There are some viral TikToks and Instagram posts that show you how to swap out some very common, “too nice”, deferential email phrasing for some BDE phrases. Those are awesome, but IMO, some of the swaps are a little too strong for when you’re emailing with your boss. For example, one of the videos I saw encourages you to say “Let me know when there’s an update, thanks.” That’s great if you’re emailing a peer, an intern, or a possibly a vendor… but honestly I would be kinda nervous to send that phrase to my boss.
I wanted to share some common phrases I use when emailing with my higher-ups that are clear and firm, but also skew more respectful. Hope these are helpful!
When you want to help
- “I will get started on meeting with the Creative team and planning the photoshoots, as you have listed on the project task sheet. It sounds like this is a priority, so I’m happy to supplement on this project wherever else you need.”
When you need some help
- “I took a first pass at the Influencer Planning sheet and listed 50 different fashion content creators on Instagram, Pinterest, and Like to Know It who could be a good fit for us, along with their demographic and engagement metrics. I am crafting the outreach messaging and brand guidelines, but am not sure how to describe the compensation. Do you have an example message that I can study?”
When you need them to hurry up on something, but you know they haven’t even started
- “Is there anything I can clarify for you on the email marketing Budget Proposal that I put together? I am happy to schedule a 15-minute call to walk through it if that would be easier for you. The Finance team did ask me to send it over by the end of the week, so I would love to get your sign-off and send it over to them.”
When you want to know if you’re on the right track
- “Hi! I am drafting the slidedeck for our presentation to the new potential client next week. I have a draft that covers our company, our mission, our services, and past relevant clients. Do you have time to take a quick look and see if I’m on the right track with the approach? I can email it over now.”
