Super Valuable Communication Efficiency Tip
July 11, 2008 by Brad Shorr
Filed under Communication Skills
You start a conversation you can’t even finish it.
You’re talkin’ a lot, but you’re not sayin’ anything.
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed.
Say something once, why say it again?
(Psycho Killer, by Talking Heads)
Yes, finishing a conversation is problematic. Whether it’s a text message, email, voice mail exchange, or Twitter tweet, when is it time for the last word? And more important — who gets it?
Client and personal productivity maven Jan Wencel gave me a simple, wonderful tip the other day. Here it is.
End your email, text message, etc., with NRN. NRN stands for No Response Needed.
Viola! Thank you, Jan.
RW (Responses Welcome)
[Photo of David Byrne of Talking Heads, by vonlohmann on Flickr]
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Great tip! Now all I have to do is… remember to use it!
Oh, and RW.
Robert, I’m already forgetting.
My pleasure, Brad.
I first heard the tip from Mike Song, a co-author of a great quick read called Hamster Revolution (http://tinyurl.com/6yfcrl). I used it on a piece I wrote (http://tinyurl.com/6al3nj) about enhancing email productivity.
Included in the piece is info on sending Google text inquiries via phone. 466453 used to answer all my location & definition questions on the fly…and now I get no responses to my requests. If you have suggestions for fixing this, RW.
I had not heard of this one Brad! I sometimes use NFM (no further message) in subject lines when all has been said but NRN is good. Great tip!
Jan, thanks for those links. If Hamster Revolution is half as good as its title, I’ve got to read it! Karen, never heard of NFM either, but either one of these could be a great help.
As they say in the Guiness commercials: “Brilliant!”
Truly! And it’s such a polite way of saying it too.
Ricardo, That was my reaction, exactly!