This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 172.
Are you up to speed? How to tell someone you understood in an email.
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Hey Aubrey, how's everything going today?
I'm great, Lindsay. How are you? I'm feeling good.
Excited to be on the microphone. Yeah. What's new with you?
What's new? Yeah. My kids are about to have fall break, which is two weeks now.
We're now doing what's called modified year round because the summer is so hot here that they can't be outside.
We have longer fall break and spring break.
Which is good and bad. It's difficult for working parents, right?
To have your kids home for a full two weeks.
Oh, yeah. But we're going to get out of town for a few days, so that'll help. that'll be fun and you'll be sending shorter emails i guess right as your kids are home exactly right i won't have any time to be writing really long emails so don't be surprised lindsay if i just write got it got it thanks understood all right i won't be surprised i'll know why and what's going on what would you say is the shortest email you have ever sent lindsay um i do a lot with our team a lot of back and forth just an okay yeah okay That's it.
Cool. Sounds good. Got it? Yeah. Okay. But we're a special team, right?
We're very, very small and we're close and we work closely together.
So we have an understanding that that is okay.
You know, it's, that wouldn't necessarily work everywhere.
Would it, Aubrey? I know. Yeah, we're talking about business emails today, which you guys can probably tell from what we're chatting about here.
We got a really good question about the type of vocabulary to use in business emails.
So this is vital. And like you said, Lindsay, it really depends on your corporate culture, your who you're emailing.
I think there's a lot to consider when you think about the type of vocabulary and what to write in an email. yeah we're going to get into this today we had a great question from a listener so excited we love it when you guys send us great questions so our listeners could send questions directly to you aubrey right you want to go ahead and give your email yeah yes it's aubrey alliersenglish.com i've received some great questions via email so go ahead and email to me you can also leave them on our youtube videos or on um oh i was gonna say social media yeah so many places reviews in a review lots of places to give us a question love it so guys go ahead and hit follow on business english right now so that you don't miss a single episode of this show we drop three episodes a week good stuff all right all right aubrey i almost said it again oh my gosh geez okay you've been recording a lot with michelle lately yeah all right i'm not offended i love michelle so i'm okay with you calling me michelle So, yeah, this is interesting.
I'm going to go ahead and read the question we got from a listener.
They just said, when I want to say got it in an email, would I write well received or well noted?
And this is a really good question because sometimes all you need is that message.
Got it. Right. So they're definitely asking about when you have an email and you just need to let them know you received a message.
You understand, like, how how can we say that?
Yeah. And by the way, it's good to do this.
Everyone kind of has their own personal style.
Some people just don't respond. And the assumption between the two people is that you've received it.
And other people, I personally like to just make sure I hit the back with a got it or I understand, makes sense, things like that.
But not everyone has that style. Yeah, this is a really good point.
I'm glad you pointed that out because I think I didn't used to do that.
I sort of like I would open an email and read it and assume they're going to know that I've read it and understand.
And then I was getting emails from our team, you and Jessica, when I would sort of whatever.
It was just like, got it understood. I'm on it.
And I realized how helpful that is. Just that little confirmation that I can now totally forget about it.
They understood that they're on it. Yes.
It's worth it. Just takes you half a second to send that little email.
And it's really reassuring to the person getting it.
It's true, especially when you kind of use your email as a task list in a way, right?
It's important. I think it's good. I think you can't go wrong.
You know what I mean? There's no risk in sending back and saying, I understand.
So how do we do it though, right? That really is the question today.
Exactly. And this question, yeah, because both of these phrases, well-received or well-noted, we don't use either of these in the United States.
I wouldn't send either of these. So let's talk about why.
Well-received first is very formal. yes too formal for the u.s culture i think even in fortune 500 companies i think you wouldn't see this uh exactly it might be common in other english-speaking countries but not in the united states it would it would sound sort of odd to me if i saw this i would understand what was meant but it's just not a phrase that's very native and natural to us so i would eliminate that one entirely don't respond well received Right.
And what about well noted? Same. It's also very formal and we just never hear it right now.
I do hear noted, just noted like, OK, noted just means like I understand noting it down, but we don't ever say well noted.
True. And what about duly noted? Yeah. And that it has the same meaning that when I actually do hear sometimes duly noted, but it's also very formal.
So you might hear it in a meeting or an interview.
Someone's trying to make their language sound quite a bit more formal and professional to say like, OK, that is duly noted, maybe in a courtroom proceeding, but too formal for emails, wouldn't you say?
Yeah, it sounds kind of judicial or something.
