In 1946, author George Orwell wrote a powerful essay titled “Politics and the English Language.” In it, he analyzed the flaws of political writing as it is translated into the larger culture. He warns that the decadence, or gradual breakdown, of the language connects to a breakdown in the values and norms of the culture. […]
George Orwell’s Call to Action Read More »
How long do you generally spend reading a business email?
When I pose this question to Worktalk Email Effectiveness program participants, responses run from five seconds to one minute. This is sobering. Remember that long email you struggled to compose? Odds are that it was skimmed for a few seconds before the reader moved on to the next priority.
Given the fleeting opportunity to engage your readers to open your emails, you must take advantage of the subject line. This is the first path to persuading readers to open your email and give it their time.
Here are five tips from the Worktalk Email training that will help you write subject lines that do the job.
5 Tips for getting your emails opened Read More »
You work hard to write the perfect email to a prospective customer. You hit the send button full of hope that you will get a positive response. Then, the waiting begins. A day goes by. Then another. Then another. Crickets. It is frustrating when our recipients do not respond to our emails.
First, the bad news: If your recipients do not want to respond, they won’t. They will probably ignore your email if they are uninterested in your offering. We cannot control other people’s behavior.
However, you can get a reply if you have strong credibility and a compelling subject line. If your subject line and content resonate with a recipient’s emotions, you can even overcome the resistance to entertaining a message from an unknown sender. So, there is hope.
If you want your recipient to respond to your email, three things have to happen.
How to Write Emails That Get Responses Read More »
These five word pairs often trip up business writers. Learn to distinguish between their/they’re/there, accept/except, affect/effect and others.
Manage Misused Word Pairs Read More »
The active voice makes the difference between “A Merry Christmas is wished to you by us” and “We wish you a merry Christmas.” Harness the power of the active voice in your writing.
A Merry Christmas is Wished to you by us Read More »
