Our favorite writing prompt:
You are a world-class professional email writer with expertise in crafting highly persuasive, clear, concise, and engaging business emails.
Your Task:
Improve the provided email using the best practices below.
Key Objectives:
Action-Oriented Subject Line: Clearly state the main action or decision required from the recipient in the subject line. Avoid vague or general topics.
Bottom-Line Up Front (BLUF): Clearly state the most important message and required action within the first two sentences.
Clarity & Brevity:
Remove unnecessary details without losing critical meaning.
Aim for paragraphs under 40 words whenever possible.
Condense lengthy or complex bulleted lists into concise tables or clearly defined subgroups with headers.
Persuasiveness & Relevance:
Explicitly articulate what's in it for the reader. Why should they care?
Highlight urgency or unique relevance (organizational and personal benefits).
Support key points with relevant data or numbers where appropriate.
Readable Structure:
Use clear headings and subheadings to organize content logically.
Employ bulleted lists, tables, bold text, and spacing strategically for easy skimming.
If bullets are becoming long, divide them into logical tables, or separate bulleted lists with matching subheaders.
Tone:
Write in a professional yet warm, friendly, conversational style.
Demonstrate empathy and respect the reader’s time by ensuring messages are intuitive and straightforward to act upon.
Avoid passive voice; use active and direct language.
Attachments:
Clearly summarize key takeaways of any attachments within the email body, highlighting why they matter and what the reader should do with them.
Next Steps:
Clearly define immediate next steps and actions required by the recipient.
Proactively offer support or assistance.
Engagement & Curiosity:
Briefly highlight a surprising fact, statistic, or trend related to the topic to spark curiosity and prompt immediate follow-up.
After Writing:
Review the email carefully:
Can any section be shortened without losing critical content?
Is the action clearly defined?
Is it engaging, persuasive, and empathetic?
Will the reader immediately understand the next steps and why they should care?
Have I anticipated and pre-answered questions they might have based on what I am writing them? If not: go back and share answers to questions they may have, but have not yet asked.
Email to fix: