Words to Banish from Your Work Emails | BioSpace

Similar to “just”, “sorry” is used all too often to make a sentence sounds less aggressive. “Sorry to bother you”, “Sorry for the double ... Skiptomaincontent FilterNews All (702,305) Topic (669,108) Industry (115,792) Hotbed/Location (647,248) CareerAdvice (3,623) EmployerInsights (78) TherapeuticInsights (488) Coronavirus(COVID-19)News (1,916) WordstoBanishfromYourWorkEmails Published:Aug09,2021 ByLauraBrothers Doyoueverwonderwhatworkinginanofficewaslikebeforeemail?Howdidpeoplegetanythingdone?Wait,peopleactuallytalkedtoeachother?Theseareallvalidquestionsforanyoneintoday’sworkforce. It’ssafetosaythatemailrulestheworkingworldthesedays,whetherwelikeitornot.Thatmeansalotofyourworkproductdependsonemail—youcouldhaveentireinteractionssolelyonline,withoutevermeetinginreallife.Basically,emailholdsalotofweightthesedays. So,besidesmakingsureyoudon’taccidentallyreplyalltothatcompany-widenotice,herearesomewordstoreserveforyourtextswithfriends. Just Theword“just”isalltoocommoninworkemails.Howmanytimeshaveyousaid“Justcheckingin…”,“Justwantedtofollowup…”,“Justseeingif…”?Myguessisifyoulookbackattheemailsyousentthisweekyou’veusedoneofthosephrases,orsomethingsimilar,moretimesthanyouwanttoadmit. “Just”makesanyphrasethatfollowsitpassiveandminimizestheimportanceofthesentence.It’safillerwordthatisusedtosoftenwhateveritisyou’retryingtosay.Don’tuseit!Removethe“just”inanyofyourphrasesandthesentencewillstillwork,Ipromise. Sorry Similarto“just”,“sorry”isusedalltoooftentomakeasentencesoundslessaggressive.“Sorrytobotheryou”,“Sorryforthedoubleemail”,“Sorryfor….”.Whatyou’re“sorry”aboutprobablydoesn’tactuallyneedanapology. Unlessyoumadeamistakeorcausedahugeissue,it’snotnecessarytoapologize.Ditchthe“sorry”andsaywhatyouwanttosay. Inthatsamevein,“sorryforthedelay”isanotherunnecessaryphrase.Ifyoureallyowesomeoneanexcuseforwhyittookyousolongtorespondtothem,thankthemforwaitinginsteadofapologizingforyourlongerthanaverageresponsetime. Touchbase(andothercorporatejargon) IfIhadonesuperpoweritwouldbetoremovecorporatejargonfromtheworld’svocabulary. “Touchbase”,“connect”,“takeoffline”,andthelikeareallpassivephrases.Insteadofaskingsomeonetotouchbaseonsomething,oriftheyhavetimetoconnect,oriftheywanttotakesomethingoffline,proposeadate,time,andplaceforyoutoactuallyhavetheconversationyou’reemailingthemabout.It’slikelytheywillrespondwitheitheranacceptanceorproposalforanewtime.Regardlessoftheoutcome,you’realotfurtheralongthanifyoukeptitambiguous.  HappyXXX You’reprobablyguiltyofstartingorendinganemailwith“HappyFriday!”.IknowIam.AndI’mnotproudofit. Aswithmostphrasesonthislist,it’safillerphrasethatdoesn’tlendanythingtoyouremail.Yes,you’retryingtobefriendlybeforeyougettothepointofyournote.That’svalid. Butinsteadofathrowawayphraselike“HappyMonday!”,askhowtherecipient’sweekendwas,oriftheyhaveplansfortheupcomingweekend.Orbetteryet,weaveinsomethingfromthelasttimeyouspoke.Maybeyouknowtheyrecentlywentonvacation,tookalongweekendaway,orcoachedtheirkidsinsports.Whateveritis,mentionthatinsteadofthegenericandwildlyoverused“HappyXday!”. So,whetheryou’reaninboxzerokindofpersonorarejustbarelykeepingyourheadabovetheemailwaters,leavethesewordsoutofyournextemailresponse. Emailthis Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Backtonews