How to get busy people to respond to your emails

Part 1 • Series: Words that Work — 5 Skills to Become a Dangerously Effective Communicator | Exclusively for members of Club 12 with Dean Bokhari

Welcome to Words that Work, a new series to help you communicate with elegance, influence, and impact. Each installment of this 5-part series will revolve around one specific communication skill within one specific modality.

Five skills total, designed to help you:

• resolve personal or professional conflicts quickly

• become a dangerously articulate speaker

• persuade people to your way of thinking

• become a confident conversationalist

• write words that drive action

We’ll cover everything from commanding attention from a stage to holding an interesting conversation. By the time you’re done, you’ll be dangerously effective at communicating your ideas, no matter where you are.

---

To kick things off, we’ll start with a form of communication you engage in daily: Email.

More specifically, how do you get busy people to actually read your emails and reply to you?

Keep reading to find out.

---

_{Part 1/5 • Series: Words that Work • Personal Growth Pillar #7: Communication}

How to write emails that actually get responded to

“Did you get my previous email about…” — DELETE.

“Hey Dean, I just wanted to follow up on…” — DELETE.

“Hello Mr. Bokhari, I am kindly requesting your reply regarding…” — DELETE.

☝️

If that’s how you write your emails, don’t be surprised if you don’t receive a reply…

Because this is the kind of BS that lands in my own inbox—multiple times a day, every single day—and they all get deleted.

Busy people don’t read emails; they scan them.

When an executive, a client, a co-worker, or whoever else opens a message from you, they subconsciously want to know three things:

1. What is it about?

2. Why should I care?

3. What do I need to do?

If finding the answers to the questions above takes more than 30 seconds, your email either gets deleted, or it gets sent to the “I’ll deal with this later” pile (which usually means never).

If you want to get responses from busy people, you’ve got to reduce their cognitive load to zero and make it as easy as possible to reply.

This requires being concise and personal—two things ChatGPT and Claude currently suck at.

Which means AI tools won’t help you here, if at all.

But the four frameworks (with examples) I’m about to share with you will.

So buckle up and get ready - because you’re about to learn how to write emails that get replies, even if you’re emailing the busiest person around.

---

1.
The multiple-choice method
(when you need a quick reply from a decision-maker)

Busy people hate open-ended questions like “What do you think?” or “How should we proceed?” or the one I personally find most annoying of all… “Thoughts?” When you write emails like this, it forces the recipient to put energy into thinking and deciding. If you want to get a response, make it as easy as possible for them to respond… By presenting a multiple-choice question. Someone used this on me awhile back after I ignored their first five emails, and it worked—I responded immediately.

How it works:

• Outline the situation briefly, and provide 2–3 options

• Use parenthesis to subtly highlight the option you prefer: (I recommend this one)

• All the recipient has to do is reply with a single number or word.

EXAMPLE

Subject: Press for Dean Bokhari

Hi Dean,

I’m putting together a special content series on building habits for XYZ Podcast and would love to feature your insights on mini-habits. I know you’re busy, so I’ve put together a few different ways we can collaborate based on your current bandwidth:

1. A 15-minute Zoom interview - We hop on a quick call, I ask you three specific questions, and we are done in under 15 minutes. (My recommendation for the highest impact)

2. A 3-minute voice memo - I send you one prompt, and you record a quick audio response on your phone whenever you have a free moment.

3. An email Q&A - I send over three quick questions, and you or your team reply with a short text response for us to quote.

Let me know if Option 1, 2, or 3 works best for you right now, or if you’d prefer to pass this time around!

Thanks so much!
— [Your name]

---

---

2.
The assumption method
(when you don’t want to wait around for a reply)

When you need to move something forward, asking and waiting for permission can slow you down to a crawl. The “assumption method” helps you keep the ball moving: rather than asking for a “Yes,” you state what you’re going to do unless you hear a “No.”

How it works:

• Give them a clear, hard deadline.

• If they don’t respond, you assume permission to proceed.

EXAMPLE

Subject: [FYI] Launching email campaign on Thursday

Hi Sarah,

The final drafts for the Q3 email campaign are attached.

Friendly note: Unless I hear otherwise from you by Wednesday at 3:00 PM, I’ll go ahead and schedule these to send on Thursday morning. No need to reply unless you need changes!

Thank You!
— [Your name]

---

Unlock access to everything inside Club 12—free for 7 days. Activate your exclusive 7-day pass below:

---

3.
The 3-sentence rule
(for sending cold emails)

Ain’t nobody got time to read a 700-word email from someone they barely know. When you’re emailing someone you don’t know very well (or at all), you’ve got to be concise. Especially if you know they’re busy. The 3-Sentence Rule helps with that, by forcing you to cut the fake pleasantries and get straight to the point.

How it works:

• Sentence 1 - The hook/context (why are you emailing them specifically?)

• Sentence 2 - The ask/value (what’s the point of the email?)

• Sentence 3 - The low-friction CTA (an easy “yes/no” question).

EXAMPLE

Subject: Quick question

Hey Nora,

I’ve been a long time fan of your work and loved your Substack post on navigating creative burnout this week.

I’m getting in touch because I’m working on reviving my own newsletter after a long hiatus and would love to ask you just two quick questions about how you structure your week.

Would you be open to a 10-minute Zoom call sometime next week, or is your plate totally full right now?

Sincerely,
— [Your name]

---

---

4.
The “permission to close this” method
(when you’re getting ignored)

When your last three emails have gotten ignored, do not send one of those “Just bumping this to the top of your inbox” emails. And definitely don’t hit ‘em with another one of those “Just following up…” emails either. Messages like that will make them feel guilty or annoyed. Which only leads to further avoidance. Instead, give them an out…

How it works:

• Send a one-line email asking for permission to close the loop.

• By taking the pressure off, you trigger their loss aversion (which will trigger them to reply)

• They’ll either finally say “No, I’m still interested!” or they’ll say “Yes, close it,” which at least gives you an answer so you can move on.

EXAMPLE

Subject: Closing the loop on the software trial

Hi Sophia,

I haven’t heard back regarding the enterprise software trial, so I’m assuming this is no longer a priority for your team right now - should I go ahead and close your file so I stop cluttering your inbox?

Thanks so much!
— [Your name]

---

Conclusion
3 rules for writing emails that get busy people to reply

If you forget everything else, just keep the following three rules in mind:

1. Cut the fake BS. Unless you actually mean it, pleasantries like, “I hope this email finds you well” are a waste of screen space. In the artificially “intelligent” world we’re living in today - you’ve got to cut the crap and get straight to the point.

2. Format for skimming. Ain’t nobody got time to read a 700-word email from someone they barely know. Embolden deadlines and use bullet points for lists. Make it readable in a 3-second glance.

3. Keep it to one screen. If they need to scroll down to read your entire email, it’s too long.

---

Hope you found this valuable!
—Dean

Thanks for reading the first installment of Words that Work, a 5-part series on becoming a dangerously effective communicator. Full access to this series is reserved exclusively for premium members of Club 12.

Unlock everything with a 7-day trial:

(Easily cancel whenever you want with the click of a single button.)

Up next

Click or tap below to continue to the next installment of Words that Work.

---

NEW
Inside Club 12 with Dean Bokhari