Chris Fenning explains how to start work conversations by leading with the bottom line first. Instead of building context before stating your point, put the "so what" upfront. Examples include how to handle meeting invites and missing report data.
How to start a work conversation, tip number 3: Put the so what at the beginning of your message. When you're talking to somebody at work, it can be tempting to start a topic, run through the history, give some background and context to help them understand. What people really want to hear is the bottom line. They want to know the most important thing. They want to know the so what of your message. So when you're talking to them, don't leave the so what until the end. Put it at the start. Now, if you don't do this, the other person might be waiting for you to get to the point. And that's the thing. If you don't put the so what first, you're not getting to the point quickly. And we all know how frustrating that can be. So how do you do this? Well, once you've defined the topic and said what you need, give a message, give the most important part of your message, and put the so what first. Now, an example of this could be, hey, I'd like to talk to you about next week's meeting. Nobody has accepted the invite. That's the most important piece of information. Or, hey, I need some help with next month's reports. We're missing all of the key data. Missing all the key data is the critical key message. That's the most important thing. It's the so what of your message. So if you want to clearly start a work conversation, make sure you put the so what really early in your message.
How to write a Work email subject line #communicationtips #tips #email #subjectlines
