I communicate a lot of information to a lot of people by sending out regular emails. I spend a lot of time writing descriptions of what is happening and what they are supposed to do about certain situations.<\/em><\/p>\n Nobody ever seems to read them \u2013 or if they do, they don\u2019t remember what I said.<\/em><\/p>\n These people aren\u2019t dumb! Why can\u2019t I get them to stay with the program and keep up with what\u2019s going on?<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s time to think outside the in-box. Email is inefficient. It\u2019s\u00a0bloated and broken.<\/em><\/p>\n Today\u2019s inboxes are clogged with cover-your-butt documentation, unread heads-ups and countless attempts to win eyeballs and influence decision-making. How can you break through this clutter to ensure that your e-mails are the ones that people look for, read and respond to? Follow the presence building\u00a0Connect\u2013Convey\u2013Convince<\/strong>\u00ae framework to influence.<\/p>\n Connect with what they value.<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t make them find Waldo \u2013 frontload your subject lines.<\/strong><\/p>\n The subject line is the single most important element of your email. If it strikes the receiver as relevant, it drives their decision to read and reply. Or vice-versa.<\/p>\n Wimpy, generic subject lines such as \u201cFYI\u201d or \u201cUpdate\u201d are easy to ignore. Instead, think newspaper headline. Make yours\u00a0specific and significant<\/em>. For example, replace \u201cTraining\u201d with \u201cYour Ebola Prep Monday 3pm.\u201d<\/p>\n Convey with portion control.<\/strong><\/p>\n Make the content skimmable and mobile-friendly.<\/strong><\/p>\n Most of us don\u2019t read \u2013 we skim. And increasingly, we\u2019re checking our email on smart phones. Smaller screens call for crisper content. Shorter sentences. More white space.<\/p>\n Convince with outcomes.<\/strong><\/p>\n Streamline the effort required to respond and get action.<\/strong><\/p>\n Offer your readers rapid response solutions with a sense of urgency. For example, if your ideal outcome is a \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d reply, conclude with \u201cPlease reply with a quick \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d by 5 pm Monday.\u201d If the reader really values your topic, they\u2019ll respond with even more depth.<\/p>\n When your communications\u00a0Connect\u2013Convey\u2013Convince<\/strong>\u00ae, you gain trust and influence. You become known as high performance, yet low maintenance. This is a killer combination. As a result, your presence is actually welcome in others\u2019 inundated in-boxes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" QUESTION: I communicate a lot of information to a lot of people by sending out regular emails. I spend a lot of time writing descriptions of what is happening and what they are supposed to do about certain situations. Nobody ever seems to read them \u2013 or if they do,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nANSWER:<\/h2>\n
STEP 1: CONNECT<\/h3>\n
STEP 2: CONVEY<\/h3>\n
\n
STEP 3: CONVINCE<\/h3>\n