Tag: email

FBI Director James Comey statement: Hillary Clinton was sloppy

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Yesterday, FBI Director James Comey issued his final statement about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s personal email server. While he characterized her behavior around classified information as “extremely careless,” he will not recommend prosecution. Democrats and Republicans are spinning his decisions relentlessly today. The overwhelming impression I get from Comey’s statement is of a diligent … Continued

Answers to your questions on social media, empathy, and more (Ask Dr. Wobs)

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From southern courtesy to corporate bullshit, you had lots of questions after last week’s webinar for Higher Logic. I’ve answered them here. (Questions edited for length and clarity; some questions are from multiple listeners.) Q. Isn’t this all things that we should have learned from “Elements of Style” by Strunk & White?  How is this different? Strunk … Continued

How Facebook’s algorithm can help you rethink your emails

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Facebook determines which of your posts get through to your friends. Your emails, on the other hand, all go through. But what if they didn’t? You’d have to write email to make it clearer, more compelling, more engaging. And that’s what you ought to be doing anyway. While Facebook’s algorithm is mysterious and ever-changing, we know … Continued

Jeff Weiner’s creepy letter to staff about the LinkedIn acquisition

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LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner emailed his staff when Microsoft bought the company. His email is discursive, full of platitudes, and fails to answer the employee’s most important question: what’s going to happen to me? LinkedIn has 10,000 employees, 433 million members, and no profits. And now it’s got a new owner. If you work there, … Continued

Intel bloodlessly dumps 12,000 employees

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Intel just announced a “restructuring.” The email to employees from CEO Brian Krzanich is very clear, but something’s missing: humanity and responsibility. Here’s the email with the weaselly parts highlighted (and yes, there are fewer of them than in many emails of this type).   E-mail to Employees by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich Subject: Today’s Announcement Date: April 19, 2016 … Continued

Talking with Phil Simon, author of “Message Not Received”

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Phil Simon and I are kindred souls. He comes out of tech, has written seven books, and hates jargon and doubletalk with a burning passion. When he’s not appearing in commercials for Breaking Bad,  he’s out there fighting the good fight. Here’s my interview with him. Your main point in the book is that most business communication … Continued

Talking plainly about bullshit is 15% more effective

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It’s better to excite a whole bunch of people and piss off a few, rather than trying to be nice to everyone. I have proof. I want to thank my friends at WriterAccess for finding that proof. I had agreed to do a Webinar for their audience of freelance writers and the people who hire … Continued

Ridiculous email disclaimers

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Don’t waste words. That includes meaningless disclaimers at the bottom of your emails. This week I dismantled a recruiting email with an astoundingly low meaning ratio of 6%. At the bottom of that email was the following disclaimer: Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. This message (including any attachments) is confidential and may be privileged. … Continued