Writing Emails People Will Actually Read (And Respond To)
Jan 16, 2025
In a world drowning in "content," it is more important to write clearly and concisely now than ever. Especially considering the growing piles of AI slop that are being endlessly generated to continuously distract our ever shortening attention spans.
That means the thing you're writing, even if it is critical for the recipient's job, is competing with anything else that person can do at that moment. You may think I'm overstating this, but how many times have you received a long email, or Slack/Teams message, felt your eyes glaze over and think "I'll come back to this later" and push it to the bottom of your todo list (aka eternal purgatory) to tackle a task you could do more quickly?
The fact of the matter is that most of us write to get something out of our heads, not to get it into someone else's.
So how do you write something so someone will actually read it?
Pour It Out
Give yourself permission to write it once to simply pour it out of your head. Don't worry about filtering yourself or formatting things yet. Just get the messy garbage out onto a page.
If you have trouble with that, a helpful trick is to start the blank page with "This is going to suck, but just to get it out there..." and then keep going.
For some reason it helps to give yourself permission to suck, just a little bit, for a little while, and skip the starter block to get some momentum going.
Edit The Hell Out of It
Now that you've poured your brain out, cut away the rambling garbage. If you have trouble doing this, AI is great at cutting things down without excluding the load bearing concepts. If it cuts a part you really liked, you can always add it back in later.
Formatting Matters
The formatting matters. Which of the following examples is more enticing for you to read?
Use the tools you have to help people visually cut the content into bite sized pieces. Headings, lists, bullets, quotes, indentations, and bold or italics provide some variety and highlight critical elements.
The Billboard Test
In the world of software/app/website design, we have something called "the billboard test." The idea is simple.
Is what you designed effective when someone is passing it at 60+ MPH?
No matter how your content will be used, we all live at 60 MPH now, in everything we do. On a screen, you have less than a second to make a first impression. Even in retail stores, most people make a decision to grab a product off the shelf in 6 seconds.
You have mere seconds to convey the information you need to share.
The fact that you've even read this far is truly incredible. I sincerely mean that. According to (10 year old) statistics, less than 20% of people will likely make it this far through this article.
If it doesn't pass the billboard test, break out the hatchet and chop away until it does.
Need a Response?
End with a question.
Most of us scan an email quickly first; seeing a question at the end lets us know something is expected from us and we need to respond. No response needed? The email is probably an FYI, and we give ourselves permission to "come back to it later" aka never.
Can't Make it Short?
Make it a call instead. We're much more likely to engage with a quick conversation than we are with a long email. Even if they're both the same approximate volume of words. A 300 word email can seem quite long, whereas a 300 word conversation is easily less than 5 minutes.
PLEASE NOTE: A quick ad hoc call. Not a zoom meeting. Not a scheduled call request. Not a quick video chat or huddle. A quick call. If it takes up a calendar block, requires scheduling, or someone has to feel "prepared" (aka on video) the quickness and spontaneity are gone and this conversation is now likely much worse, and more time consuming, than an email would have been.
You can always send the email after the call as a recap or CYA in those cases where you need a paper trail.
Don't Be "More"
Be less. Less is more. Ultimately we're all drowning in too much. Too many emails, too many meetings, too many words and not enough time to process them all. Every word you cull, every needless second you cut from what you create you give back to everyone you share it with.
If we're all extra-judicious with our writing, we can save each other countless hours of our lives and serve as a model for others. What goes around, comes around. By saving others' time, you'll soon find you're saving yourself time too.
The power is yours.
