A strategy for more effective emailing

👋 Today’s tip: When writing an email, put the request before the pleasantries.

Email pleasantries usually come off a bit… insincere. Do you really hope I’m having a nice Monday, Kaitlyn? But when you’re checking in on that report you’ve been waiting for or requesting approval on your vacation days, adding a little smalltalk is a tacit acknowledgement that you are a human, communicating with another human.

And there’s a better way to do it: Put the chitchat after your ask, instead of before. As NPR’s Life Kit podcast has noted, that way your polite inquiry won’t read as just a preamble to an ask, and you’ll come off as more genuine.

📚 More from Forge on better emailing:

The Follow-Up Is The Most Important Email You’ll Ever Write
Read more >>

How to Manage Your Email Without Losing Your Sanity
Read more >>

To Get Your Inbox Under Control, Send Better Emails
Read more >>

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