I don't know why. Kind of formal. And I don't love legal stuff, so I would stay away from it.
Yes, right? So all of those we want to point out that we don't recommend for emails.
There are a lot of better options because most often emails are quite informal, especially if the only message you really want to say is got it, then it's likely an internal email that would be quite informal.
Yeah, exactly. And again, double check this with your company because it could very well be different in your company.
We're just saying this broadly from what we understand in business culture.
From a small company perspective, your goal is to make sure that they know that you've read the email and you understand.
So what could we say then, Aubrey? What would be four alternatives?
Versus just the word understood. I would totally send that like they, you know, I read it.
I've got it. Just say understood. Shoot that back.
Right. And I love I'm going to add quickly, just like you said.
OK, OK, got it. Yeah, that's funny. It's like when I want to say got it in an email, what should I say?
Say got it. That works. Yeah, for sure.
And if you feel like you need to dress it up a little bit more, okay, sounds good.
Thanks. Right? We're just adding a little something more.
But your second recommendation here, Aubrey, is perfect.
Thanks. We do a lot of perfect on this team, I think.
Yes. And I think that's very common for a lot of Americans.
I get lots of emails where they're like, oh, perfect.
And that means I understood. I got it. Perfect.
Yes. Yeah. And there is something very clean, very satisfying about receiving that acknowledgement.
Right. Yes. Because it's actually very positive.
Right. You're saying like, not only do I understand, but like there's a little bit of an implication of I like what you said.
I agree. Right. There's that positivity there when you say perfect.
Yeah. And the more I think through it, you know, email in some ways should mimic a conversation.
And imagine if you were standing face to face with someone and they asked you to do something and you just stood there and didn't respond.
Right. It would be strange. Or if you said, well-received.
Right. Right. Also weird. So I like to try to, you know, in a way that obviously is polite and professional, but feels like a conversation because again, connection, connection.
Yeah. And that's the thing, email, especially informal emails between teammates has really evolved to become more like a conversation back and forth.
They're quick emails, you know, often where you're just trying to, it's almost like you're having a conversation in person, but you don't have time to pick up the phone.
Oh, yeah, for sure. Now, are there any others?
Yeah, we're going to share two more that are just a little different.
They're confirming that you understand the meaning is a little more like I've been given all the information I need.
Right. So I understand I've got all the information and I can go.
So these these are good. They're also pretty quick.
Yeah. It's less likely that you could send just this phrase, whereas, you know, OK, got it.
Understood. Perfect. All of those. You could send just that word back as a confirmation of receiving an email.
These next two are a little more like a phrase that you could use as part of another email.
Yeah, so you're saying you can't say up to speed, period.
Right, or yeah. So this number three is I'm up to speed, which is such a great phrase, meaning I understand, I've got all the information, but you wouldn't just shoot back an email that says I'm up to speed.
Right, it would be a little strange. Doesn't mean I understand.
Right, so what else might you put in that email then?
So I'm up to speed. I'll get started on it next week.
Thank you so much. Yeah. Right. Or maybe if you're needing to share a little more detail, like, you know, Jessica sent me the instructions, so I'm up to speed.
I'll have it done next week. Right. Something like that.
There's a little more here where you're sharing a little more information.
And then that's a great phrase to say, like, I have everything I need.
And guys, for our listeners, you know, default to something a little bit longer in the beginning.
Right. So, you know, when we all started working together, we started with very formal emails, which didn't last very long, but we did.
Right. It would be funny to go back and look at those early emails.
That's true. Right. When you're first starting in a company and you don't know someone as well, you're rarely going to send an email that just says, got it.
Got it. Right. But now you would. So, you know, the equivalent of that for our listeners might be, I understand.
I'm up to speed. I'll get started on this next week.
Thank you so much. Have a great weekend.
And then maybe in two years or three years, you're saying, got it, because you know this person so well.
Right. It evolves. It all depends on the relationship.
This is the biggest thing with emails. Who are you?
Is it a client? Is it a new colleague? Yeah.
It's going to be different. That's important, right?
This is mostly talking about internal emails between, as we said earlier, between colleagues, not to clients, not to customers, that kind of thing.
Okay, exactly. Right. And the next one here very similar says we're on the same page.
I really love this. But again, you would not it would be strange to send just this in an email.
It doesn't just mean like, I understand there's a little more here, right?
You're going to be sharing some kind of details, saying like, Oh, I received some instructions, I received some detail.
We're on the same page. I'll get started.
