A more effective way to send a follow-up

🙋‍♀️ Today’s tip: Never send a “just checking in” email that’s only about checking in.

A check-in that is only a check-in feels like pressure. As Kara Cutruzzula wrote this week in Forge: “‘Just checking in’ causes pinpricks of anxiety for the recipient because those words implicitly signal ‘I’m waiting on you, please hurry up.’” It’s a negative request, even if it’s an attempt to get a positive result.

Instead, offer something of yourself, too: an update on something you’re working on, a useful link or article, even a funny video that made you think of the person you’re writing to. Your relationship is reciprocal. Your emails should be reciprocal, too.

📚 More from Forge on choosing the right words:

Tweeting Is Writing, Too
Read more >>

How to Write an Article Millions of People Will Read
Read more >>

The Correct Way to Email
Read more >>

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