How Not to Communicate by Email – Scripturient

The average person, the MIT Communication Lab tells us, “receives ~120 emails/day and spends about 11hrs/week sorting through emails.” Matt Plummer, in a 2019 article titled, How to Spend Way Less Time on Email Every Day, adds, “The average professional spends 28% of the work day reading and answering email… that amounts to a staggering 2.6 hours spent and 120 messages received per day.”

That’s a lot of content to work through every day, and a lot of time spent doing it. It behooves senders to make sure their emails are formatted and written to make the best use of the recipient’s time and effort. Emails have to be both efficient and effective.

Communication requires increasing skill and craft, especially in the age of information overload with more and more voices competing for attention. Effective writing is not an inherent skill: it must be learned through years of practice and study. It is certainly not something to leave to AI or for algorithms to decide what to send or how to excerpt content.*

Along with those emails they receive, recipients also spend a lot of time online, looking at and responding to content that isn’t always work-related: news, social media, images, videos, games, reviews, recipes, tips and advice, healthcare, friends and family, cat videos, late night hosts… Attention is, like time, limited. It becomes increasingly important to make sure email messaging is tight, clear, concise, and shareable.

Yes: shareable. One of the crucial things about being online is the ability to connect and share content with others. That includes emails because not everyone subscribes (or wants to). Emails that require readers to click to go elsewhere to get crucial or necessary information are not effective for shareability. For phone users, clicking to get information that was not included in the email means being forwarded to a website (requires loading a different app). That assumes the reader has connectivity and the website content has been formatted for reading on small-screen mobile devices, including any charts and maps. It also means more time spent on any one email of the cascade that arrives daily.

The MIT website says (emphasis added):

The goal of an email is to communicate your purpose. Starting your email with the purpose ensures that your recipient knows why you are contacting them right away. Additional information can follow to explain or supplement your request. The exact email structure and what information is included depends on you, your audience, and communication goal. Regardless of what information is included, the most important aspect of an email is clarity. A long email that is well-structured and clear is more likely to yield a response than a short and unclear email.

In its advice on writing emails, the Government of Canada notes (emphasis added):

Get to the point: give enough information for the content to be accurate, complete and relevant. You’ll increase the chance that your message will be read and that the reader will send you a reply.

Effective email contains all the essential information within its body; clearly and accurately stated. The recipient should only have to click a hyperlink if there is additional content required by the limits of email space or size, or is optional (PDF attachments, for example). Having to go to a website to get basic information like the time of an event merely extends the amount of time recipients spend wading through emails. And, if the website provides nothing important or substantial, it will be frustrating for the reader.

What do these following lines all have in common? Hint: they are copied from the final line(s) of actual emails sent to local residents in 2026. Yes, these lines end exactly as shown, including the ellipsis. [Explanatory notes in square brackets are mine.]

