Information shares and replies

Two everyday shapes

Most emails are neither requests nor bad news. They are information shares — here is something you need to know — and replies — here is what you asked. Both are direct (the reader's reaction is neutral), and each has a shape the marker looks for.

An information share runs main point → detail → what to do with it. The point in sentence one; the two or three details that make it usable; and a closing that tells the reader what the information is for — file it, review it by a date, raise it at a meeting, do nothing until a further email. A share that ends without that last part leaves the reader asking "and so?".

A reply has one rule above all others: answer every question asked, in the order asked. Smith's advice for a reply is to address each point, and the reason is practical — the reader wrote three questions, will read your reply against them, and a missing answer costs a second round. So: the point first if one answer matters most, then each question in the reader's order (numbered if they were), then the next step.

Worked example — the share

To the Wren partner, Ngozi Achebe, ten days before the memo:

> Subject: Lakeshore: interim finding — lease leads > > Dear Ngozi, > > The Lakeshore analysis is pointing to a lease, and the lead is robust: the lease scores 4.10 on the matrix against 3.05 for buying, and it stays ahead under every weighting I have tested. > > Three things you will want before the draft reaches you: the annual cost is $58,000 with maintenance included, against about $67,400 to buy; two of the three key accounts have said in interview that they will move in the spring if on-time delivery does not recover; and Meridian's rep offered me hospitality during the evaluation, which I declined and recorded — you have the note. > > No action needed yet. The draft memo will be with you on Monday 11 November for review by Wednesday 13th; I will ask for a half-hour then. > > Kind regards, > Sam

Point, three details, what to do with it — here, nothing yet, and a date on which something will be asked. The salutation is a first name and a comma: a partner, but one the analyst reports to daily.

Worked example — the reply

Tomas Reyes at the clinic writes: Three things before I take this to the dentists — what does the system cost per year, how long will the receptionists' training take, and when could we go live? The reply:

> Dear Tomas, > > Here are the three answers, in your order. > > 1. Cost: about $1,800 a year for the booking system with reminders, on the vendor's standard plan; no set-up fee if signed before the end of April. > 2. Training: a half-day session from the vendor for both receptionists, plus about a week of the old and new calendars running side by side. > 3. Go-live: the week of 12 May if the dentists approve by 28 March and sign by 25 April — the training week is the one before. > > If the dentists want the vendor comparison as well, it is one page and I can send it the same day; otherwise the next step is their approval on the 28th. > > Kind regards, > Sam

Three questions, three numbered answers in his order, each with the one detail that makes it usable, and a next step. Notice the reply does not re-argue the recommendation: Tomas asked three questions, not for a second memo.

Reply to a two-question email

Renée Charbonneau at Dundas Trade Print asks: Is the specification's "finishing" line lamination only, and do you need the quote itemised per job or as a rate card? Two answers in her order — lamination and trimming; a rate card, with the three commonest jobs also priced individually — and the next step: the quote by the 8th.

Write a share cold

Pick any finding from stage 2 and write it to the partner: point, three details, what she should do with it. If your closing is a summary, it is not a closing.