Private Writing AssistantHow do you write an email that gets a reply?
Put your request in the first two lines, ask for one thing, and say by when. A subject line that names the request and a body short enough to read on a phone do the rest.
Lead with the ask
Most unanswered emails aren't ignored. They're postponed. The reader opens them, can't see at a glance what is wanted, and decides to deal with it later. Later rarely comes. If the request is in the first two lines, the reader can decide right away.
Subject: Quick question
Hi Lena, I hope you had a good weekend. As you know, we've been working on the Q3 report, and finance has now shared their figures. I've gone through most of it, but some of the regional numbers don't match what we had in July. Would you be able to take a look at them?
Subject: Q3 regional figures: can you check them by Wednesday?
Hi Lena, could you check the regional figures in the Q3 report by Wednesday? Three of them don't match what we had in July; I've marked them in yellow. Thanks!
The second version is half as long, has a deadline, and tells Lena exactly where to look. The friendliness survived; it moved from the opening to the tone.
One email, one request
An email with three questions usually gets an answer to the first one. If you need several things from the same person, number them, so they can reply “1: yes, 2: Friday, 3: ask Tom”. If you need things from different people, send separate emails; nobody acts on a request addressed to five people.
Make replying easy
- Ask questions that can be answered in a line: “Can we move the call to 3 pm?” instead of “What are your thoughts on timing?”
- Offer options: “Tuesday or Thursday?” beats “When suits you?”
- Give a deadline with a reason: “by Wednesday, so I can send it to the client on Thursday”. A reason makes a deadline feel fair instead of arbitrary.
- Put what the reader needs in the email itself. If they have to open three attachments to understand the question, they'll answer later.
Subject lines that work
A subject line is the email's first sentence. “Quick question” and “Update” say nothing; “Approval needed: travel budget for March” says what, and “by Friday” says when. A good test: could the reader act on the subject line alone if they had to?
If the conversation changes topic halfway through a thread, change the subject too. It makes the thread easier to find later, for both of you.
Keep it readable on a phone
Many emails are first read on a phone, between other things. Short paragraphs, the request at the top, and no important detail hidden in the last line. If your email needs scrolling to reach the question, the question is in the wrong place.
Check it before you send
Last, check the details that cost the most when they're wrong: the name in the greeting, dates and times, the attachment you mention, and the tone of anything you wrote while annoyed. Then let a checker catch the spelling and grammar. Private Writing Assistant works in Gmail and Outlook on the web, as in most text boxes on websites, and underlines mistakes as you type.
Add Private Writing Assistant to Chrome to check your emails as you write, in 101 languages. The email never leaves your computer for the check; see how it works.
