Write a Message That Ends with a Question
Added 2026-11-02
Turn an announcement into an invitation to respond, so people actually reply.
I often send messages and get no reply. Rewrite a message I will give you so it ends with a question: 1) state the facts first; 2) turn the thing you need decided or confirmed into one specific question; 3) make it answerable in a sentence or two, not open-ended; 4) give a default action if they do not reply; 5) point out which line in the original made it feel fine to ignore. Do not use pressure phrases like "please confirm receipt".
Site original
Chinese original
How to use
消息的回复率，往往取决于最后一句是不是问题。
Try tweaking it
- Ask for three openings in different tones, then pick one.
- Replace "make it better" with concrete limits: length, reader, facts to keep.
What you should get
- A publishable draft, not an outline
- A short changelog: what changed and why
Common mistakes
- Letting it guess the facts, so plausible-looking sources get invented.
- Dumping the whole text with just "polish it" — the result still has no point.
How to check the output
- The conclusion comes first; deleting the opening paragraph does not break it.
- Every fact, number and quote traces back to the source text.
Where it works
- Good for: turning a rambling draft into a conclusion-first, shorter version.
- Watch out: keep sources and figures verbatim — do not let it invent citations.