David Silverman focuses on making email as sharp as a knife and presents 9 tips to do so (or was it 10?). In a nutshell:
1. Don’t repeat yourself (unless you really, really, really need to hammer in a point – maybe that’s too much hammering?)
2. Use numbers and be specific.
3. Give the reader the background on what’s happening before you hit them in the face with things like, “Your house was robbed because I accidentally left the door open.” (Okay, bad example)
4. Focus on your strongest argument – the one that will get someone running out the door with their fedora hat.
5. Drop the stuff that doesn’t matter right then.
6. Forget the quotes (says Silverman) it ain’t Dickens. (What if you want to add some poetry?)
7. Kill your amusing or clever prose (what no entertainment?)
8. Delete anything emotionally charged (guilty as charged and no it wasn’t under the influence of alcohol)
9. Shorten – back in university biology labs it was about being brief and to the point. According to Silverman the email fits better on the Blackberry and iPhone too.
Why is this important? We’ve all heard that the written word is only 7% of the message. Email is only good for facts and straight-to-the-point stuff. To be fair I have been guilty in the past of not making it sharp enough (and throwing in some funny business). Haven’t we all?
Anyone got a really bad email writing experience they want to share? For me, writing under severe stress and not revising is a bad, bad idea (take it from experience).
Funny, wonder if I followed David’s tips as I wrote this…
Original Article
How to Revise an Email So That People Will Read It – David Silverman – HarvardBusiness.org: “‘People think that the first draft is the big event and that revision is cleaning up afterward. But the first draft is really setting up the chairs, tables, and cups, and revision isn’t cleaning up after the party, it is the party.’”
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