#47 I have just one request . . .

I have just one request . . .

Do you ever feel frustrated by a lack of response to your email requests?

As described in Nutshell #41, one secret to increasing email response rates is to use fewer words.

In their book, Writing for Busy Readers, Professors Rogers and Lasky-Fink explain that busy readers usually prioritize messages they can deal with quickly, while they tend to ignore, delete, or procrastinate on responding to more complex messages.

The number of requests we include in an email also matters. When readers encounter multiple requests in a single message, they may only respond to the easier requests.  Alternatively, they might hold off on responding until they can address all of them – which may take days, or be postponed indefinitely.

So, in addition to ensuring brevity (Rogers recommends four sentences per email), to encourage more responses to your messages, try including only one request per email, and highlighting that in bold.