Writing Clear Email Updates

For a long time, I was selective about when and how I shared my accomplishments. Not because success made me uncomfortable, but because I wanted to contribute, not broadcast. Sharing itself is not the problem. Sharing without intention is. Over time, I learned something simple. Most people are not put off by your achievements. They are put off when those achievements feel out of place or disconnected from the moment. There is a meaningful difference between adding value and seeking validation. Here is what unhelpful sharing looks like: ❌ Offering wins that have no relevance to the conversation ❌ Sharing with people who have no reason to care ❌ Speaking to prove something rather than to support something Here is what intentional sharing looks like: ✅ Using accomplishments to clarify or strengthen a point ✅ Offering examples that help others learn ✅ Grounding the moment in relevance and contribution Three ways to share your accomplishments without feeling like a show-off: Share with people who have the context to appreciate it: When the audience makes sense, your message lands as insight, not ego. Focus on what the experience taught you: Lessons, patterns, and takeaways give others something they can actually use. Release responsibility for someone else’s reaction: If your progress makes someone uncomfortable, that is their work to do, not yours. Here’s the truth: You are not bragging when you are adding value. And withholding your accomplishments does not serve you, or the people who could benefit from knowing what you have learned along the way. ♻️ Repost to remind someone that sharing their work can be an act of contribution ➡️ Follow Dorie Clark for more practical career clarity

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬: 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. I didn’t realize how many problems were coming from “okay” emails until I started working on fast-moving projects. Delays, confusion, back-and-forth, most of it wasn’t complexity. It was unclear communication. So I started using a simple structure that works almost every time. Here’s the template: 📍Start with context (1–2 lines): Why are you writing this email? “Following up on our discussion on X…” “Sharing an update on Y…” This aligns the reader instantly. 📍State the purpose clearly What do you want from this email? “Objective: Finalize vendor selection for Phase 1.” No guessing. No ambiguity. 📍Add key points (3–5 bullets max) Only what matters. • Current status • Key issue/blocker • Relevant data/decision point If it’s longer, it’s not clear enough. 📍Call out the action required This is where most emails fail. “Action required: Please confirm Option A or B by EOD Friday.” Be specific on who, what, and by when. 📍Close with clarity, not politeness fluff Avoid: “Let me know your thoughts.” Instead: “Once confirmed, we will proceed with implementation.” This one change reduced back-and-forth significantly for me. Because most communication problems aren’t about intelligence. They’re about structure. People don’t need more information. They need clarity on what matters and what to do next. Before sending your next email, ask yourself: Can someone read this in 30 seconds and know exactly what to do? If not, rewrite it. #Communication #Productivity #WorkplaceSkills #Consulting #ProfessionalGrowth #CareerTips #EmailWriting

How to Write Clear, Concise Emails That Get Quick Responses in IB In investment banking, emails are execution tools. A poorly written email slows deals down, confuses teams, and makes senior bankers ignore you. A sharp, to-the-point email gets quick responses and builds trust fast. Here’s how to master it: Step 1: Write a Subject Line That Gets Noticed Bad: “Question” → Too vague. Good: “Action Needed: Model Adjustments for XYZ Deal” → Clear, urgent, actionable. If it’s truly urgent, add “(Time-Sensitive)” or “(EOD Action Required)” in the subject. Step 2: Get to the Point in the First Line Senior bankers skim emails. The first line should tell them exactly why you’re emailing. - Bad: “Hope you’re doing well. Just following up regarding the model updates we discussed yesterday. Wanted to check if you had any inputs before we proceed further.” - Good: “Attached is the updated model for XYZ. Key changes: [1] Revised revenue assumptions, [2] Updated comps. Let me know if this works or if any refinements are needed.” The first two sentences should make sense even if the recipient doesn’t read the rest. Step 3: Use Bullet Points, Not Paragraphs IB rule: No one has time for long blocks of text. Bad: "The attached file contains the updated valuation comps. We revised the EBITDA multiples to reflect recent market movements, and the P/E ratios have been adjusted as well. The deal team may want to review these adjustments before sending them to the client. Please review and let me know your thoughts." Good: "Attached: Updated valuation comps. Key changes: - EBITDA multiples adjusted for recent market trends - P/E ratios revised based on latest earnings data - Ready for client review—flag if any adjustments needed." Bullet points keep emails skimmable and actionable. Step 4: Always Clarify Action Items & Deadlines Every email should end with clarity on next steps. Bad: “Let me know what you think.” Good: “Please review and send feedback by 3 PM so we can incorporate changes before the client call.” If no response is needed, say so. Example: “For reference—no action required.” Step 5: Keep It Professional & Error-Free - Check for typos (F7 in Outlook for spell check) - No unnecessary “Just following up…”—get to the point - End with a strong closing: “Let me know if you need any refinements.” A Good Email = Faster Deals, Fewer Mistakes Follow Pratik - for investment banking careers and education

