Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is a strategy for sending better emails. Label
Speaker 1: them in a way that let's recipients know what they're
Speaker 1: being asked to do. Many of us get way too
Speaker 1: much email. We send too many messages too, so some
Speaker 1: organizations have developed protocols that help people know what's going on.
Speaker 1: The idea is that you should use a label in
Speaker 1: the subject line to let the reader know what's being
Speaker 1: asked of him or her. Some examples include quick Question
Speaker 1: of Possible Interest, f y I, Action requested, and so on.
Speaker 1: The subject line of your email is the label, followed
Speaker 1: by a colon and then a little more information. For instance,
Speaker 1: quick question Inclement weather policy or f y I twenty
Speaker 1: four applications received so far for Database Manager position. If
Speaker 1: your message falls into the action requested category, it can
Speaker 1: also be helpful to add a due date action requested
Speaker 1: by March one your feedback on presentation sides. It makes sense,
Speaker 1: but even if your organization doesn't expect such things, you
Speaker 1: might still find it useful. For many emails. A clear
Speaker 1: subject line including a label helps your recipients do what
Speaker 1: they are supposed to do with your email amid the
Speaker 1: myriad emails they receive. Because we all know what happens
Speaker 1: with vaguely labeled emails. Something that says inclement weather policy
Speaker 1: or applications for the database manager position looks like it
Speaker 1: might just be for someone's information. They might not read
Speaker 1: the message, assuming there's nothing needed, or it might be open,
Speaker 1: scanned and clothes to be dealt with later, only to
Speaker 1: be forgotten. This is a particular risk. If the message
Speaker 1: is long, it may never get read and full, and
Speaker 1: that is a problem if you are requesting something in
Speaker 1: the last sentence. Now, I would advise that you not
Speaker 1: write long and meandering messages. If a message is longer
Speaker 1: than a few sentences, probably best to pick up the
Speaker 1: phone or walk down the hall. But if you are
Speaker 1: going to send such missives, best to make the purpose
Speaker 1: of your emails clear and say what you want from
Speaker 1: whoever is about to read your novel. As a side note,
Speaker 1: a clean label also makes it easier to search for
Speaker 1: a message if it is needed in the future. The
Speaker 1: emails are just more precise. You don't have to sort
Speaker 1: through a dozen messages about database manager you know, the
Speaker 1: one you need is action requested, your approval of making
Speaker 1: an offer to Jane Rogers for day a base manager position.
Speaker 1: The message can be found and Jane gets approved. Progress
Speaker 1: is achieved and that is a good thing. I am
Speaker 1: just one bit of last advice about these emails, which
Speaker 1: is more of a personal pet pave for me. But hey,
Speaker 1: label them in a way that puts yourself in the
Speaker 1: shoes of the recipient. A quick question isn't one that
Speaker 1: is quick for you to ask, It is one that
Speaker 1: is quick for the recipient to respond to. Labeling something
Speaker 1: is a quick question when it is going to take
Speaker 1: an hour to deal with is misleading. So don't do that.
Speaker 1: And if you are sending something that is for someone's information,
Speaker 1: don't then put a request for action buried somewhere in there.
Speaker 1: That is a different label. But when everyone is clear
Speaker 1: about what an email is going to involve, it is
Speaker 1: more likely to get read. With the right action taken,
Speaker 1: actual communication is achieved, which is really what all this
Speaker 1: email is about. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yeah m
Speaker 1: hm