6 Email Tips Working Professionals Need to Know!
About this video
Jeff explains how to strike a balance between being overly blunt and overly formal in workplace emails, organizing advice around two primary types: request-and-reply emails that need input, and confirmation emails that create a written record. For cold emails to colleagues you have never corresponded with — for information, support/collaboration, or a coffee chat — he advises opening with one sentence explaining how you found their profile, stating how the request benefits them (for example by quantifying business impact or offering a shout-out they can use in a performance review), and, for coffee chats, messaging first to ask permission before sending a calendar invite. For action-required email blasts to a group, he advises putting a clear call to action in the subject line, such as indicating a one-minute survey, and putting the action itself as the first sentence in its own paragraph with context below. For confirmation emails, meeting minutes and what he calls email chain resets should lead with key takeaways and action items, highlighting action owners, with detailed notes pushed to the bottom. Newsletters and project recaps should start with a TL;DR with quantifiable results, reuse an existing template or formatting from prior recaps rather than reinventing one, and be sent only to recipients who will find the content relevant.
Key takeaways
- Divide workplace emails into request-and-reply emails and confirmation emails, and format each for its purpose
- In cold emails, open with how you found the person and explain how helping you benefits them, such as quantified business impact
- Ask permission by message before sending a first-time coffee chat calendar invite
- For action-required blasts, put the call to action in the subject line and the action as the first sentence, with context below
- For minutes, resets, newsletters and recaps, lead with takeaways, action items or a TL;DR, reuse a proven template, and prune irrelevant recipients
Episode details: published November 9, 2021 · 6:41 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Jeff Su’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
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