while celebrating Canadian innovation, sport, and maritime…
We appreciate your
We are seeking bold, uplifting, and visually engaging artwork that captures attention and…
where the Noojimo Mitigwaaki (Noe-jih-moh Mih-tig-waw-kih) pathway…
and is expected to be completed by summer…
in accordance with approved corporate…
Updates will be posted to the Aquatics page at
Throughout the week, Collingwood will host events and initiatives that…
During this closure, local traffic…
Please refer to the map for details.[no map was provided]
The Collingwood Museum will close at…
to explore opportunities to formalize the site as…
temporarily closed from Friday, May 22 at 5:00 p.m. to Saturday, May 23, 2026, at approximately 11:00 p.m. due…
Paid parking is still in effect in municipal lots and on side…
“This plan is about making sure our Museum continues to reflect who we are as…
… [this ellipsis is the entire content of the email titled Temporary Service Disruption: Eddie Bush Memorial Arena Parking Lot, sent on May 20, 2026]
Alternate parking areas are…
… [this ellipsis is the entire content of the email titled Transit Delay: Crosstown Route, sent on May 20, 2026]
the app seamlessly integrates schedules and real-time vehicle locations from…
Whether you’re cycling the trails, learning new skills, or grooving to tunes, these events…
fireworks are permitted on Victoria Day, Monday, May…
subject to certain terms, conditions, and limited exemptions…
Bronze Medallion & Emergency First Aid (Basic First Aid with…
For information on eligibility and to register, visit RegisterToVoteON.ca, email info@RegisterToVoteON.ca, or call…
with residential pollinator gardens and backyard trees, creating vital habitats for…
for young talent to shine while bringing the community…
community connections, and the people who have…
The following town services, locations, and programs will be impacted and may have reduced hours during the upcoming long weekend. Days/hours not specified are operating under normal hours of service for the long weekend.
… [the email ends at the ellipsis, with no services or locations following]
… [this ellipsis is the entire content of the email titled Temporary Road Closures & Transit Disruptions: Hurontario Street & Sixth Street, sent on May 7, 2026]
and is hosted virtually by…
The pilot is an exciting step toward easing parking…
The season launches with Sunset…
The Town of Collingwood has officially passed Zoning By-law 2026-029.
… [the email ends at the ellipsis]
The study will recommend infrastructure improvements and an…
Celebrate Museum Month and Parks and Recreation Month in June with the…
helping firefighters sharpen critical thinking, improve…
Thank you in advance for your anticipated patience and
“Council has been clear that expanding housing…
You can attend in person in Council…
For more information…
We apologize for the…
“While the Province has enabled…
Spring…
This impact is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 20,…
protects the road by preventing water from seeping in and…
with overflows (bypasses) expected to continue…
and the Town’s drinking water was not…
an extraordinary contribution to the community through the generous…
and is disinfected by both UV and chlorine, with monitoring,…
during the following dates and times at the Town Hall, 97 Hurontario Street, Collingwood:
… [the email ends at the ellipsis]
mental health, geriatrics, and team-based care. In…
… [this is the entire content in the email titled Notice: WWTP Experiencing an Overflow (Full Bypass) (updated), sent on
April 15, 2026; no “update” was included]
Future updates will be shared as they become available, and you…
and a community partnership celebrating the rich history of Collingwood…
Thank you for your
In addition to a survey, the project team will conduct further stakeholder…
Since then, Council and staff have worked…
Presented by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
… [the email ends at the ellipsis]
and what to expect if you decide to run, including time commitments, campaign rules, public…

These, as savvy locals will recognize, are all taken from emails sent this year by the Town of Collingwood. Every email noted above has a small “read more” box at the bottom. It requires the reader to click or tap it to see what the remainder of the sentence says, and discover what (if any) essential information is missing — information that I believe for effective communication should have been included in the body of the email. The generic “read more” box does nothing to explain why the reader should click it, or what sort of additional information (if any) is to be found by doing so. And, since the town often sends two to four emails per day, clicking to go to the town’s website to see what was not included is time wasted looking for basic information.

I did not forward these emails to anyone because, when it was warranted, it was more efficient to email them a link to the actual web page where all of the information could be read at once or to copy-and-paste important information from that website into my own email. But even when I found myself wondering about what had been left out, what words should have come after the abrupt ends, I seldom clicked “read more” to find out what should have been included.**

Brevity, despite what Shakespeare wrote, is not always the soul of wit. There must be enough content to be functional and useful. Truncating a line mid-sentence is not brevity: it is just poor formatting, and likely done by an algorithm rather than the work of a human. Every email should be proofread by a human to make sure that lines are, at the very least, complete before being sent.***

I have other complaints about the writing style and language used in town communications, including the overuse of the passive voice, and stilted passages like this:

You’re invited to celebrate Earth Month at a range of activities hosted by the Town of Collingwood and its community partners. These events offer opportunities to learn, connect, and care for the places we love.

Or this:

To accommodate a water service repair on Ontario Street, there will be a temporary road and sidewalk closure affecting the section of road between Peel and East Streets on Thursday, April 23, 2026, between 7:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Please refer to the enclosed map for details.