Yes, completely. Or I could see this phrase being used in a back and forth with a contract negotiation.
We just had a negotiation with one of our contractors recently and back and forth.
And maybe he responded and said, we're on the same page in terms of we're in the same ballpark in terms of a deal that we're going to make.
Right. Exactly. We're on the same page. And I'll get back to you with more details on Monday.
Right. Something like that. That's really nice to go into a weekend knowing that you're on the same page.
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Exclusions apply. See details online. OK, Aubrey, what else?
What else here? So these last two are kind of idiomatic, right, to say up to speed on the same page.
But I wanted to just briefly touch on like there are a lot of other idioms and expressions that are either more formal or longer.
That mean I understand, like, for example, I'm picking up what you're putting down.
Now, why, Lindsay, would we maybe not use these longer expressions or idioms in an email?
Well, especially that one. That's not businessy, that idiom, right?
That's very informal. That belongs at a party.
Like, I'm picking up what you're putting down.
I get it. And when something almost requires like a more slangy way of saying it, you can't write it.
That's the other thing. Right. It's tricky.
Some of these are meant just for speech.
It almost seems really weird to write them down.
And there are a few reasons here. First of all, some are super informal, like you said, and should be reserved for speech.
And then also, no one has time for that.
I don't want long idioms in emails, right?
We're in a hurry. Everyone's busy. If all you need to say is, got it, I understand, you don't want to be using flowery idiomatic language.
Be short and to the point. Yeah, that especially that maybe that could be another episode we do, you know, expressions that are really just spoken.
You know what I mean? They're not meant to be written ever.
They're just for spoken English. This one, it just, it takes too long to write it.
It just, it's more of a performance idiom that you would say as you're kind of performing, you're flirting with someone or you're going back and forth having a dialogue.
And you're talking about what's being said.
Yeah, it's a dialogue, right? I'm picking up means I understand what you're saying.
So it would be weird to write it because it doesn't mean I understand what you wrote to me.
It's also more that if we're talking just about that idiom, that I think is more about like a... like someone is trying to convey a feeling, not so much an expression.
Like, I'd like you to complete this report by Friday.
I'm picking up what you're putting down.
Right. It's true because you're kind of saying like, I get like if someone winked at you, you might say that.
It's like, OK, I get it. I understand there's some kind of hidden meaning that you're letting them know you copped.
Yes, totally. So a bunch of reasons why that one in particular does not work.
So let's do a role play here. Okay, perfect.
In this role play, you are telling me that I missed a meeting and you're filling me in on what I missed in the meeting.
Okay. All right, I'll start us out. Was I assigned any tasks?
Oh, yes. They need you to submit your edits by Friday at five.
Understood. And you were added to the team for production design.
Perfect. Thanks. I think that's it. All right.
Thanks for getting me up to speed. No problem.
Very good. Back and forth. With our role plays, it can't really be emails back and forth as easily.
But in this kind of conversation where you're giving me information and all I sort of need to say back is like, got it.
Perfect. Understood. That also really works well.
Yeah, and this also looks like it would be a great little Slack chain, Slack message or text chain or something.
If you use Microsoft Teams or Slack or some way of messaging your colleagues, this would be great expressions to put in there.
Yes, and that one right at the end where I just said, thanks for getting me up to speed.
That's such a perfect thing to say if someone fills you in on what you missed in a meeting.
It means like, okay, thanks for catching me up.
Thanks for filling me in on what I missed.
Very fun. Yeah, I feel like that one's been around forever and it just lives on.
You know what I mean? It lives on in the corporate world.
Staying popular. We're not getting tired of it.
I love it. We're not getting tired of it.
So, you know, we said a few things here.
You said, I said, yes, they need you to submit your edits by Friday at five.
And then you said, understood, simple, right?
And this is perfect for like, when you're having a conversation like this and I can sort of tell that you have more to say, right?
You've given me one thing and I'm just kind of confirming that I got it, confirming that I understood, but I know more is coming, right?
So you're leaving space, is that what you mean?
You're leaving space. For sure. I wouldn't end the conversation with that, right?
Understood. And walk away. That would be strange.
Oh, lots of funny images today in today's episode, right?
Just try to email and try to message like a human being.
I think that's what it comes down to. Anything else for the takeaway today?
And respect others' time, right? You know, your coworkers are very busy.
They have a million things to do. So when you can make your emails more concise and to the point, everyone appreciates it.
Love it. So good. Well, thanks for hanging out on the microphone today, Aubrey.
Awesome. Thanks, Lindsay. See you next time.
Take care. Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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