When communicating in a professional setting, time is precious, especially when sending emails. Your email recipients are busy, and they don’t want to spend a lot of time reading your email. They don’t need a long story; they want you to get to the point quickly. Thus, the shorter an email, the better.
Readers struggle with too much information
It is common to write long sentences and paragraphs to explain a message. You struggle to articulate your idea concisely, so you meander. You don’t find the right words, so you describe it from multiple angles with different phrases to make sure your recipients get your point. You get off track. All of this results in longer-than-necessary emails that go either unread or unanswered.
Your audience will appreciate shorter emails and respond to them much more quickly. Readers are already struggling with too much information.
- One in four workers say they feel stressed due to the volume of information they receive
- Half of office workers state that their work’s quality suffers because they can’t go through all the information available to them.
- Besides, more than one in three business professionals check their emails on small mobile screens, making concise and brief emails even more critical.
Writing short and concise emails takes time and effort.
You need to synthesize your thinking down to the essence and key messages. Emails are not presentations or documents; instead, their purpose is to communicate concisely and only convey what matters. Treat them that way and aim for emails that recipients can read in one or two minutes. If a potential email subject is a complex topic that requires a lengthy discussion, schedule a separate meeting.