Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 2: Today's tip is a friendly reminder that email travels you
Speaker 2: don't always know where it will go, so don't say
Speaker 2: anything an email that you wouldn't share with a broad audience.
Speaker 2: So I bet most people listening to this podcast have
Speaker 2: had at least one awkward experience where an email has
Speaker 2: reached someone it shouldn't. Have. A thread about the quarterly
Speaker 2: Report contains a joke about Dave, but after three rounds
Speaker 2: of forwarding, Dave is c seed and everyone just needs
Speaker 2: to hope he's busy and doesn't scroll down. And of
Speaker 2: course we've all seen headlines about people whose emails have
Speaker 2: been hacked and released or emails that have been subpoenaed
Speaker 2: in court cases. They come to light and people lose
Speaker 2: their jobs and sometimes their reputations as well in the aftermath.
Speaker 2: So this episode is just a friendly reminder that it
Speaker 2: is incredibly easy to forward an email or to add
Speaker 2: a recipient to an email. That means that anything you
Speaker 2: say in an email can be almost instantly sent to anyone,
Speaker 2: including people who might misinterpret what you say or interpret
Speaker 2: it quite well, because it wasn't a very nice thing
Speaker 2: to say in the first place. There are a few
Speaker 2: actions that flow from this insight. First, in a work context,
Speaker 2: for instance, if you get emails from clients and need
Speaker 2: to talk with your colleagues about them, you should probably
Speaker 2: change the subject line when you forward the original email.
Speaker 2: So if the original subject line was timeline for new report,
Speaker 2: you might forward it to your colleagues at this subject
Speaker 2: line internal. How to communicate with client about report timeline.
Speaker 2: With a different subject line and including the word internal
Speaker 2: in all caps, you and your close colleagues will be
Speaker 2: less likely to accidentally send something you meant to say
Speaker 2: to each other to everyone on the original chain. Another
Speaker 2: upshot of the realization that email travels is that if
Speaker 2: there is something sensitive or nuance that you need to
Speaker 2: discuss with a colleague, you should pick up the phone
Speaker 2: or stick your head in their office instead of emailing.
Speaker 2: If you email, your email could end up being forwarded
Speaker 2: to someone you didn't intend to see it, and the
Speaker 2: further the email gets from its intended recipients, the less
Speaker 2: likely that its tone will be interpreted as you intended,
Speaker 2: so avoid that risk by talking live. Finally, if you
Speaker 2: feel you must gossip or say something unpleasant or vent,
Speaker 2: be sure to do that in person. You probably don't
Speaker 2: want any less than tactful things you say recorded for posterity.
Speaker 2: You definitely don't want them forwarded or worst case scenario,
Speaker 2: winding up in the newspaper or in court records, so
Speaker 2: don't put it in writing. I love email. It is
Speaker 2: an amazing tool. One of the things that is so
Speaker 2: amazing about it is how quickly you can communicate with
Speaker 2: just about anyone. But that can be a problem too,
Speaker 2: so be careful out there. That way, you won't be
Speaker 2: the person causing trouble for yourself, your team, or anyone else.
Speaker 2: Have you learned any lessons about email the hard way?
Speaker 2: You can email me about them at Laura at Laura
Speaker 2: vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 2: for listening and here's to making the loose of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 2: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 2: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 2: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
Speaker 2: that's b E the number four then breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters, thanks so much, should I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.
Speaker 2: MHM.