We all get busy in our roles and sometimes as recruiters issues out of our control can impact a hiring process which means delays in decisions or roles being put on hold, whatever it may be. 😵💫 But it's so sad to see and even experience first-hand complete silence or lack of follow-up from fellow "TA professionals" after investing time in interviewing for a role. 👻 Preparing and researching a company, refining a CV and all the extra time outside of the interview itself that can be invested, and just to hear absolutely nothing is the worst possible candidate experience and says a lot about an individual's standards.🤥 Put yourself in the candidate's shoes and view the experience from their eyes. 👀 No update or ghosting not only impacts the individual personal brand but also the company employer brand along with the knock-on negative effect on hiring and even revenue. I certainly know that I have a mental list of all recruiters who have ghosted or failed to provide me with an update for roles I have interviewed for over the years... Even a generic rejection template email is better than nothing but I have a separate list for the ones that do that too. 🤭 We need to do better! ✊ - Before and after each interview set clear timelines on when a candidate will hear back from you. - Be accountable, you might not always be able to keep to your timelines but own it if you can't. - Any update is better than no update! "Hey, thank you for bearing with us! We are still finalising our decision and I will be able to come back to you with a final update by next week." - Honesty and transparency is critical! "Hey, we had to reschedule one of our interviews which has pushed out our timelines. I will be able to provide you a final decision and feedback by next week."

Most people don’t read your emails. They skim them. 🏃♂️ If you’re sending "walls of text" in your internal updates, you aren’t communicating—you’re just offloading information. Our colleagues are time-poor. If they can’t get the gist of your message in 5 seconds, it’s going straight to the "I’ll read this later" pile (where emails go to die). To make your content skimmable: White space is your friend: Break up long paragraphs. - Use dot points: If you have a list, don't hide it in a sentence. - Bold the "Must-Knows": Help their eyes land on the most important bits. - Sub-headings: Treat them like mini-headlines that tell the story on their own. Scroll through your draft quickly. If you only read the bold bits and the headings, do you still get the main message? If not, keep editing. What’s your #1 tip for making complex info easy to digest? [Image description: Pale green tile with black headline text that reads: Does your email pass the 'skim test'? Below is a list of four points with ticks next to each. They read: white space breaking up long paragraphs; short dot points; bolding the 'must knows'; sub-headings like 'mini headlines'.]

How a content writer writes emails (and why you should too) Writing content for a living does something funny to your brain. You stop tolerating fluff. You start noticing how people bury the point. And you begin craving clarity like your life depends on it. Now imagine applying that to emails. As someone who’s ghostwritten for founders, CEOs, and coaches—and trained professionals in communication—I’ve learned that good emails work like good writing: they get to the point, fast. Here’s how I do it: Start with the core message (don’t warm up to it) ↳ The first line should tell the reader what this email is about. No suspense. No build-up. Write subject lines like headlines ↳ Think: “EDIT NEEDED: Sales pitch deck” or “FYI: Client sent final version” → This saves people time. And attention is currency. Use active voice ↳ “I’ll share the final doc by EOD” > “The final doc will be shared by me” → Feels more human. More direct. Stick to one idea per paragraph ↳ Your reader isn’t here to solve a puzzle. Make it easy to follow. Use bullet points generously ↳ Bullets force clarity. They slow you down just enough to make your thinking sharper. Here’s what happens when you do this: People reply faster. Decisions happen quicker. Things move. That’s the goal, right? I don’t write emails to sound impressive. I write them to be understood. Whether you’re pitching a client, looping in a teammate, or sharing updates, clear writing will always outperform clever writing. Try it in your next email. See what shifts. And hey—what’s your go-to trick for writing sharp emails? Let’s know that together.

