Why Sending an Email Isn't Just a Quick Task

Communication is not small... Too often, communication is treated as a minor detail. A quick email, a rushed word, a vague instruction, an unclear presentation. We assume it will all sort itself out. It rarely does. I know. I learned this lesson the hard way. Communication is never small. It is the very medium through which work happens, trust is built, and leadership is exercised. A single sentence can shift the mood of a team. A misplaced word can fracture a relationship. A lack of clarity can derail months of effort. Think about it. Wars have started because of miscommunication. Companies have collapsed because the truth was not spoken early enough. Careers have stalled because someone could not express what they knew or what they needed. On the other hand, fortunes have been made because a leader spoke with conviction. Movements have been born because someone chose the right words at the right time. In the workplace, communication is often the hidden multiplier. It takes a good idea and makes it powerful. It takes a weak plan and makes it understood. It takes uncertainty and turns it into confidence. Those who master communication influence outcomes. The next time you prepare to speak, write, or send a message, pause and remind yourself: this is not small. It could be the difference between progress and confusion, between alignment and conflict, between success and failure. Treat your communication as seriously as your strategy, because communication is strategy in action. As the saying goes, "Speech is the chariot of kings." Communication is not small.

Managers, stop saying this to ADHD staff: "Can you just..." ➡️ “Can you just send a reminder email?” ➡️ “Can you just pop that into a doc?” ➡️ “Can you just tidy up these slides?” It sounds small. But for an ADHDer? That “just” has a high cost. If the task doesn’t match our processing style (or if the instruction is vague & ambiguous)... It could require more ⏰ Time than you’d expect 🧠 Cognitive effort than you realise 😵💫 Internal negotiation than we care to admit ADHD brains are wired for interest. Not importance! Our executive functioning system (aka the brain's management system) often struggles to activate on tasks without the right conditions. To do our best work and get 'interested'... We need 4 things: 👉🏼 CLARITY - What’s the expectation here? 👉🏼 CERTAINTY - What happens if X or Y? 👉🏼 CHOICE - Do I have agency over how/when I do this? 👉🏼 CONNECTION - Who can I go to for support? Without those 4? We end up doing lots of invisible work to: - Transition from our current task to the new one - Try and get interested & then maintain focus - Figure out what is expected of us And this can meas... → Starting early or staying late → Skipping breaks to catch up → Postponing everything else So it’s not “just” an email. Or “just” a quick fix. For an ADHD brain, it can trigger: - A context-switch crash - A drop in working memory - A freeze in task initiation - A spike in anxiety from uncertainty Because without clarity, certainty, choice, and connection… Our executive functions short-circuit. The result? Burnt-out staff. Higher procrastination. A culture fuelled by stress. If you want better performance from your ADHD team? Design for the brain we actually have. Not the one you ASSUME we’re working with. Start there. Repost to spread the word ♻️

It's never a simple SEND and RECEIVE... Not sure how many times I've heard this.... "I'm not getting replies". "My reply rates are low." At Smartlead, we’ve seen this pattern countless times: A user sets up their campaign, hits send… Then comes back a week later asking: “Why is no one replying?” The issue isn’t deliverability. It’s not even the subject line. It’s that the email is all about YOU - NOT THEM. TRUTH - There’s no such thing as the perfect Cold Email But this framework can get you really close. If your email doesn’t reflect the recipient’s pain, reality, or priorities… it’s ignored. TRY THIS 👇🏻 1️⃣ Lead with insight, not an intro Forget “Hope you’re well.” You’ve got 3 seconds to earn attention. Start with something they’re already thinking about: A challenge in their workflow A competitor they’re watching A shift in their industry Example: “Saw [Competitor] just rolled out [X]—guessing that’s added pressure on [their process].” This shows relevance before you ever mention your name. 2️⃣ Mirror their language You don't earn trust by sounding smart. You earn it by sounding familiar. - Look at how they describe their pain points on LinkedIn, forums, or even job boards. - Drop the jargon. Speak like someone who gets their day-to-day. 3️⃣ Offer outcomes, not features Don’t say: “We help with data enrichment.” Say: “We help BDRs cut lead research time from 45 mins to 10.” Make the benefit concrete. Quantify the result. Focus on impact. 4️⃣ Make the CTA feel effortless The smaller the ask, the higher the chance of action. Examples: “Want me to send a 2-min walkthrough?” “Should I send over a template our clients use to [solve X]?” “Open to a quick async teardown of your sequence?” This shows value before asking for time. 5️⃣ Treat the subject line like an internal ping Short, curiosity-driven, lowercase. No fluff. Edit your inbox preview to your liking. Examples: “pipeline question” “re: targeting issue” “lead source drop” Make it look like it’s from a teammate, not a stranger selling something. Your cold emails don’t need to be long. They don’t need to be flashy. They just need to feel relevant. When you write like someone who understands your recipient’s world, your emails stop being ignored and start getting replies.

If you’ve ever said to your comms team, “‘Can you just send an email?’ this one’s for you. Because sending an email that actually works is never JUST sending an email. It starts with a conversation. We don’t just take what you’ve written and hit send. We ask questions: What’s the purpose? Who needs to hear this? What action do you want them to take? If we didn’t send it, what would happen? Getting clear on this isn’t optional—it’s essential. And here’s where trust matters. When you see us as experts, not post-boxes, that’s when the magic happens. Trust us to challenge your thinking. Trust us to shape the message. Trust us to advise if an email isn’t the right channel at all. Or to say no. When that trust exists, we don’t waste time on 15 rounds of edits or writing something we know won’t land. Instead, we create clear, meaningful communication that drives results. So no, we’re not post boxes. And no, it’s not ‘just an email.’ It’s the result of partnership, expertise, and a lot of behind-the-scenes thought. If it looks simple, it’s because we’ve done the work to make it that way. (And that - that’s the end of my Ted Talk 💪🏼) #notapostbox #communications #internalcommunications #trust #expert