How many soul-sucking meetings have you been in this last week?

You know, the ones where you try to hide your yawns behind your hand and sneakily watch something on your phone out of sight of the camera? (I SEE YOU!)

And how many of them could have been swapped with an email exchange?

I came across a brilliant tool this week called, ‘Should it be a meeting?’

It’s a 30 second test to help you decide whether or not you really need that meeting. And if you do, it gives you tips to make it better.

But if you do switch from a meeting to an email, make sure you write an awesome one, like this email I received recently from Nicola Clargo, a Chartered Secretary at BNY Mellon.

She wrote to me about my book Email Attraction using the HEC Hamburger technique I teach in it (HEC stands for Hook, Explanation and Call-To-Action.

Here’s how it went down:

1. Her subject line piqued my curiosity, as it should:

‘Oh my god it actually works!’

2. Her opening sentence (the ‘Hook’) grabbed my interest straight away (because it was all about me, the reader, not her, the author):

‘Kim, thank you so much for writing an absolutely brilliant book – Email Attraction.’

3. She got straight to the point (the ‘Explanation’) in just two short sentences (bonus points for warmth and humour):

‘I have used the HEC method exclusively since reading your book and I’ve had 100% success rate in responses. And I am usually asking about the most mundane, annoying things because I’m a Chartered Secretary in a bank.’

4. And she had a clear ‘call-to-action’ at the end:

‘Please write something else ~ it was a joy to read!’

Brilliantly done, Nicola ? Student of the week (and not just because you flattered me – but that helps…) ⭐️ You’re proof that this technique works – even when you’re writing about the boring stuff that no-one wants to hear.

Life’s too short for mundane meetings or energy-draining emails.

Let’s do them better.