There was no map enclosed, by the way: you need to click “read more” to see it. And this:

With a focus on customer service, the environment, and safe commuting networks, spring clean-up begins with bulk material collection on major bike lanes and primary roads, followed by complete sweeping operations on all hard-surfaced roads within the municipality.

Or this:

Please be advised that Town Hall will be delayed in opening on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, to accommodate a staff appreciation event. Town Hall will open at 9:30 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m.

It’s like wading through treacle. As TSSG notes:

Passive Voice puts the actor in the background. The action is being done to something by something else. The Active Voice tells the reader directly who or what is doing the action – in other words who or what is responsible. It provides a feeling of strength and impact… The Active Voice is your way to compose clear, action-oriented sentences, which turns your business documents into quicker and more applicable reading experiences for all of your readers.

I have other issues with the way the emails are laid out and designed: they arrive top-heavy with the town logo and generic but uninformative graphics that require scrolling before any actual content is reached. Basic wraparound formatting could be used to reduce the vertical spacing and the logo could be moved below the content (in newspaper terms, the top of the fold is what matters most). The graphic should be dropped or replaced with something that conveys information (e.g. a photo of the street under construction or the people mentioned in the content). The post-content material at the bottom could be condensed to reduce space. Vertical space, especially for mobile users, is crucial to keep attention on the content.

But I can save those additional criticisms for another day.****

Notes:

* I may be somewhat biased by my years working in the media and communications, but I have always believed you can identify the standards and professionalism of anyone responsible for corporate, professional. or business communication (including marketing and public relations) by their library of books on grammar, style, and usage. That means printed copies, and not merely going online to check something. At a minimum they should have and be familiar with the latest edition of either Fowler’s or Garner’s style guide (preferably both), Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style, the Chicago Manual of Style, the Canadian Press Stylebook (the AP guide if they are American), and a reasonably up-to-date dictionary (Oxford/OED or Merriam-Webster preferred). And that means reading and referring to these books, not just as props. These are basic tools of the trade and, unless the individual has expensive subscriptions to their online services (more costly than the print versions), they cannot be replaced by merely googling answers. If you can’t see these books on or close to their desk, ask what experts they refer to when questions of style and usage arise (yes, they will arise, and frequently). Ask who proofreads content before it is published.
And most important: AI cannot substitute for these skills or the knowledge in these books, and can only produce content that strives for mediocracy.

** I should file a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to see the town’s email statistics. Most interesting would be the click-through statistics compared to the number of emails sent out; these indicate how many people actually went to the website after opening the email. And then: how many actually open the emails?
It is common practice for recipients to look at the headline of an email and, if nothing stands out, to simply ignore it. There’s a skill to writing subject lines that is similar to writing newspaper headlines: they have to be attention-grabbing or the reader moves on to the next in the queue. Since subject lines may be truncated or partially displayed (like the image, right, in a web browser, or on the small screen of a mobile device), words like “Notice” or “Joint media release” in the subject line take up space unnecessarily, offering no substantial information. Every word in a subject line is precious and should be carefully considered.

*** Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, by Polonius when talking to the king and queen, Claudius and Gertrude:

What day is day, night night, and time is time,
Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time;
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief.

**** Communication is not only about words: presentation matters. Graphic design, layout, and typography are also essential skills for anyone in communications. Understanding at least the basics of those arts helps create content that is more likely to be read and acted upon. The effective use of typefaces and fonts. combined with a user-friendly layout will help readers absorb and respond to the content. Email content has to be designed and written to make the best use of the reader’s limited time and attention. According to MarketingProfs,

In the 2018 edition of the report, Litmus found that people spent 13.4 seconds, on average, looking at an email. In the most recent (2022) edition, Litmus found people spent just nine seconds, on average, looking at an email.

Consider the demographics of your audience, too, and who might be reading your emails. One study showed “31% of Gen Zs and Millennials have over 1,000 unread emails in their inbox.” That’s another discussion for later.

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