I sent the same 15-minute email every Monday morning for a decade at Google. It got me promoted. Multiple times. 🚀 Here's the thing nobody tells you: Your boss isn't psychic. They have 5–10 direct reports, dozens of stakeholders, and a brain that can't see what you see from your seat. If you don't tell them what you did last week, their brain fills in the gap with the problems. Most people swallow their wins, assuming their boss doesn't want to hear about them, or that telling them about them will look like bragging.  Everyone in your office is making the same wrong guess.  You guess your boss doesn't want your wins. They guess their team is "just heads-down." Your coworkers guess self-promotion is annoying. Nobody's actually checked. So everyone stays quiet, and the wrong guess wins by default. So I built a habit: Every Monday. 15 minutes. Three sections. 👉 Last week's accomplishments 👉 This week's priorities 👉 Where I could use my manager's help That's it.  Here are 6 rules that make this email actually work: 1️⃣ Be specific, not vague. Don't write "making progress on the design work." Write "7-page brand guidelines, 80% complete, but blocked on legal sign-off." 2️⃣ Mix objective + subjective wins. A milestone hit + a glowing client quote. The milestone proves you ship work. The other proves people LOVE what you ship. 3️⃣ End with one ask. "Where I could use your help" turns a brag into a collaboration. Your boss WANTS a way to be useful — hand them one. Just one. This also means they'll be more invested in your work. People support what they help build.  4️⃣ Don't skip "slow" weeks. That's shame talking. Send it anyway. The streak matters more than any single update. 5️⃣ Quote real people. Paste the exact words. "Sarah at Acme called it the best work we've seen." Quotes are 10x more memorable than summaries — and they travel up the chain word-for-word when your boss forwards your email to their boss.  Trust me, they will.  6️⃣ Keep the receipts. By March, you won't remember what you did in January. Your performance review writes itself from 12 weeks of these emails. One more pro tip: Use the word "proud" deliberately. Say, "I'm proud we hit 80% completion on the spring campaign." It signals confidence without arrogance and cues your boss to repeat it up the chain. Most people swallow their wins. Don't.  I made you a cheat sheet with the full template + the 6 rules and the ROI framework I used to upgrade my emails for performance reviews. Save it. Steal it. Schedule your first one right now to go out Monday morning.  P.S. Want more of the exact tips and scripts I used to grow from entry-level to executive at Google? Join my newsletter, Big Small Things, at the link in the comments.  #CareerGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #Promotion #WorkplaceTips

