What do you think?
Rate this book
Faster, Fewer, Better Emails: Manage the Volume, Reduce the Stress, Love the Results
Business communication expert and bestselling author Dianna Booher shares practical wisdom on how to write effective emails that get results and how to organize documents to gain control and increase your productivity.
Today, most business writing is email writing. We handle even our most important customer transactions, internal operations, and supplier partnerships solely by email.
Yet many of us still struggle to write emails that get results. And we often are so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emails that we feel as though we're in email jail!
How we handle email has a large impact on the trajectory of our career. Emails can build or destroy credibility, clarify or confuse situations for our coworkers and customers, and reduce or increase security risks and legal liabilities. This book will help you master your emails and stand out as a clear, credible communicator. After all, clear, credible communicators become leaders in every industry.
With more than three decades of experience analyzing emails across various industries for corporate clients, Booher offers guidance on how to identify and stop email clutter so you can increase productivity while improving communication flow. In this book, you will learn how
Today, most business writing is email writing. We handle even our most important customer transactions, internal operations, and supplier partnerships solely by email.
Yet many of us still struggle to write emails that get results. And we often are so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emails that we feel as though we're in email jail!
How we handle email has a large impact on the trajectory of our career. Emails can build or destroy credibility, clarify or confuse situations for our coworkers and customers, and reduce or increase security risks and legal liabilities. This book will help you master your emails and stand out as a clear, credible communicator. After all, clear, credible communicators become leaders in every industry.
With more than three decades of experience analyzing emails across various industries for corporate clients, Booher offers guidance on how to identify and stop email clutter so you can increase productivity while improving communication flow. In this book, you will learn how
144 pages, Paperback
Published June 18, 2019
35 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Dianna Booher
121 books149 followersDianna Booher, MA, CSP, CPAE, is CEO of Booher Research Institute, Inc., a communication consulting and coaching firm.. She works with organizations to help them communicate clearly and with individuals to increase their influence through a strong personal presence--and sometimes with a published book!
She's the author of 49 books (translated into 62 foreign-language editions) and has published with Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, Warner, Penguin Random House, McGraw-Hill, and Berrett-Koehler. Her latest books include:
-Faster, Fewer, Better Emails: Manager the Volume, Reduce the Stress, Love the Results
- Communicate Like a Leader: Connect Strategically to Coach, Inspire, and Get Things Done
- What More Can I Say?: Why Communication Fails and What to Do About It
- Creating Personal Presence:
Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader
- Communicate with Confidence:
How to Say it Right the First Time and Every Time
(Revised and Expanded Edition 2011)
- The Voice of Authority:
10 Communication Strategies Every Leader Needs to Know
- Booher’s Rules of Business Grammar:
101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors
- Speak with Confidence:
Powerful Presentations That Inform, Inspire, and Persuade
- E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication
- From Contact to Contract:
496 Proven Sales Tips to Generate More Leads, Close More Deals, Exceed Your Goals, and Make More Money
- Your Signature Work:
Creating Excellence and Influencing Others at Work
Dianna has been interviewed by Good Morning America, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, FOX, CNN, CNBC, National Public Radio, Dr. Laura Radio Show, Washington Post, New York Newsday, Bloomberg, Boardroom Reports, Investor’s Business Daily, Industry Week, Success, and Entrepreneur, among other national radio, TV, and newspapers.
Her work has also won its share of recognition. Several titles have been major book club selections, and others have won national industry awards:
-American Library Association: Best Young -Adult Non-Fiction of the Year
-Executive Soundview Summaries: Best --Business Book of the Decade
--Axiom Award Silver Medal (2018)
--Richtopia's Top 200 Most Influential Authors in the World (2017, 2018)
-New York Film Festival—Cindy Award (nominee) (Corporate Training Division)
-Newbridge Executive Book Club—Main Selection
-Macmillan Executive Book Club Selection
-Fortune Book Club Selection
-Writers Digest Book Club Selection
-Business Week Book Club
-Book-of-the-Month Club (alternate selection)
-Money Book Club
She's the author of 49 books (translated into 62 foreign-language editions) and has published with Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, Warner, Penguin Random House, McGraw-Hill, and Berrett-Koehler. Her latest books include:
-Faster, Fewer, Better Emails: Manager the Volume, Reduce the Stress, Love the Results
- Communicate Like a Leader: Connect Strategically to Coach, Inspire, and Get Things Done
- What More Can I Say?: Why Communication Fails and What to Do About It
- Creating Personal Presence:
Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader
- Communicate with Confidence:
How to Say it Right the First Time and Every Time
(Revised and Expanded Edition 2011)
- The Voice of Authority:
10 Communication Strategies Every Leader Needs to Know
- Booher’s Rules of Business Grammar:
101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors
- Speak with Confidence:
Powerful Presentations That Inform, Inspire, and Persuade
- E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication
- From Contact to Contract:
496 Proven Sales Tips to Generate More Leads, Close More Deals, Exceed Your Goals, and Make More Money
- Your Signature Work:
Creating Excellence and Influencing Others at Work
Dianna has been interviewed by Good Morning America, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, FOX, CNN, CNBC, National Public Radio, Dr. Laura Radio Show, Washington Post, New York Newsday, Bloomberg, Boardroom Reports, Investor’s Business Daily, Industry Week, Success, and Entrepreneur, among other national radio, TV, and newspapers.
