Write—then go back and kill at least half the words. It winds up sharper every time.

➊ Boil down your most important point. Remember to keep your target audience top of mind. ➋ Skip the anecdotes. Or jokes or showing off. ➌ Stick to the one-sentence limit. Now write it. ➍ Don’t repeat the tease verbatim. (If you used one.) ➎ Hack off the adverbs, weak words, extraneous words. Is it direct, succinct, clear? ➏ Now ask yourself: If

concept essential? If so, is there a simpler way to convey it? ➍ Delete, delete, delete. What words, sentences or paragraphs can you eliminate before sending? Every word or sentence you can shave saves the other person time. Less is more—and a gift.