---
id: KB-CC-004
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/contacts-and-channels/writing-a-message-people-understand
idioma: en
categoria: contactos-canales
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CC-002, KB-PR-003, KB-CC-019]
citadoPor: [KB-CC-010, KB-CC-012, KB-CC-007]
---

# Writing a message people understand

_What decides whether a third party acts today or leaves it forever._

**Responde a:** how to word a document request · email template to request documentation · the supplier does not understand what i want · improve notice wording

The notice is read by someone outside your context, probably on a phone, among twenty other things. They have ten seconds to work out what you want and why it matters to them.

**En corto**

- Say who you are before what you want.
- Name the document by its full official name.
- Say by when, and what happens if it does not arrive.

## The structure that works

1. **Who and why** — "We are X, we work with you on the Y site." Without this, the rest goes unread.
2. **What you need, specifically** — "The social security clearance certificate", not "the outstanding documentation".
3. **By when** — A real date. "As soon as possible" is not a date.
4. **What it unblocks** — "With this we can register you and start paying invoices." It gives them their own reason.

## What sinks a message

| Mistake | What it causes |
| --- | --- |
| Subject in capitals or with "URGENT" | Filters send it to spam |
| Internal names: "doc 3", "phase B" | They do not know what you want |
| Three paragraphs of context | They do not get past the first |
| No date | They leave it for later, and later never comes |

> [!WARNING]
> Do not write anything resembling an automated threat ("failure to comply will result in…"). The recipient is not a debtor: usually they are someone who did not know you had asked.

> [!NOTE]
> Read it aloud before sending it to two hundred people. What cannot be read aloud without sounding odd does not read well on screen either.

**Can I save wording that works?**

Yes, as a reply template, so it is not rewritten each time.

**Do I sign with my name or the company's?**

Both. A personal name raises response.

**Which language for a foreign supplier?**

Theirs if you can; otherwise English, with the document name also in theirs.

## Ejemplos

**A notice asks for "the outstanding phase 2 documentation" and nobody replies.**

- Rewrites it naming the three documents
- Adds a date and what it unblocks

→ Eleven of fifteen suppliers deliver within forty-eight hours.

**The message uses internal jargon and nobody understands it.**

- Rewrites it for somebody who does not know you

→ Clarification calls drop.

**The message does not say when it is needed by.**

- Includes the specific date

→ The recipient prioritises sensibly.

**The message does not explain why it is being requested.**

- Adds a line of context

→ People reply without asking first.

**The subject looks like marketing and is not opened.**

- Writes a specific subject

→ The email gets opened.

**The message asks for five things in one paragraph.**

- Lists them one by one

→ The recipient sees what is theirs.