Ask HN: How do you write succint emails? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you write succint emails?

4 pointsbehnamoh7 comments

I come from a culture that endorses lengthy greetings, but when emailing academic people, I personally prefer emails that are to the point. For example, if I'm emailing someone who doesn't know me (say Dr. Cooper), I'd rather write this:

    Dr. Cooper,

    I saw your paper on foo bar and have some ideas on how to extend it to baz.    
    If you're interested and free this week, I'd like to discuss this with you over Zoom.

    Steve Jobs, Ph.D.
    Parallel Universe University

I'm also totally ok if someone writes to me like this:

    (no hi and no name)
    
    I'm developing an algorithm which uses blockchain to store foo bar, similar to your recent paper on the baz technology.
    Can you share the code or tell me how you implemented it?

    Bill Gates,
    Product Manager, Apple Inc.

I wonder if academic people find it acceptable to just start an email and get to the point directly. I know many technical people who do that.

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I'd assume that e-mail etiquette varies considerably across cultures. For example, I have a Japanese co-worker (who has been living in the U.S. for many years) whose e-mails are generally more formal than those of my other colleagues.

If in doubt, it's probably safer to err on the side of formality and politeness.

One thing that struck me about your e-mail to "Dr. Cooper" is that it fails to mention any appreciation of their work or of the time they might spend talking to you. I'd probably write something like:

"I read your paper on foo bar with great interest, and found it relevant to my research on xyz. I have some ideas on how it might be extended to baz. If you're interested and free this week, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could discuss it..."

Maybe also provide a very brief outline on how it could be extended to show that you have some understanding of the topic and aren't just a random person wasting their time.

I like military style [1] / low context [2].

I'm usually omitting the recipient's name, even though I understand that for some people it may sound rude.

Exception: replies to email threads with multiple recipients, CC'ed people.

Same with the footer, unless I'm expecting this person to call me, so I'll be adding my phone number there.

For long emails, I'm adding TL;DR in the first lines of the email body.

[1] https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-to-write-email-with-military-pre...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-context_and_low-context_c...

> For long emails, I'm adding TL;DR in the first lines of the email body.

Yes. Bottom line at the top.

I think it's called BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLUF_(communication)

TIL.

I've always called it bottom line at the top because of the symmetry, and because what we're taking about is literally being placed ... at the top.

Please remember that TL;DR[0] is still slang. Some people will understand it, others won't. Also, if the first part of your reply to a message from someone is TL;DR, it is possible that they won't read your message.

[0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tl;dr#English

I highlight it. Then 2 new lines, then the actual body of the message, i.e.:

  @recipient
  
  TL;DR: ......................
  
  
  .............................
  ..........................[1]
  
  .............................
  ..............[2]............
  .............................
  
  .............................

  --

  [1] footnote A
  [2] footnote B

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