Write the email you keep putting off
Refuse, chase, correct a mistake — without groveling and without bristling
Write an email for me. Context: [context]. Recipient: [relationship and role]. What I need to achieve: [goal]. My bottom line: [what I cannot concede]. Requirements: keep it short; give the conclusion before the reasoning; apologize at most once; close with a clear next step and a date.
How to use
Read only the first two lines and the last line, the way the recipient will. If the ask is not visible there, the email is too long.
Good for
- You have to turn down someone you will keep working with: you need wording that leaves no room and still leaves the relationship intact.
- They have been sitting on it for two weeks and you want to chase without applying pressure: the date has to be stated as a fact, not a complaint.
Not for
- The recipient is your direct manager and the relationship is already strained: email is the wrong medium for that; talk first.
- You need one specific action right now (a config change, a signature): a message with a screenshot plus a phone call is much faster than an email.
Example
Input
Partner wants delivery two weeks early. Recipient is their PM, two years of working together. Goal: decline but keep the relationship. Bottom line: the date does not move, no extra headcount.
What you get
First line says the date holds and nobody is being added; reasons use only the facts I gave, with gaps marked as to-be-filled rather than invented; at most one apology; closes with a partial early delivery and a date.
Common mistakes
- Filling 'Context' with three paragraphs of company background: the model reads that as a cue to pad and sends back a long, courteous letter.
- Saying only 'write an email turning him down', with no relationship or bottom line: you get the standard business template that reads like a mass mailing.
Try tweaking it like this
- Change 'conclusion before reasoning' to 'one line of acknowledgment, then the conclusion' when the other side is still raw from a recent failure.
- Add 'give me three opening lines to choose from' when the hard part is the first sentence, not the whole message.