24 mins: Write emails that people answer

What you'll learn:

We asked Powrsuiters what their biggest email pet peeve is, and almost 90% said the same thing: no clear ask. The other 10% said too much context before getting to the point. Ashleigh Paholek is here to fix both.

Ashleigh is the founder and CEO of TIER Communications, and calls herself a word economist. A decade in commercial TV news taught her how to choose her words wisely – when turning eight hours of court testimony into a ninety-second story, every word has to earn its place.

Spending a small amount of time planning your emails upfront can save you (and everyone else) a lot of unnecessary back and forth. So, instead of flicking something off without thinking, start getting intentional about what you write:

💡 The three questions to ask before you write a word: Who is reading this? Why should they care? And what do you want them to remember or do? If you can’t answer the last question in a single sentence, you’re not ready to write.

💡 Every word does one of three jobs. It informs, makes someone feel something, or it’s filler. Just circling back. Might possibly be worth considering. Sorry to bother you. A test: if a word was written on autopilot, or to make you feel ‘safer’, cut it!

💡 AI is a filler machine. It delivers hollow warmth and vague asks because it has no idea who your reader is or what you want them to feel. Do the thinking first, hand it those answers, then edit like a news editor and swap the words back to yours.

Want more from Ashleigh?

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