Make it Conversational

We flew a US Airways flight from Columbia to Philadelphia yesterday, the flight attendant made the traditional announcement. After finishing, she went to the exit rows to do the secondary check with the occupants of the row. She talked to them about the safety information, but it wasn’t the typical announcement, she greeted the four occupants and thanked them for flying US Airways. She took out the card, pointed out a couple of things and then proceeded to tell them that those sitting in exit row seats are the real heroes. She spoke about the US Air flight last week where everyone survived – she attributed that to a great pilot, quick crew response and an incredibly active exit row section. She kept the people engaged; she joked, answered questions and explained the details. People paid attention and she related to them.

Email is certainly quite common and most emails are like the typical safety announcement made on the aircraft. We’re aware that someone is speaking but we pay little attention to the details. Email should be like the special exit row announcement – you need to empathize and connect with those you communicate with, don’t try to mimic your direct mail pieces – get cr…