The CLEAR Method: How to Write Emails That Don’t Confuse (or Infuriate) People

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Magnetic Communication, I’m your host, Sandy Gerber, and today we’re tackling a communication problem that has haunted offices, Slack channels, and inboxes worldwide: The Confusing Email. You know the one. The email that lands in your inbox like an encrypted code. You read it, re-read it, maybe even squint at it like somehow that will help—and still, you have no clue what the sender actually wants. It’s as if they’ve assumed you’re a psychic mind-reader who automatically knows: • What “the thing we talked about” is… • Why they’re “just circling back” without any context… • What they mean when they write “let’s touch base soon” (Is that today? Next week? Next fiscal year?) And let’s not forget the masterpiece of passive-aggression: “Not sure if you saw my last email, but…” Yes, Carl. We saw it. We just didn’t understand it. Emails like these don’t just create mild confusion—they waste time, create frustration, and can even lead to full-blown workplace disasters. So today, we’re fixing it. By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly how to write emails that are so clear, so effective, and so easy to understand that your coworkers will praise you as an inbox hero.