Reach out
The message you have been meaning to send.
Nobody skips reaching out because they forgot. They skip it because the first sentence is hard. Answer three questions and you will have three versions of the message, ready to copy. Nothing you type is saved.
Question 1 of 3
How long has it been?
What is the reason you are writing?
Pick whatever is closest. Plenty of good messages have no reason at all.
Tell me a little more.
What are you hoping happens next?
Three ways to say it.
Same message, three tones. Pick the one that sounds like you, change any word you want, then copy it. They are almost certainly glad to hear from you.
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
The playbook
Four rules, and you can write the next one yourself.
- 01Do not apologize for the gap.
Apologizing makes the other person manage your guilt. Skip it and say the real thing instead.
- 02Be specific instead of vague.
"We should catch up sometime" is exactly why nobody ever catches up.
- 03Make the ask small.
One coffee beats a rekindled friendship. Small asks get said yes to.
- 04Give them an easy out.
Low pressure gets more yeses than urgency does. Let them off the hook and they will take you up on it.
After this one
You found the first sentence. The hard part is the next one.
Six weeks from now it will have drifted again, and you will be back here looking for the opening line. VESTAL keeps the people you named on a cadence you chose, and hands you the draft when it is time.
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