Most people think being rejected is the worst part of job searching. It’s not. The real pain is silence. Not knowing. Waiting for an update that never comes. Wondering if you should move on… or hold on. And it’s happening more than ever — even in companies that pride themselves on “people-first culture.” Here’s what I’ve learned working with hiring teams: Ghosting rarely comes from bad intentions. It comes from broken systems. → Recruiters handling 60+ roles at once → Hiring managers who “haven’t had time to decide” → Processes with no automated follow-ups → Teams waiting for approvals that never arrive → Internal candidates being pushed quietly → Job openings paused without notifying applicants But here’s the uncomfortable truth: 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Because behind every application is a real person: Someone preparing for interviews at midnight after work. Someone rewriting their CV ten times. Someone pinning their hopes on one email. Someone telling their family they’re “waiting for updates.” Someone trying not to lose confidence in themselves. Silence doesn’t just waste time — it damages trust, motivation, and mental health. If companies want stronger employer branding, better candidate experience, and deeper talent pools, it starts with something simple: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 “𝐧𝐨.” Here’s what good companies do: ✓ Send closure emails — automatically and consistently ✓ Give short, respectful feedback when possible ✓ Explain delays instead of disappearing ✓ Update candidates when roles are paused ✓ Acknowledge effort, not just results ✓ Treat every applicant like a future candidate, customer, or advocate Because candidates don’t need a 10-paragraph breakdown. They just need clarity. A simple message means more than you think: “Thank you for your time — we’ve decided to move forward with another candidate.” “We’ve paused the role temporarily but will update you.” “You’re not the right fit for this position, but we value your interest.” That’s it. A two-second email can preserve someone’s self-esteem, respect, and trust. To every hiring team, recruiter, and manager: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 — 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫. Silence isn’t just unprofessional. It’s unnecessary. Let’s do better. 𝐏.𝐒. 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦? 👉 If you’re exploring opportunities or want to connect further, feel free to drop your resume here: https://lnkd.in/gDfu8Af5 #StopGhostingCandidates #CandidateExperience #HRMatters #RecruitmentReality #TalentAcquisition #HiringEthics

"I saw you liked Lenny's last post" isn't relevance. It's desperate. "I see you are passionate about B2B marketing" isn't rapport. It's stalking. "I am building a network of like-minded professionals" isn't networking. It's a lie. You think you are building a relationship, but you are just making noise. The team at Cannonball GTM calls this Email Cosplay. Most outbound emails fail for one reason. You think you are the main character. You think the prospect cares about your features, your impressive slide of logos, or that you went to the same college as them. They don't. They didn't wake up thinking about you. They woke up in a specific, painful situation. If you want to earn a reply in 2026, you need to follow the Cannonball Principles: 1/ 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧  Don't target people. Target conditions. Real personalization is: "We have seen this exact constraint in teams like yours, and it creates this predictable failure mode." 2/ 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬  No one cares about your logos. They care about peers who are in their exact same mess. Social proof isn't about brands they know. It's about problems they recognize. 3/ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟑-𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 If you need paragraphs, you don't understand the situation. Cut it down with a machete. Structure: Situation → Insight → Inquisition. 4/ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧" 𝐂𝐓𝐀 Stop asking for "15 minutes." Ask for the truth. "Am I close?" or "Is it different on your side?" beats "Can we chat?" every time. Here is the only template you need (steal this): Subject: 2-5 words max (to the point) You are probably dealing with [Specific Situation] right now. Most teams get stuck because [Constraint / Tradeoff]. Am I close, or is it different on your side? That’s it. If you can’t say it that clearly, you don’t know their problem yet. Earn the reply. Then earn the revenue.

Stop Writing Bad Emails. Most people write emails that are too long, confusing, or lack purpose. When you write clear, purposeful emails, you: ↳ Save everyone's time ↳ Get faster responses ↳ Build better relationships Here are 6 ways to write emails people actually read: 1/ Nail Your Subject Line ↳ Be specific and clear ↳ State the purpose upfront ↳ Avoid vague terms like "Question" or "Update" 2/ Keep It Brief ↳ Stick to 5 sentences max ↳ Get to the point quickly ↳ Break long emails into separate threads 3/ Make It Scannable ↳ Use bullet points ↳ Create short paragraphs ↳ Highlight key information 4/ Write Like a Human ↳ Use active voice ↳ Show empathy ↳ Talk like you're speaking to a friend 5/ Check Everything Twice ↳ Eliminate typos ↳ Use grammar tools ↳ Read it aloud before sending 6/ End With Clear Action ↳ State exactly what you need ↳ Set clear deadlines ↳ Make the next steps obvious Remember: Your email competes with hundreds of others. Make it count. Make it clear. Make it actionable - your success depends on it. What's one email tip you can share with younger folks in comments? - - - - - ♻️ Repost if this resonated with you! 🔖 Follow me (Suren Samarchyan) for more