The subject line is the only part of your message guaranteed to be read, and on a phone it gets about forty-five characters before the screen cuts it off. Write a real subject line, pick a salutation for the relationship you actually have, and draft an opening sentence — then watch the phone truncate it, a hurried reader triage it, and a colleague search for it eighteen months later. Aim to keep the load-bearing words left of the cut.
Compose the top of the message
Who is this going to?
0 charactersthe phone cuts at 45
Signature block
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Start typing a subject line.
On a phone, in a crowded inbox
Inbox · 91 unread9:41
Facilities
Elevator 3 out of service Tues 6/9, 07:00–12:00
Use the north bank. No action needed.
You
Dana Ruiz
Action by Fri 6/12: sign updated HIPAA attestation
Link is below; it takes about two minutes and…
Triage
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Files as
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Above the fold
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Eighteen months from now
Someone who was not in the room needs to prove what was communicated. They type one word into the search box. Would your subject line come back?