Her work has also won its share of recognition. Several titles have been major book club selections, and others have won national industry awards:
-American Library Association: Best Young -Adult Non-Fiction of the Year
-Executive Soundview Summaries: Best --Business Book of the Decade
--Axiom Award Silver Medal (2018)
--Richtopia's Top 200 Most Influential Authors in the World (2017, 2018)
-New York Film Festival—Cindy Award (nominee) (Corporate Training Division)
-Newbridge Executive Book Club—Main Selection
-Macmillan Executive Book Club Selection
-Fortune Book Club Selection
-Writers Digest Book Club Selection
-Business Week Book Club
-Book-of-the-Month Club (alternate selection)
-Money Book Club
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 28, 2019
A bit dull. Some useful tips if you can get through the boring stuff
October 9, 2021
3 Stars!
Not the best non-fiction I've ever read. The author definitely stretched out a few unnecessary points way too much for my liking. A few points were also made way more complicated than they needed to be. There was, however, a very useful e-mail writing format given that helped me out a lot.
Not the best but it's really short so it was kinda nice?
Not the best non-fiction I've ever read. The author definitely stretched out a few unnecessary points way too much for my liking. A few points were also made way more complicated than they needed to be. There was, however, a very useful e-mail writing format given that helped me out a lot.
Not the best but it's really short so it was kinda nice?
August 6, 2025
Oh Dianna, rebuilding a paper filing system inside an email client isn’t innovative — it’s just a Boomer refusing to adapt.
Full Review:
This book nails a few important things:
1. Subject lines as headlines — Writing subject lines that tell you exactly what the email’s about and what action is needed is a game-changer.
2. Start with the point, not the fluff — The MADE framework (Message, Action, Details, Evidence) keeps emails concise and actionable.
3. Trim the thread clutter — When replying, clean up the irrelevant parts of long email chains so people can actually find the point.
If the book had stuck to those kinds of practical communication strategies, I’d be giving it five stars. But where it completely falls apart is in its advice on managing email workflow — and specifically, this outdated gem:
“Don’t use your inbox as a to-do list. Move tasks into folders and filing systems.”
Excuse me? Are we still pretending this is 2004?
This isn’t workflow advice. It’s a desperate attempt to recreate a paper-filing system inside an email client. It’s the thinking of someone who has never fully understood how digital tools work, so they rebuild the only system they know — a physical filing cabinet, just with more clicks.
For anyone using Gmail — or any modern platform with decent search — manually sorting emails into a labyrinth of folders is not just pointless, it’s actively sabotaging your productivity. Gmail’s search bar can surface any email in seconds. Wasting time dragging emails into “Urgent,” “Pending,” or “Miscellaneous” folders isn’t organising — it’s digital busywork that creates friction for no gain.
Productivity isn’t about moving things around. It’s about getting things done. And the fastest way to do that is not by mimicking 1980s memo trays inside your inbox.
The real issue isn’t your inbox. It’s using your inbox as a makeshift task manager because you never extracted the actual action into a real system. The answer isn’t a prettier folder hierarchy — it’s learning how to separate tasks from messages, flag what’s important, and let search do the heavy lifting.
This book completely misses that. Instead of teaching a digital-native workflow, it clings to a filing-cabinet mentality dressed up in email lingo. It’s advice that looks productive on the surface but collapses the moment you actually try to work at speed.
If you want email-writing techniques that sharpen clarity and reduce back-and-forth, this book is worth it. But for workflow strategy? It’s stuck in a pre-search, pre-cloud era where dragging files into neatly labelled boxes was the height of sophistication.
In short: Great communication tips, terrible workflow strategies. Worth reading — just be ready to ignore half of it.
Full Review:
This book nails a few important things:
1. Subject lines as headlines — Writing subject lines that tell you exactly what the email’s about and what action is needed is a game-changer.
2. Start with the point, not the fluff — The MADE framework (Message, Action, Details, Evidence) keeps emails concise and actionable.
3. Trim the thread clutter — When replying, clean up the irrelevant parts of long email chains so people can actually find the point.
If the book had stuck to those kinds of practical communication strategies, I’d be giving it five stars. But where it completely falls apart is in its advice on managing email workflow — and specifically, this outdated gem:
“Don’t use your inbox as a to-do list. Move tasks into folders and filing systems.”
Excuse me? Are we still pretending this is 2004?
This isn’t workflow advice. It’s a desperate attempt to recreate a paper-filing system inside an email client. It’s the thinking of someone who has never fully understood how digital tools work, so they rebuild the only system they know — a physical filing cabinet, just with more clicks.
For anyone using Gmail — or any modern platform with decent search — manually sorting emails into a labyrinth of folders is not just pointless, it’s actively sabotaging your productivity. Gmail’s search bar can surface any email in seconds. Wasting time dragging emails into “Urgent,” “Pending,” or “Miscellaneous” folders isn’t organising — it’s digital busywork that creates friction for no gain.
Productivity isn’t about moving things around. It’s about getting things done. And the fastest way to do that is not by mimicking 1980s memo trays inside your inbox.
The real issue isn’t your inbox. It’s using your inbox as a makeshift task manager because you never extracted the actual action into a real system. The answer isn’t a prettier folder hierarchy — it’s learning how to separate tasks from messages, flag what’s important, and let search do the heavy lifting.
This book completely misses that. Instead of teaching a digital-native workflow, it clings to a filing-cabinet mentality dressed up in email lingo. It’s advice that looks productive on the surface but collapses the moment you actually try to work at speed.
If you want email-writing techniques that sharpen clarity and reduce back-and-forth, this book is worth it. But for workflow strategy? It’s stuck in a pre-search, pre-cloud era where dragging files into neatly labelled boxes was the height of sophistication.
In short: Great communication tips, terrible workflow strategies. Worth reading — just be ready to ignore half of it.
September 7, 2020
Some useful tips
July 20, 2021
Great book with great tips!
May 11, 2023
Some good points but they did drag on a bit. Lots about grammar which became very dull.
August 15, 2025
There are lots of books on this subject out there. Every few years I pick up one to see if there is any new advice. There isn't.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews