When a Senior Person Will Not Read It
A senior stakeholder won't read the doc. Three reasons — no time, no trust, no incentive — each with its own repair, and the paragraph that fits in a message.
Escalation
Asking for a Reply by Thursday
Asking for feedback by a deadline only works if something happens when it passes. The ask sentence, four worked versions, and what silence is allowed to mean.
Nobody Read Your Document: A Recovery Procedure
Nobody read your document. Four diagnoses, the exact re-send message for each, and the one case where getting people to read it will not help.
Writing Up for a Skip-Level Who Has Nine Minutes
A status update for an executive two levels up, written against a fixed reading budget — and the one line that survives being forwarded without you.
Reporting Red Before Anyone Asks
The update that says a project is at risk, written before anyone asked — with the ask that makes it act, and the sentence most people delete out of fear.