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Chapter 3 of 10All chapters

Chapter 3 of 10

Being understood

Message before detail.

Lead with the point

Say what you need or what you found first, then the reasoning. Building up to it works in a story and fails when the reader stops after two lines.

  • A request needs what, by when, and why it matters.
  • One topic per message; two topics get one answer.

Concrete language

Specifics travel: a date, a number, an example. Soon, shortly and as discussed all mean different things to different people.