Make it Brief

“I apologize that this letter is so long. I did not have the time to make it short” — BLAISE PASCAL
Today’s tip is about something that impacts everyone. There is a collective glut of email and it’s not going away unless we collectively change our behavior.
Super-successful people are accomplished in the art of brevity. Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos sent short emails, you can too.
Tips to Keep it Brief:

• Use bullet points, they are easier to read and visually appealing

• Include one action per email message

• Short doesn’t mean unpleasant

• Use the subject line – there is valuable, attention getting real estate in the subject line…use it

• Add the three lines below to your signature and respond accordingly. When your message is read, the receiver will know that you are being respectful of his or her time. (This is courtesy of Mike Davidson, who founded the Five Sentences Movement in 2007) there is also a version of this for two, three and four sentence emails.

And in case you are wondering…
Q: Why is this email five sentences or less?
A: http://five.sentence.es
Getting your email read is an impressive feat in and of itself. Getting your reader to take action is an even a greater accomplishment. Write less and you will be rewarded with better responses. Use these tips to get brief, reduce email and practice a habit of success.