Engaging Email — How to Perfect the Art of Communication

Here at Spike, we’re all about Conversational Email. We believe in real exchanges. Conversations that help you develop lasting relationships. Our real-time email messenger ditches the long and confusing threads, waves goodbye to the pointless headers and footers, and streamlines your everyday communications in the simplest of ways. We think that engaging email should be more like an instant message—short, to the point and bursting with personality. This doesn’t mean you can’t write formal emails, and you’ll find all the same functionality as you would in a traditional email client. However, Spike makes it easier to craft instant replies that look and feel personal. You can avoid scrolling through repeated email threads and get straight to the point. Put simply, conversational email messaging will help you build better collaborative partnerships and allow you to concentrate on being truly creative.

By writing fast and remaining conversational, you’re able to more easily convey your personality. Particularly for short emails, quick compositions tend to get right to the point—just like instant messaging. For longer emails that require greater precision, writing quick and editing slow (the professional writer’s greatest trick) is the answer, allowing you to get your ideas down and then refine the details later.

Asking questions is great but asking the right questions is better. The right questions, polar questions, require a simple yes/no response; for example “should I complete task X?” Avoid A-not-A questions, those that suggest two alternatives; for example. “Should I complete task X or not?” While both of these constructions are considered polar questions, the first will elicit clear responses that leave no room for ambiguity.

Whether you’re firing off one sentence replies or composing long lists and paragraphs of text, remember to keep scannability in mind. Make paragraphs short, bullet list items, use bold or italics, and maybe even highlight important sections. All of these visual elements will help break up blocks of text and drive home your most important points. Remember, better email looks as good as the content it communicates.

Formulaic email writing is the death knell of true communication, and while using email templates might save a little time, it has its own fair share of problems. No one wants to receive the “Dear [Client]” email or see other generic placeholders that you’ve forgotten to fill. It leaves the recipient cold and makes your communications seem rushed and uninterested. Additionally, the language used within email templates will never engage your recipient in the same way a personalized email will. Take the time and craft your emails from the ground up to truly master the art of engaging email.