**Chris Murphy** · 20 January, 2021 · Reading Time: 3 Minutes

Email’s death (like paper’s) is often boldly proclaimed, and yet, still it lives on. I love email, it’s been very kind to me over the years.

I use Slack for the majority of my team discussions, but email still serves a purpose. I’ve enjoyed so many opportunities via email. Why? Because email enables you to connect with others in a way that few other media do.

Here are some guidelines for improving your chances of success with email.

One overarching theme with emails is: Make it easy to respond. Keep reducing the cognitive load. —Chris McClelland, Propel

I stand by this slide – lesson number ten – in my Hustle talk: 50 Years; 50 Lessons. Email is a wonderful invention and I get shit-tonnes of work through it. (Closely followed by Twitter.)

Keep it short.

I learned countless lessons throughout 2020, during my time on Propel, and the most useful was to tighten up and shorten my emails. They were far, far too long.

Don't waste others’ time, get to the point. You can write longer emails later, once you’ve got to know someone, but at the outset, keep it short.

Your email needs to fit into one screen on a smartphone. That way your recipient can read and reply when triaging email.

Your first email is a conversation starter.

You need to capture the recipient’s attention:

• Your Subject Line should be short and attention-capturing.
• Your first sentence and first paragraph need to get to the point immediately.
• Emphasise value, what do you do and why should they care?