It’s Time For Another Pinkcast.
In this episode, Dan Pink shares three tips from Erica Dhawan, author of the new book Digital Body Language, about how to write more effective emails, ones that people will actually read.
Tip Number One: Break long emails into two parts. The top part offers a quick summary and then the rest of the email provides the details.
Tip Number Two: If trying to get the recipient to make a decision, don’t write open-ended questions like “Thoughts?” or “What do you think?”. Instead offer choices, such as, “Do you prefer A, B, or C?”
Tip Number Three: Use acronyms. A few suggested by Dhawan were: WINFY (What I Need From You), NNTR (No Need to Respond), and ROM (Respond on Monday).
I plan to try these tips with my students this Fall.
But in the meantime, WINFY is to choose one of the following:
- A – best blog post ever
- B – best blog post ever
- C – best blog post ever
I choose E 😛
LikeLiked by 2 people
good choice…
LikeLike
Glad you agree! Letter E was WIN Beach House! Right?
LikeLike
sorry, that was D…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nooooo! That’s the letter I was going to choose!
LikeLiked by 1 person
you sound like my students 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
And I bet you are really nice to your students and say “OK, this one time I will give it to you.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
that’s always their hope…
LikeLiked by 1 person
What if I give you 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
with money inside? 🙂
LikeLike
You are a tough teacher!
That kind of defeats the meaning of FREE beachhouse! 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
but if you get an accounting degree from Villanova, you’ll soon be earning enough money to buy a beachhouse 🙂
LikeLike
Nice try! The problem is I would fail the class. 🙂
LikeLike
I’ll agree with the first two tips, but I disagree with the one suggesting we use acronyms. Many acronyms leave people stumped (including me). And then I’m responding with, “WTF?”
LikeLiked by 4 people
It leaves them stumped or totally misleads them, like the Mom I read about , who thought “WTF” stood for “Wow! That’s fantastic!” LOL!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sort of reminds me of your grandma, who though LOL meant “Lots of Love.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha!! I had thought of that example too, though it was my Aunt. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
on Modern Family, Phil thought it stood for “Why the face?”
LikeLiked by 1 person
maybe with acronyms you can put stuff in an email that a corporate email spam filter won’t pick up, like WTF…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe that’s the strategy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
these management consultants are pretty sneaky…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good suggestions!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nope, sorry, Ida with the acronyms in an email!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree; the acronym suggestion doesn’t seem to make much sense…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Acronyms don’t necessarily foster clear communication. lol (lots of love or laugh out loud) is an example. WINFY sounds a little bossy even when addressing a subordinate. WINFY makes it sound like the recipient is just there to satisfy the needs of the writer – end of discussion. How about just asking directly but politely? Maybe even use the P word “please.” The other tips are good ones.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, the acronym one just doesn’t seem helpful, and could be confusing…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hard to choose but A is definitely best. B is redundant and C is too derivative.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I should have an option D: all of the above…
LikeLiked by 1 person
That would be very inclusive of you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤓
LikeLike
Giving people choices is good, but I’d still want to know why they chose what they chose.
LikeLiked by 2 people
that seems like a good idea…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have two tricks for emails. Be concise, showing respect for the time of the reader. And be clear when a response is expected. Beyond that simply be polite. As for my vote, I choose “Q”!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve got an acronym for your two tricks: CAC – clear and concise. seems simple, but effective…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well I was going to complain about the acronym suggestion but enough others have made my point.
LikeLiked by 1 person
and I agree…
LikeLiked by 1 person
you know I love my abc’s! p.s. tambapfmtr –the acronyms might be a problem for me to remember
LikeLiked by 1 person
I might use your aronym as my new password…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll go for C. I’m assuming that you mean our own posts?
LikeLiked by 2 people
of course… 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is very good advice, Jim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks, Robbie, although I am not sure about the acronym one…
LikeLike