It's not often a new product comes along that completely changes my behavior for the better. Just Not Sorry is a genius Chrome extension I've been trying out that highlights words/phrases people often use that undermine their message, so I can edit them out before I send an email like 'if I could just please have a moment of your time, I actually think I've got something valuable to say...'
Backstory: it's no secret that some people (ok, mostly women) tend to qualify their message. Maybe they're humble. Maybe they're not totally confident. Maybe they've been conditioned by society to tone down what they say to avoid being seen as bitchy or demanding. (we've all seen the WaPo article on 'Famous Quotes, the way a woman would have to say them during a meeting, right?)
This extension reminds me of Hemingway Editor by @adam_b_long but it catches your writing as you're doing it in your gmail compose box rather than having to copy/paste it into another website. (hint hint: would love a similar functionality for Hemingway Editor..)
This was made by the team at @cyrusinnovation led by @tamireiss with inspiration/support from @ES_entrepreneur@saritwish and @karasilverman. I hope you check it out and pledge to have a #justNOTsorry 2016!
@tamireiss This is brilliant. I use "just" all the time in my writing.
@gillianim Thanks for the suggestion. It would definitely be cool to suggest Hemingway issues inside Gmail.
Hi, I'm Tami the creator of Just Not Sorry.
We created this free Gmail plug-in to help everyone stop getting in their own way. Phrases like "just" and "sorry" have been proven to undermine your message and diminish confidence in the reader.
We wrote up the entire backstory here (https://medium.com/cyrusite-chat...)
The goal is to have 10000 people sign the pledge to stop using these words and send more effective emails in 2016.
@tamireiss Update - we've been downloaded 8000 times in the past two days!!! Covered in Slate, Inc, Business Insider, and Women2.0 (among others) We can't thank the @producthunt community enough as we know so much of our success was seeded here.
Interesting... @tamireiss how does it work? Where is the info gathered to determine what is a 'weak' word?
Have there/could there be issues with misinterpretation of words depending on how they are written in an email?
@bentossell I have similar questions. I use phrases like "sorry but" and "if you can" because I'd like to not sound too demanding. I'm a manager and I've been managed before. I really dislike people just sending commands. So for my personal purpose I use "softer" words to intro aggravating request.
@johnnyquachy@bentossell There's a difference between sending a command and being too apologetic and coming off as weaker than you should.
"Sorry to bother you, but can you get this done." won't get as good of a response as "It's a priority for our team to have this done, based on the other items on your plate, when do you think you'll complete it?"
These "softer" words can be helpful, but we are over using them. Here's the background: http://www.taramohr.com/2013/09/... and http://www.fastcompany.com/30496...
@tamireiss@bentossell Maybe you were just using a rough example but "Sorry to bother you, but can you get this done." to "It's a priority for our team to have this done, based on the other items on your plate, when do you think you'll complete it?"
Aren't these two sentences completely different? If the plug-in can change my sentence that much it's pretty impressive! Though I think the first sentence is fairly "weak" I think the second sentence is over prioritizings your own needs over the person you're asking.
@johnnyquachy@bentossell it doesn't change your sentence, just brings awareness that you are using a weaker word and probably undermining your message. You get to choose how you correct the sentence to have a stronger statement.
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