Engage Your Reader

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Engage Your Reader

To make sure your emails are being read, be concise.

Thanks to social-media character limits and texting shortcuts, we’ve become accustomed to shorter messages.

Keeping the reader’s attention is challenging, so for emails, use:

• 1 subject per email
• 1-3 sentences, at most, per paragraph
• bulleted points instead of full sentences
• colour, bold, or altered type size to draw attention to what’s important

When responding to a reader’s reply, start with a genuine compliment (e.g., “Thanks for your speedy response”). It sets a positive tone and increases the odds that your questions will be answered.