The best out-of-office reply ever!
Want to write an effective out-of-office reply? Let this example be your guide.
Below is a transcript of the video.
Hey everyone and welcome to my channel. If you’re new here, I’m Dr Clare Lynch of Doris and Bertie and I am on a mission to help you become a better, more confident writer.
In today’s video - I want to talk about the best out-of-office reply I’ve ever read.
This is a reply that a friend shared on Facebook because she loved it sooooo much.
And when I read it I knew I had to share it with you because it’s sooooo good.
Now, the message I'm going to show you is from early 2021 and it’s obviously very particular to what we’re all going through right now.
But even when this horrible pandemic is over I think there’s something that we can learn from this reply…
So let’s take a look at it.
OUT-OF-OFFICE
It went like this:
"Thanks for getting in touch. Due to the coronavirus pandemic I am currently home-schooling my child. Please note that due to my working patterns you may sometimes get emails from me outside of normal working hours, but please do not feel obliged to respond outside of your own usual working hours."
WHY IS IT SO GOOD?
So what I love about this message is that it’s super professional. But at the same time, it displays what I consider to be the number-one skill in any business writer. Actually, in any writer. And what is that skill?
It’s empathy.
The writer isn’t just human and honest about their own situation. They also show a really lovely concern for the recipient’s situation and what they may be going through.
Now, your situation may be different from this writer.
You may not be home-schooling your child. By the time you watch this, we may all be on the other side of the pandemic - let’s hope so.
But I think there’s something we all can learn from this writer whatever our situation.
CHALLENGE
So if you’ve already got your own out-of-office reply, a template for example, or if you are about to write one, I’m going to challenge you to take a look at it right after this video and put what you have written to the test.
Put the two messages, yours and this one, side by side and ask yourself:
Does my out-of-office reply have the same warmth and humanity as this writer’s message?
Does it show the same acknowledgement of where the reader’s coming from?
In short, does it make the reader feel positive toward you, the writer?
And if your sense is not, give it a tweak.
For more writing advice, enrol in my online course, Writing With Confidence, available at the Doris and Bertie Writing School.
