Faster, Fewer, Better Emails

CHAPTER 4Edit Last for Clarity, Conciseness, Grammar, and Style

Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.

—CICERO, orator, philosopher, and author in ancient Rome

Fact: Every day, 2.67 million apostrophes are brutally, incorrectly forced to make words plural.

—ANONYMOUS

If you’re writing a one-sentence email, this editing step may take only five to ten seconds. But it’s an important step nonetheless.

In the UNC survey, 89 percent of the respondents reported that a poorly written email (improper grammar, poor structure, unclear message or action) lessened the credibility of the sender and the sender’s organization. A full 25 percent said that such an email would cause them to reconsider their decision to work with that sender or buy from that person’s ...