How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life pdfdrive com

WRITE EMAILS THAT PEOPLE WANT TO READ
Make your emails easy to understand and act on
Like it or not, because of the brain’s preference for 
processing fluency
people are
more convinced by information that’s easy to process. So:
Keep most email to just a few lines if you can. Use simple language, short
sentences, and snappy phrases. Save your rhetoric for your novel or your
wedding speech.
For unavoidably longer emails, break them up into short paragraphs and

---

make them easy to navigate, maybe using bullets and headings.
Highlight any action or decision that you’re asking the recipient to take.
Assume he or she only has time to read the first couple of lines. What would
you lead with?
Start with something positive
Sometimes you have to flag challenging issues in emails—but emails that put
people on the defensive within the first couple of lines often get misinterpreted,
because the recipient’s brain launches into defensive mode. So:
Start with some appreciation. Instead of writing: “Thanks for the report. Can I
give you some comments?” take an extra ten seconds to comment on at least
one thing you liked: “Thanks for the report. I liked the way you included the
customer perspective. Can I give you some comments?” Praising something
specific is more effective than making general warm statements, as we saw in
Chapter 10
.
Lead with solutions, not problems. Instead of saying: “Unfortunately, our
original idea isn’t going to work because…, so what we’re going to do is…,”
lead with your proposed solution: “What we think will work best is…That’s
different from our original plan because…” Same content, different sequence,
different emotional impact.
Engage the recipient on why it matters. Suppose somebody’s done something
wrong. What do you say? “This is a terrible mess. You absolutely have to fix
it.” You’ll get action, but it might be based on defensive rather than smart
thinking. Try this approach, which engages their reward system by inviting
them to pursue the benefits of resolving the problem: “This is critically
important for us to get right because of XYZ. What can you do to fix it?”
Mirror their tone
Try to match the other person’s tone without losing your own voice. Remember
that we’re all psychologically drawn to people who look and behave like us, and
much less likely to treat others as a potential threat if we think we’re on the same

---

team. The smallest things can enhance, or undermine, that in-group feeling.
If the last email you received from them is warm in tone but you have a more
formal style, add one warm comment—for example, by saying you’re
looking forward to seeing the person.
If the other person’s communication style is brisk, get to the point quickly in
your reply. Brevity doesn’t have to mean coldness; you can still be collegial
in your tone.
Echo their choice of vocabulary, just as you would naturally do in speech.
Consider copying their greeting and sign-off style. Bonus tactic: try to mirror
the number of exclamation marks they’ve used.