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

1. Brief greeting (one line max)
2. Purpose/ask upfront
3. Context or details (only what's needed)
4. Clear next step or call to action
5. 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.