Owl 🦉 (Aggressive)
“Hey, just checking if you saw my email from yesterday?? I need an answer ASAP.”
Defensive, irritated, blaming tone
“Can you help me with that thing from last week? Thanks.”
Over-apologetic, avoids responsibility, unsure
“Here’s the document you asked for.”
Calm, clear, professional
“Heyyy, I’m running late today. Should be there whenever.”
Passive🐭
You want your email to be opened and understood immediately. Which part of the email summarizes the topic before it’s read?
Subject Line
“I had to redo your part of the project because it wasn’t finished on time.”
Angry, blaming, short response
“I might not be able to work my shift tomorrow. Let me know.”
Avoids clear answer, non-committal
“I don’t understand why I’m being told I can’t use my phone when everyone else does.”
Calmly asks for clarification, factual, polite
“I guess I’ll just handle this myself since no one else seems to care.”
Aggressive 🦉 / Passive-Aggressive 🐭 🦉
You want to send an email later, not right now. Which setting lets you choose a future date/time for delivery?
Schedule Send
“This is ridiculous. I’ve never had to do this anywhere else.”
Complaining, confrontational, dismissive
“I’m honestly so upset about this. This whole situation is unfair and stressful.”
Emotional, self-blaming, non-assertive
“Your employee was rude and completely unhelpful. I expect a response immediately.”
Apologetic, solution-oriented, professional
“Thank you for the update. Please let me know as soon as possible.”
Assertive 🐶
This punctuation error in your subject line could make it look unprofessional: “project update!!!”
Overuse of exclamation marks; keep punctuation professional
“You clearly don’t understand how this works; let me fix it myself.”
Condescending, controlling, blaming tone
“I guess it’s fine, I’ll just do it if you really want me to.”
Gives in easily, avoids conflict, unclear expectations
“I need help finishing this project. Can we meet to clarify expectations?”
Assertive, clear, collaborative
“I’m not sure what to do next. I’ll wait for someone to tell me.”
Passive 🐭
You accidentally sent an email too soon or forgot an attachment. Which feature lets you stop it before the recipient sees it?
Unsend / Recall
“I’m not covering your shift again. This is completely your fault.”
Aggressive, accusatory, unprofessional
“I don’t want to bother anyone, so I won’t send the update.”
Avoiding responsibility, too quiet, unassertive
“Thank you for the feedback. I’ll make sure my part is completed on time.”
Professional, confident, proactive
“You really messed up this time. This is unacceptable.”
Aggressive 🦉
You need to email multiple people without revealing their addresses to each other. Which feature protects recipients’ privacy?
BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)