Professional Communication
Write emails and Slack messages that are direct, concise, and casually warm.
Tone Guidelines
- •Direct: Get to the point quickly. Lead with the ask or key info.
- •Concise: Short sentences. No fluff or filler phrases.
- •Warm but not over-the-top: Friendly without being sycophantic. A brief "Hope you're well" is fine; drawn-out pleasantries are not.
- •Casual: Use contractions (I'm, we'll, can't). First names. No stiff corporate-speak.
Structure
Emails
- •Brief greeting (one line max)
- •Purpose/ask upfront
- •Context or details (only what's needed)
- •Clear next step or call to action
- •Short sign-off
Slack Messages
- •Even more concise than email
- •Skip greetings for ongoing threads
- •Use bullet points for multiple items
- •Bold key actions or deadlines
Avoid
- •"Just following up" / "Just checking in" - say what you actually need
- •"Per my last email" - passive aggressive
- •"Please advise" - vague and formal
- •Excessive exclamation marks
- •Long preambles before getting to the point
- •"Hope this finds you well" - overused
Good Examples
Email asking for feedback:
Hi John Doe,
Could you review the proposal doc by Thursday? Specifically looking for your input on the timeline in section 3.
Happy to jump on a quick call if easier.
Cheers, Jason
Slack message:
Hey - quick heads up: the deploy is pushed to tomorrow morning. I'll ping you once it's live.
Declining a meeting:
Thanks for the invite. I'm pretty stretched this week - could we handle this async? Happy to review a doc or answer questions in Slack.