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 comes from a listener who discovered how to
Speaker 1: write much more efficient emails. Email is a great tool
Speaker 1: I love hearing from Before Breakfast listeners. For instance, email
Speaker 1: can be sent and received at whatever time works for
Speaker 1: the sender and recipient. This is very efficient, but email
Speaker 1: can also cause a lot of confusion. People skim long
Speaker 1: messages and miss the last line asking for what the
Speaker 1: message was really about. Or people read a long message
Speaker 1: trying to figure out what the sender wants, only to
Speaker 1: get to the end and realize that the sender doesn't
Speaker 1: need anything. The email could have been processed at a
Speaker 1: less urgent time. In any case, Before Breakfast listener Peter
Speaker 1: wrote in with an email format that he uses. It
Speaker 1: forces the writer to be more thoughtful, gets to the
Speaker 1: of the problem quickly, and allows the recipient to deal
Speaker 1: with it efficiently and effectively. He says, here's how it goes. First,
Speaker 1: put in the subject line what you want the recipient
Speaker 1: to do with the email. Example phrases include for approval,
Speaker 1: for info, for endorsement, for action, update to previous email
Speaker 1: and so forth. After you've written what the person should
Speaker 1: do with it, then you write the subject. Peter notes
Speaker 1: that this allows the recipient to sort win to deal
Speaker 1: with it. So an office refurbishment project, for instance, might
Speaker 1: inspire an email with the subject for approval new furniture purchase.
Speaker 1: Then you start the email with what Peter calls a
Speaker 1: b l u F. Maybe we'll say that's a bluff
Speaker 1: that stands for bottom line up front, one sentence only.
Speaker 1: Our furniture email might contain the bluff seeking your approval
Speaker 1: to purchase new office furniture in line with new office
Speaker 1: plan budget. If this is all the recipient needs, Peter notes,
Speaker 1: then he or she can just reply approved, No need
Speaker 1: to wade through anything else to get to the action required.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the person choosing furniture has done a great job
Speaker 1: with the last round of furniture purchasing and it's not
Speaker 1: worth the manager's time to wait into the details. All
Speaker 1: is good. Email has been read quickly and responded too quickly.
Speaker 1: Now if the situation needs more explanation, then the next
Speaker 1: paragraph should be a what this is a one to
Speaker 1: two sentence expansion on the bluff. Remember that's the bottom
Speaker 1: line up front. After that you can include a so
Speaker 1: what paragraph. Now this might not always be required, Peter notes,
Speaker 1: but if the person receiving an email needs to know
Speaker 1: why they're being asked or why this needs to be
Speaker 1: done by a certain point, this paragraph can explain it.
Speaker 1: Then the final paragraph contains the what next statement. This
Speaker 1: describes the next required action. Probably this was explained in
Speaker 1: the bottom line up front the bluff, but in case
Speaker 1: there's any confusion, you can spell it out again here
Speaker 1: and then you're done. I like Peter's approach, and I
Speaker 1: think it's a good idea in general. For emails. There
Speaker 1: is a place for long conversational notes, but when someone
Speaker 1: gets two emails or more a day, that place is
Speaker 1: probably not his or her inbox. Explaining exactly what you
Speaker 1: need in the subject line and putting the bottom line
Speaker 1: up front increases the chances that the email inspires the
Speaker 1: action you desire. How do you make sure your emails
Speaker 1: are efficient and effective? You can let me know by
Speaker 1: email before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at before Breakfast odd that's b E
Speaker 1: the number four, then breakfast p o D. You can
Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.