The Number One Risk with Your Business Emails and Three Easy Ways to Avoid Fumbles

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

Mark Twain

From executive communications to your employees’ emails, the number one problem is they’re too long. And business emails that are too long are at best, a waste of time because no one will read them, and at worst, risky if people only skim or read a portion. 

Mark Twain got it right when he recognized that composing short, easy-to-read text takes time. Few business owners and fewer employees think they have the time to craft well-written messages to their organizations and customers.  But there are a few quick easy actions you can take to shorten and improve business communications.

Use contractions to improve readability.

It may not seem like a big difference, but shortening I am and you are to I’m and you’re makes your email easier to read and visibly shorter. 

Don’t use verbs as nouns.

Avoid sentences like, “We conducted an analysis of the situation.” Instead, write, “We analyzed the situation.” 

Write in the active voice.

Emulate your favorite sports commentator. Too often, business emails are written in the passive voice and sound like this, “The form was received by the deadline, the service was added to the client’s account, and the sales rep received the commission.” If we’re rewriting this statement as a sports commentator would, we’d describe action on the field like this: “He threw the ball. The fans jumped to their feet. The clock ticked down its final seconds. And the receiver caught the pass in the end zone.” The player comes before the action. So using business language, we’d write, “The client submitted the form before the deadline. Customer service added the service to the client’s account.  And the sales rep earned the commission.”

According to a recent Forbes article, “Emails that take about two minutes to read, or roughly 400–500 words, yield the highest readership.”  There are many benefits to taking the time to write shorter communications. People will read them. But more importantly, people will understand them. The information you pass to the receiver is received and understood. It’s simple, efficient and good business.  

With fewer opportunities for missed communication or miscommunication in your business emails, there’s less risk and fewer fumbles. And the crowd goes wild!

Can you afford the time to write shorter communications to ensure your employees and customers read what you send them? For more email tips, get my Nine Tips to Make Your Emails Impossible to Ignore. Or contact me for communication coaching or training.