I know mine used to. I didn’t organize my thoughts, I was too wordy, there wasn’t enough white space. Sometimes my “ask” wasn’t clear. When your emails suck, it lowers your productivity, because people have to come back to you and ask questions about your email. You know what else? It can negatively affect how people perceive you. They may not consciously think “Her emails suck,” but they just feel like you aren’t very focused or clear.
I learned how to make my emails work for me and communicate more clearly and so can you. Here are the main things I suggest doing:
- Use your Subject line like a headline. Put the full subject of what you talk about in the email in the Subject line. This way, the person receiving your email knows what it is about before they even open it and are ready to answer it.
- Think about what type of email you need to write. Is it informational only? For informational email types, keep it very brief and include the details the reader needs to understand. Do you need to let the reader know about a new policy they will have to follow soon? Include clear details about the policy, when it goes into effect, and where they can get help. Or do you need a response from the reader (“an ask”). In this case, you need to include a “Call to Action” at the end of your email with very clear instructions about what you need and when you need it, e.g…
