Writing is an essential business skill. You can warm up a cold lead, you can turn a no into a yes, and you can get into the next stage of a job interview all by writing effectively. Hi, I'm Noorin, and in this video I'll be introducing you to the SV Academy pace framework for business writing, a methodology for human centered communication that gets results. By the end of this video, you will be able to understand the value of the pace framework in business writing, and identify and explain the frameworks for interrelated elements, particularly as they relate to e-mail writing. In business writing, the pace framework is an outreach approach that focuses on four interrelated elements seen in this graphic. These elements are personalized, actionable, concise and clear, and empathetic. Let's dig a little more deeply into each element. In the pace framework, P stands for personalized. A personalized e-mail hooks the reader's attention through personal details. This takes a little research and planning, no mass blast e-mails here. An effective strategy for gaining your recipients attention immediately is to address them personally. Let them know that you're talking directly to them. Think of your first sentence as a first impression. Aim for direct impact, a reason for them to read the rest of the e-mail. You should always start by being creative and bold. Then be sure to tie the opening personalization to the body of the e-mail in a meaningful way. There are limits to how personal you should get, but it's generally safe to stick to publicly available information on social networks like LinkedIn, and their company profile. While you're researching individuals, pay attention to details like where they live, their alma mater, personal interests, sports, leisure activities, etc, blogs or posts they've written, recent events like a promotion, common ground that you share, and other organizational affiliations. Here's an example of an e-mail opening paragraph that is highly personalized. ''Congratulations on your recent promotion to Head of Digital Marketing. Your dedication to new ideas is impressive and I couldn't help but be amazed by your seven years of experience.'' Next in the piece framework comes A, which stands for actionability. An actionable e-mail is one that makes it as easy and convenient as possible for the reader to act upon the call to action or the ask. For example, imagine that you're following up with someone you met at a recent networking event. You've already exchanged a few e-mails back and forth, and now you'd like to request a meeting over coffee next week. An actionable e-mail would offer a clear, well formatted call to action, perhaps bolded, separated visually as a separate line, and or placed at the beginning of a paragraph. You may even consider proposing two to three specific dates or times which increases the likelihood of getting a yes. Here's how a clear call to action might look in an e-mail. ''Let's meet for coffee next week. I'm available on Friday at 11:30 AM. Does that work for your schedule?'' One small caveat. It's generally not a good idea to include specific dates and times in a cold e-mail to someone you've never spoken to before. Instead, you can be actionable by including an interest based call to action, something like, are you interested in learning more about x will work well in this context. C stands for concision and clarity in the pace framework. Before hitting send, you can check that an e-mail is concise and clear by asking yourself the following questions. Are sentences or paragraphs short and easy to read? Is the e-mail free of spelling and grammar errors? Does the prospect receive all important information in a quick read? Is the call to action clear? If you answer no to any of these questions, you'll need to go back and make some revisions. Another way to check for concision is to send yourself a test e-mail to your phone. If your whole e-mail fits on a smartphone screen without you having to scroll more than once, then you're likely good to go. If you answer no to that question, it's likely that you'll need to make a few revisions to shorten the overall length. The final letter in the pace framework is E. E stands for empathetic. An empathetic e-mail takes the other person's schedule into account, it shows appreciation for them, it makes them feel valued, it makes the call to action convenient for the other person by acknowledging their context, schedule, their situation overall. One of the most magical things about the pace framework is that all of the elements are interrelated. For example, you can show empathy for a busy executive just by being concise. Because concise e-mails are short and easy to read, you are implicitly acknowledging the recipients schedule by allowing them to take a few moments to read your e-mail. Similarly, personalization and empathy go hand in hand, and your e-mail is a place where you can really start practicing an empathetic approach. Anticipating someone's needs also helps you build credibility. You are already demonstrating personalized knowledge of and empathy with their situation. The punchline here is pace yourself. By cultivating a deep understanding of the pace framework for effective business communication, you'll be set up for success when it comes to writing personalized, actionable, concise, clear, and empathetic e-mails that get results.