Comments on: My Short Email Experiment

By: movers

movers — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:58:06 +0000

I like Mark’s idea too, but in general I am conflicted about the five sentences idea. Sometimes you just need to write more because the response you are making contains a lot of important information. And sometimes if it is taking a long time to try to be concise, then maybe you’re not saving time in the end. I think you need to sort of “choose your battles” when trying to keep your emails short.

By: Andrew Flusche

Andrew Flusche — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:13:00 +0000

@Mark – I really like your idea of putting additional information below the email signature. That’s quite smart!

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:08:21 +0000

I believe it was Blaise Pascal who wrote the following at the end of a long letter:

I would not have made this so long except that I do not have the
time to make it shorter.”

Making things shorter is usually much more difficult. I will often remove entire paragraphs from emails before I send them. I usually ask myself “does this sentence help or hamper the desired outcome?” If an email is too long it might not get read. If it isn’t persuasive enough, it might not spur someone to the desired action.

One trick I’ve used when an email needs to be longer is to write a short (5 sentence or so) email and then add the supporting information after my signature at the bottom. This helps get people to read the message and keeps the initial interaction short while still providing them with the details.

By: Andrew Flusche

Andrew Flusche — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:38:32 +0000

@Margie – Thanks for the comment! I think we can all benefit from at least pausing to think about how many words are actually needed.

@Eric – I don’t think your comment is condescending at all. You’re right that emails still have to communicate properly. Otherwise, there would be no point. I like your “sent from iPhone” trick!

@Laurie – I definitely don’t want to chop emails so much that I can’t get the meaning across. That’s why I ended up removing the five sentences link from my signature on some emails. Sometimes you just need more than five sentences (or 140 characters).

By: Laurie/Halo Secretarial

Laurie/Halo Secretarial — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:33:31 +0000

I think the five sentences idea is an interesting one. I tend to ramble so something similar might help keep me in check! Still, I think it’s important to respond appropriately to emails and wouldn’t want to shorten them excessively. Twitter has helped me learn to be more concise in my general thoughts, but also has shown me that sometimes you do need a bit more room to truly explain a position or offer solutions!

By: Eric S. Mueller

Eric S. Mueller — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:29:08 +0000

I don’t want to sound condescending, but I aim to give each email what it needs to be complete. I have reached the point where I’ll send a one sentence email if needed, or I’ll write a long one if that’s what’s required. I’m not above sending an email that could have been handled by an instant message if they’d allow us to use that at work.

I admit that I haven’t reached the point where the amount of email I have to send is overwhelming. My volume coming in is getting excessive, but I don’t have to respond to that much. Mostly I have to track what’s actionable or what needs to be saved for later reference.

You could do what Kevin Rose does: add the line “sent from iPhone’ to your signature file and send short emails to everybody.

By: Der Link am Morgen: Das 5-Sätze-Mail-Experiment » imgriff.com

Der Link am Morgen: Das 5-Sätze-Mail-Experiment » imgriff.com — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:34:55 +0000

[...] » My Short Email Experiment [legalandrew.com] [...]

By: MargieW

MargieW — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:31:27 +0000

As a h.s. English teacher, I am always telling students never to use more words when less will communicate their meaning. Every composition text and every writer has pronouncements on how hard it is to be concise. I’m sure you’re right: that brevity will come more easily as you practice it more. Being a lawyer, you have to be aware of language, but I am glad to see you caring and writing about this aspect of it. Most of my e-mail is personal, not professional, but even some of my correspondents would rather I be briefer! I may just try your experiment. (6 [long] sentences!}