Several years ago I did a working session for a team at a certain company that sells your favorite chicken sandwich (extra pickles, please), and you’ll be shocked to know it had nothing to do with waffle fries and everything to do with clear communication.

Mind you, this group wasn’t responsible for corporate communications; they just wanted guidance on how to embrace the type of communication that would help them be better cross-functional collaborators and generally more successful as a team. You know I love to see it 👏

As we closed, I got a question from someone that drove home why I’m so passionate about helping people write good emails:

“How do we implement clear communication in what feels like a communication arms race inside the company? Everyone is competing for everyone’s attention, and we can do all these things to be clear—but it feels like other people are working just as hard to beat us to it. How do we get our emails to stand out?“

I mean…do not tempt me with a good communications challenge.

But seriously, here’s what I told him (literally—I’m basically copying and pasting what I sent him in response after the fact) 👇

Generally speaking, I’ve found that people gravitate more toward emails they know will be clearer and easier to digest. When our emails are easier for people to “check the box” on, they’re eager to get to those first; it gives them a quick sense of accomplishment and progress. If your communications are consistently clear and easy to comprehend, others will take note and be more apt to open your email in the midst of full inbox.

Knowing that doesn’t solve everything, here a few things I do to make my emails cut through the noise and get people’s eyes on them:

🗣️ Call out the action needed in the subject line. I usually do ALL CAPS to make it stand out, as well. Examples:

• FOR REVIEW: Draft of XYZ
• INPUT NEEDED BY 2/16: Comms Plan for XYZ
• REQUIRED APPROVAL: XYZ Process for XYZ Initiative

::

⬆️ I also often pull up the action item as a standalone sentence at the very top of the email and then provide context below. Example:

Hey [name],

Attached is XYZ that is ready for review and approval. Could you please reply with the approval by 2/26?

Following your approval, the plan is to…

::

👀 When there are things for people to review or approve that live in a large attachment, I’ll pull out the exact copy they need to review and put it in the body of the email. I also attach the full document for their reference, but I’ve learned that removing the step of someone having to open an attachment can make a big difference in response time.

::

🤝 If there are specific people or teams you communicate with a lot and you start to see a pattern of being “drowned out” by other emails on their end, it’s worth reaching out to acknowledge that you work together often and you want to know their preferred method of contact for times when there’s something important you need to get in front of them. I have several leaders I’ve done this with over the years who have specifically asked that I text them because their days don’t allow them to be as quick to respond to email—and I never had issues getting them to get their eyes on things after that.

::

Is this list super tactical? Yes.

Is it also super practical? Yes.

Sometimes it’s the most simple adjustments that make our emails stand out. And when people come to associate our name in their inbox with clear emails that give them clear next steps, odds are good they’ll begin to open ours over other long-winded and unclear emails every time.