Internet notebook about my work: deep listening to facilitate positive change

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Thursday 24 January 2008

One message, one headline

More points in one letter looks economic and time saving. Yesterday I had to ”sell no” to my client when she suggested to include a second request in an email to be sent out to the stakeholders in our project. Our memory is selective, we often only remember one issue per email. So in communication it is better to limit ourselves to one message per intervention. Yesterday I suggested to write a new email with that request at a later stage. That way we are more clear. It makes response easier: only one question at the time. And it contributes to more continuity (and planning) in communication with stakeholders. To increase the effect and response, we should also invest a little time to state the subject clearly in the headline of the email. I often copy the main sentence of the email into the space for ‘subject’. Or I draft a heading as if it were an article for a magazine. More tips on Mind Tools.

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