The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/733659
87 WWW.ILTANET.ORG Tips on How To Improve Your Writing THE WORD ON WORDS this until a colleague, who had worked for many companies, including Microso, politely explained that the only name we put on the "To:" line is the person responsible for acting on our email. If we put someone on our "Cc:" line, we're telling them, "No need to respond; just wanted you to know." This might seem elementary, but many of us violate "To:/Cc:" protocol, confusing people and wasting their time. Bcc: People seem shocked to learn that what happens in "Bcc:" does not necessarily stay in "Bcc:" We think that if we secretly inform someone not on our "To:" or "Cc:" list, no one else will ever know. But a "Bcc:" recipient can and sometimes will hit "Reply All," removing the cloak of invisibility. Quoting from Mike Walsh's keynote at ILTACON 2016, "When has Bcc: been used for anything other than pure evil?" Use this dastardly option sparingly, if at all. Subject: This is the easiest one. On the "Subject:" line, arrange your words in descending order, general to specific, in a fair summary of the content, so you and your recipients can file and later retrieve it easily: Subject: Outlook – New Message Fields – Tips We'll be back in the winter issue of Peer to Peer to tell you about the "whens" of email in Close Encounters of the Email Kind (Act III of IV). P2P GARY KINDER Gary Kinder is a lawyer and New York Times best-selling author. He has taught over 1,000 writing programs for the American Bar Association and for law firms and corporate law departments around the country. He is also the creator of WordRake, the clear and concise editing software, which Harvard Law School recently recognized as "Disruptive Innovation." Contact Gary at garyk@wordrake.com. RANDI MAYES Randi Mayes is the Executive Director of ILTA where she is responsible for oversight of all operations and serves as editor-in-chief of the association's numerous publications. A member of the American Society of Association Executives and the Texas Society of Association Executives, she has spoken and written on topics related to leadership development and association management. She's more than a little nuts about good writing. Contact Randi at randi@iltanet.org. Enjoy Gary's humor and expertise on a regular basis by by subscribing to his Weekly Writing Tips at www.wordrake. com/writing-tips. Find exercises and other writing tips on Randi's blog at connect.iltanet. org/blogs/randi- mayes.