Description

I hear this complaint a lot: “People don’t respond to emails anymore. It’s like they don’t read them, or don’t have enough courtesy to write back.” Usually the person doing the complaining will then expand on how Western society is crumbling around our ears.

Rather than spend our time complaining about how inconsiderate people have become, I suggest learning how to write emails that demand a response.

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Feature Segment: How to Write Emails That Get Response

There are really two challenges here: first, to make sure people read your emails. Second, to make sure they answer your email while the message is still fresh. Here are five keys to doing both:

1. Make your subject line attention-getting. The subject line of your email should be riveting, like a newspaper headline. The subject line’s job is to get the recipient to read the actual email. One way to do this is simply make your request in the subject line itself: “Can you come to dinner with me Thursday night at 7 PM?” Or, for example, “Do you have a copy of Michael’s PowerPoint slides?”
2. Clearly ask for what you want. Don’t write a vague, rambling narrative, and then expect the recipient to figure out what you want. Get right to the point, and make your request clear: ask them to “deliver the report before 5 PM”… or to “bring the extra projector to the meeting room”… whatever it is you need, clearly make the request in the email itself.