply. The number of people on the list x the number of times you reply-all = the number of annoyances you have sent into the world. With your name
attached.

8) A harder one: everyone else has replied all to say congratulations. The group does not need to hear you say the same, but you worry that you'll be the only
one who didn't. Do you chime in?

9) Rule of thumb: Do not reply all to anything sent to a mailing list.

10) Last: Notice how much you've eliminated from your inbox, by preventing all those unnecessary replies?

* This list compiled by former WorkHacks client and world-class literary agent Stuart Krichevsky (@skagency)


Bonus tools for
GMail users:


Congratulations!

You no longer suck at email!


You Suck at Email

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