Don't send that email yet: Grace Foster

How to write smarter emails

Writing is a learned skill

Episode 193 (Grace is based in Washington DC)

In this conversation with Grace Foster we explore:

• Why we need to learn how to write smarter emails
• The danger of emotional writing
• Checking your writing for tone
• Consider the New York Times test
• Recognizing our negative bias
• Why you don't want to "bury the lead"
• How to kick start the writing process
• Recognizing the difference between the terrible drafts and final edit

About our guest:

Grace Aldridge Foster is co-founder of Bold Type, a WBENC certified 100% women owned company that trains people how to write more effectively in the workplace.

Learn more about her company and services here 

https://www.boldtype.us/

Get the free guide to remove clutter from your writing

https://www.boldtype.us/clutterbust

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Excerpts from this conversation with Grace Foster:

Your writing speaks for you when you're not in the room. So you have to work harder to make sure that that your message is being received the way you intended it, because you aren't there to walk it back or to course correct.

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George, where do I start? I'll first say that I have a lot of sympathy for people writing emails, because we're all expected to do it. We write emails all day, every day, they are the cornerstone of workplace communication.

And yet no one actually has been taught how to write good emails, what happens is we just get into the workplace, and we start observing how other people do it. And we start emulating them.

Well, what happens if everyone who's already there is already writing terrible emails, you never sort of had a chance, right? So I just want to say there are a lot of people out there who are very smart, and actually very good writers, but who still write terrible emails.

And mostly it's because they've never been taught to do better. Things that I noticed are, of course, terrible subject lines, mostly people actually include subject lines these days, thankfully, gone are the days of kind of empty subject lines, because their spam filters, you know, latch on to those completely.

But a lot of times, folks are just way too vague in their subject lines. And I think one of the reasons for that is people forget one of the primary purposes of sending an email versus something else picking up the phone and calling for example, is that you have a record, your inbox is an archive, you can search your inbox looking for a particular conversation or message from someone.

But when you have a very vague subject line, it gets much more difficult to search for a particular email or particular conversation that you had previously. So it's not just that they're vague, which is a problem the first time you receive them that it becomes a problem also, if you want to find that email again later.

So that is certainly a common problem that I see. There. Also, too long. Emails are too long. They are too wordy. They're either too formal or not formal enough, right. The level of formality often doesn't fit the audience and the purpose of a particular message.

And something that we may talk about is that the frustration that I hear over and over from managers who engage in bold type to do email training is why don't my employees just know how to do it right. It's a judgement call.

All it's a judgement issue, you know, why don't they just understand why don't they just get that that email of a sent wasn't right. But that's a difficult thing to learn, it takes time.

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You should email like, your messages might end up on the front page of The New York Times because it's happened.

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Your Intended Message is the podcast about how you can boost your career and business success by honing your communication skills. We’ll examine the aspects of how we communicate one-to-one, one to few and one to many – plus that important conversation, one to self.

In these interviews we will explore presentation skills, public speaking, conversation, persuasion, negotiation, sales conversations, marketing, team meetings, social media, branding, self talk and more.

 

Your host is George Torok

George is a specialist in communication skills. Especially presentation. He’s fascinated by the links between communication and influencing behaviors. He delivers training and coaching programs to help leaders and promising professionals deliver the intended message for greater success.

 

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