Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that you shouldn't make people guess what a meeting, call, document,
Speaker 1: or email is about. Let them know in as straightforward
Speaker 1: a way as you can. In other words, go ahead
Speaker 1: and spoil the surprise. Today's tip comes from Gretchen Rubin,
Speaker 1: author of The Happiness Project and most recently Life in
Speaker 1: Five Senses. When Gretchen was a guest on my other podcast,
Speaker 1: Best of Both Worlds, she talked about how she chose
Speaker 1: the title for her new book. She explained that for
Speaker 1: a nonfiction book, you don't want a title that makes
Speaker 1: the reader guess what the book is about. It is
Speaker 1: much better to spell it out clearly. That is broadly
Speaker 1: applicable advice in many contexts. It pays to be clear
Speaker 1: about your topic and your purpose. Don't make people guess.
Speaker 1: In general, people don't like guessing. When people know what
Speaker 1: is happening, they can be better prepared, which will make
Speaker 1: everything more productive. I am sure you have seen the
Speaker 1: opposite happen. Plenty of times someone calls an important meeting
Speaker 1: but isn't really clear about what needs to be discussed
Speaker 1: or decided. The meeting is given some nebulous title like
Speaker 1: updates or summer Season. People show up at the appointed time,
Speaker 1: but they don't know what they're talking about or what
Speaker 1: they're aiming to accomplish, and because of that, they probably
Speaker 1: haven't done any research or thinking to prepare. The odds
Speaker 1: of that being a productive meeting are low. Email subject
Speaker 1: lines are sometimes similarly vague, question, hiring, initiative, vacation. I
Speaker 1: am probably not the only one who has gotten vague
Speaker 1: voicemail messages saying someone had a quick question or an
Speaker 1: exciting updated and they wanted me to call them back.
Speaker 1: Unless you are writing fiction or directing a suspense movie,
Speaker 1: you probably don't want to leave people guessing about what
Speaker 1: is going to happen, and you don't want to leave
Speaker 1: people guessing about the purpose of a meeting. Call email
Speaker 1: or document either. Don't bury the lead, as journalists would say, Instead,
Speaker 1: be direct about what is happening and why. This will
Speaker 1: save time for everyone. If a meeting agenda, let's attendees
Speaker 1: know that you will be discussing the performance review process
Speaker 1: with an eye toward improving it. They may review the
Speaker 1: performance review documents from last year and come to the
Speaker 1: meeting with questions and ideas. If your email subject line
Speaker 1: announces that you have sent a draft for the recipient's
Speaker 1: review by five pm the next day, the person knows
Speaker 1: to confirm right away that they can open the document
Speaker 1: and plan some time to review it. If your voicemail
Speaker 1: says you would like to invite the person you've called
Speaker 1: to speak at an event on October sixth, that person
Speaker 1: can check their calendar before calling you back. When we
Speaker 1: want suspense, we can go to the mystery section of
Speaker 1: the library. In most day to day communications, it's clarity
Speaker 1: that we're after. By being direct about what you are
Speaker 1: doing and what you want to accomplish, you can let
Speaker 1: everyone prepare and waste far least time in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b the number
Speaker 1: four then Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com That
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.