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 to never send an email that could
Speaker 1: not be forwarded, either to a specific person or to
Speaker 1: a larger and less private group. Once something is written down,
Speaker 1: it is out of your hands. Best to be aware
Speaker 1: of that and plan for it. In classic literature, there's
Speaker 1: a frequent plot point that a letter falls into the
Speaker 1: wrong hands. You trust someone to deliver an important message,
Speaker 1: and yet something goes awry along the way, accidents or treachery.
Speaker 1: The plot heaves forward as we realize that somebody knows
Speaker 1: something that he or she is not supposed to know.
Speaker 1: The modern workplace is not a Victorian novel, and yet
Speaker 1: there's plenty of drama that happens when an email is
Speaker 1: read by the wrong person. This happens all the time,
Speaker 1: really all the time. I was reminded of this while
Speaker 1: reading Erika Dwan's recent book Digital Body Language, How to
Speaker 1: Build trust and connection no matter the distance. Erica has
Speaker 1: lots of great email tips, like using acronyms such as
Speaker 1: n N t R. That's no need to respond, never
Speaker 1: say things like thoughts instead ask should we do a
Speaker 1: B or C all wise, but I particularly liked her
Speaker 1: checklist before sending an email. One of the checklist items
Speaker 1: is how comfortable would I be if this message is screenshotted, forwarded,
Speaker 1: or otherwise shared. What can I do to change it?
Speaker 1: Or should I save this for a phone call or
Speaker 1: face to face meeting. It is really important to ask this.
Speaker 1: We have probably all wound up seeing something we shouldn't.
Speaker 1: It is usually not a malicious error. What happens is
Speaker 1: that you send to people an email and they respond,
Speaker 1: and then one person on the chain adds someone else,
Speaker 1: and then the whole thing gets forwarded to another party
Speaker 1: for their thoughts. And if you said something not so
Speaker 1: careful about that last party earlier in the chain, well
Speaker 1: they might read the whole thread all the way down
Speaker 1: to the bottom, and then you will be embarrassed. In
Speaker 1: this day and age, you might be embarrassed. Broadly, we
Speaker 1: would all hope that people would respect digital privacy, and
Speaker 1: some companies lawyer up to make sure stuff is deleted,
Speaker 1: But people often read emails on their phones. Their phones
Speaker 1: have cameras. The phones also connect to apps like Twitter
Speaker 1: or Instagram, where hundreds, if not thousands, of people can
Speaker 1: see what is posted and forward it themselves. You make
Speaker 1: a joke, your colleague finds funny, he screenshots it and
Speaker 1: sends it to a friend who decides to post it
Speaker 1: on Facebook, And well, if the joke was maybe not
Speaker 1: entirely appropriate and your name is still on it, you
Speaker 1: have a problem. So save the off color jokes for
Speaker 1: your stand up routine. Anytime you commit something to writing,
Speaker 1: assume that the audience might be broader than you think.
Speaker 1: An email may even resurface from years ago. You've seen
Speaker 1: it happen on social media to other people, it could
Speaker 1: happen to you. Now. That doesn't mean that you have
Speaker 1: to be incredibly guarded or awkward. You just have to think.
Speaker 1: In general, talking about people critically behind their backs isn't
Speaker 1: a great idea anyway, so it's probably not a great
Speaker 1: idea in an email either. This is really just about
Speaker 1: being empathetic. So as you prepare to hit send, take
Speaker 1: a moment to ask yourself what would happen if someone
Speaker 1: else saw the email. If you'd be able to explain
Speaker 1: fairly easily, and you wouldn't be embarrassed to see it
Speaker 1: out in the world, you're all right. Most likely none
Speaker 1: of that will happen, but it is always the emails
Speaker 1: where you would prefer it didn't happen where it does.
Speaker 1: Best to be careful in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four than
Speaker 1: breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that
Speaker 1: before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.