Hey! I know a lot of folks struggle with leaving messages on answering machines, and with writing emails, so I thought I’d share a really easy and adaptable template that I came up with!

-Introduce yourself, and give some context as to why that person should know you or will know you.

-Explain some background on the topic you are discussing.

-Ask your question or give your request.

-Explain why they should want to respond to you, or that it’s okay if they don’t.

-Provide contact info/extra info, if necessary.

-Thank them, say goodbye.

Those 6 points will serve 95% of all initial emails and phone calls.

Here are some examples of how that template can be used:

“Hi, my name is Galia Godel – We met last week at the sexual health conference in Randomtown. I’ve been doing some work designing behavior plans for adults with intellectual disabilities, and I remembered that you mentioned having worked with consumers in day programs in NYC. Would you be willing to talk sometime about how the system you worked within was arranged? I’m curious to see if I can use some of the strategies with my own clients! If you don’t have the time, that’s absolutely understandable, but I figured I’d reach out! Thanks so much, and I hope you’re having a great day. – Galia”

“Hi, my name is Galia Godel – I’m calling to contact Senator Toomey about the most recent version of the tax bill. I feel extremely concerned about some of the sections that would essentially beggar all lower and middle income graduate students. I’d really like to speak with someone in the office who advises the senator on *specifically* educational matters. I believe that a conversation with a current graduate student could benefit your office, as well as my understanding on the issue. Please contact me at [speaking slowly and clearly] xxx-xxx-xxxx. Thank you, and have a nice day.”

“Hi, my name is Galia Godel. I was given your information by Firstname Lastname, who’s the program leader at Place. I understand that we’ll both be running workshops at Place in March, and I wondered if you wanted to speak before hand in order to make sure we aren’t repeating information between our workshops, or worse, giving contradictory information. I’d love to buy you a cup of coffee/tea and chat about our plans. If you don’t have time or don’t want to, that’s cool! I imagine that our respective workshops will be fantastic either way, but I wanted to check in, in case you were interested. Thanks either way, Galia.”

“Hi, it’s Galia, from the Marketing department. Thanks for coming to the meeting about new product data yesterday – can you send over a clean data change request form with the updates you need? I know we spoke about it, but I want to have it written down, to make sure I get all of the updates correct. I’ll get everything changed by this afternoon, if you can send it by 11! Thanks!”

Just keep a checklist with these 6 points, in this order. Make sure you hit all of them (except ones that feel unnecessary to your specific topic), and all of your messages and emails will look professional, and will communicate the info that you want them to!

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