Want to Stand Out at Work? Avoid These Top 10 Email Clichés

If you “reach out” and “circle back” often in your work emails, you’re not alone. These phrases are among the most overused email clichés around the world, a new study finds.

Email has been around for more than 50 years, and it’s still the backbone of workplace communication. Its usage has only increased over the past few decades, so it’s no surprise that workers have come to rely on certain phrases to get their point across quickly.

The result is that our inboxes are flooded with emails where people are “following up,” “checking in,” and “touching base.” But just how often do we write these things? Email verification company ZeroBounce dove into the data – and the stats paint a fascinating picture about how we communicate with our peers.

Study: the top 10 email clichés in workplace email communication

ZeroBounce analyzed over a million emails to compile a list of the most common email buzzwords in our workplace communication today.

Here are the top 10:

1. Reaching out: 6,117 emails
2. Following up: 5,755 emails
3. Check in: 4,286 emails
4. Aligned: 1,714 emails
5. Please advise: 1,459 emails
6. Hope you’re doing well: 1,300 emails
7. Hope this email finds you well: 974 emails
8. Hope all is well: 592 emails
9. E-meet: 536 emails
10. Circle back: 533 emails

Other popular email phrases ZeroBounce identified are:

• Happy Friday: 512 emails
• Touch base: 331 emails
• Hop on a call: 243 emails
• Bandwidth: 220 emails
• Happy Monday: 169 emails
• Per my last email: 89 emails
• Low-hanging fruit: 18 emails

How we can replace the most common clichés

While saying you’re “touching base” in an email isn’t inherently bad, some of these phrases are so ubiquitous nowadays that your message may start losing power. “People rely on these cookie-cutter phrases because they often don’t know how to start an email, especially when they’re following up on something they need,” says ZeroBounce founder and CEO Liviu Tanase.

“Our goal with this study wasn’t to shame anyone – we’ve all used these buzzwords at least once. But the findings remind us that there are other options out there. Before we hit send on that next email, it’s worth taking a minute to read through it and see if we can find a different way to convey our message,” Tanase adds.

A few alternative ways to “reach out”

It’s not always easy to come up with fresh email openers or ask someone (again) for something you need from them. But here are a few pointers to help make your next email stand out in the inbox:

• Instead of “reaching out,” start with a positive comment about the person you’re emailing. Pick whatever is relevant in that moment – it could be a keynote they gave at a conference, an article they wrote, or a recent promotion. Make it about them and you’ll immediately get their attention.
• If you’re sending a second or a third email asking for something you need, show empathy. You can start by acknowledging how busy life can get to show you understand why they haven’t written back. Then quickly ask your question again. To increase your chances of a reply, keep the email concise.
• Avoid some of the most overused openers, like “hope this email finds you well.” Your recipient will tune out right from the beginning. Also, steer clear of “per my last email” – it comes across as passive-aggressive, even when you have the best intentions. As for “bandwidth,” it’s a turn-off for many people. Simply ask the person if they have the time to take on the task.

Being more intentional about the way we write can yield immediate results, especially in the age of artificial intelligence, where communication tends to sound generic and flat.

What our emails reveal about hidden stress at work

Aside from the heavy usage of these buzzwords, the study also found a small but telling sign of how workers handle work-related stress. The phrase “Happy Friday” appeared almost three times more often than “Happy Monday.” People are more likely to greet someone enthusiastically when they know the weekend is just around the corner. It’s just another reminder that we’d all benefit from building work cultures that foster less pressure and more positivity.

Article provided by ZeroBounce.

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by Guest Contributor via Digital Information World