18 Recipes 2: Communications

EBM Support Staff
Updated

The messages you send all day, made faster and easier to get right. This is one of the 6 Recipe categories. Each recipe below opens to reveal its full steps, an example, and a live demo you can run. Filter by effort if you want the quicker ones first.

RECIPES 2
Communications

The messages you send all day, made easier to get right

 

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What is a recipe?

A recipe is a short, numbered sequence that combines a few moves into a repeatable result. Each one below opens to reveal its purpose, when to use it, the full steps, an example, and a live demo. For single one-prompt moves, see the Playbook. Recipes are grouped into 6 categories; this article is one of them. If a response starts heading the wrong way, you can cancel it while it is still being generated and ask again.

The Recipes

Each recipe is collapsed by default. Click one to expand its purpose, when to use it, the numbered steps, an example, and a demo you can run right there. The badge shows the effort.

Filter by effort: Showing all items
The great email in your voice a reply that sounds like you, fast Quick ▸

Purpose: The everyday workhorse. Turns "I need to reply to this" into a send-ready message in your tone, with options, in under two minutes. Pairs with your My Voice persona.

When to use this: Any reply you would normally labor over: a client email, a delicate update, a message you want to sound like you and not like a template.

Steps
# What you do What you should see
1 Select your My Voice persona Active in the dropdown, and it stays selected for the rest of the chat
2 Paste the thread or describe the situation, or attach the saved message: .msg and .eml files are supported Smith understands the ask
3 "Draft a reply" A first version in your tone
4 "Give me 3 versions: warm, firm, brief" Options, not one take
5 Pick one: "tighten paragraph 2, keep my sign-off" Send-ready
Example
Draft a reply to this thread in my voice. Then give me three versions: warm, firm, and brief.
See it in action

You end up with: a reply that sounds like you, fast.

The difficult message a hard message you can actually send Few steps ▸

Purpose: For bad news, pushback, or a hard boundary, the messages you draft five times and still hesitate to send. Forces a strategy choice before wording, and checks for how it could be misread.

When to use this: Delivering disappointing news, pushing back on a request, or setting a boundary with a colleague or client.

Steps
# What you do What you should see
1 Describe the tension and your goal honestly Smith grasps the stakes
2 "Give me 2 approaches and their tradeoffs before drafting" A strategy choice
3 "Draft approach 1" A version aligned to intent
4 Adjust tone, softer or sharper Calibrated
5 "How might this be misread?" Blind spots caught
Example
I need to tell a vendor we are not renewing. Give me two approaches and their tradeoffs before you draft anything.
See it in action

You end up with: a hard message you can actually send.

Inbox triage to zero an inbox at zero in one pass Few steps ▸

Purpose: Clear a backlog in one sitting. Smith sorts what needs action from what is noise, then drafts the replies, so triage stops being an all-morning task.

When to use this: A flooded inbox after time off, or any morning the backlog feels unmanageable.

Steps
# What you do What you should see
1 Paste several messages or a long thread, or attach the saved messages as .msg or .eml files Smith has them
2 "Sort by: needs a reply / FYI / ignore" A sorted inbox
3 "Draft quick replies to the ones that need them" Replies ready
4 Skim, tweak, send Inbox cleared
Example
Here are eight messages. Sort them into needs-a-reply, FYI, and ignore, then draft quick replies for the ones that need them.
See it in action

You end up with: an inbox at zero in one pass.

The poll from a debate a decision-ready poll out of a circular debate Few steps ▸

Purpose: When a thread is going in circles, convert the argument into a clean vote. Extracts the real options people are debating and frames them neutrally.

When to use this: A group email or channel thread that has been going back and forth without converging.

Steps
# What you do What you should see
1 Paste the email or Teams thread, or attach the saved email file Smith reads it
2 "What distinct options are being debated?" A clean list
3 "Turn this into a poll: one question, 3-4 options" Vote-ready
4 "Add a one-line neutral summary above it" Fair framing
Example
This thread has been circular. What distinct options are actually being debated, and can you turn them into a neutral poll?
See it in action

You end up with: a decision-ready poll out of a circular debate.

Global meeting scheduler clear options a global group reads instantly Quick ▸

Purpose: Coordinate across timezones without the mental math or the error-prone conversion. Offer times everyone can read in their own zone.

When to use this: Scheduling with colleagues or clients in different time zones.

Steps
# What you do What you should see
1 Paste your available slots in your timezone, or attach a calendar invite: .ics files are supported Smith has them
2 "Show these in PST, EST, GMT, and IST" A timezone grid
3 "Write a short invite offering these times" Ready to send
Example
Here are three slots in Central Time. Show them in PT, ET, GMT, and IST, then write a short invite offering them.
See it in action

You end up with: clear options a global group reads instantly.

The chase-up that doesn't nag a follow-up that gets a reply, not an eye-roll Quick ▸

Purpose: Follow up on something overdue without sounding passive-aggressive or apologetic. Gets the response while keeping the relationship.

When to use this: Anything overdue, an unanswered proposal, a pending approval, a quiet client.

Steps
# What you do What you should see
1 "I need to follow up on X, it is [N] days late" Smith has context
2 "Draft a friendly but clear nudge" A balanced chase
3 "Give me a firmer version for if this one is ignored" An escalation ready
Example
I need to follow up on a proposal from two weeks ago. Draft a friendly nudge, then a firmer version in case the first is ignored.
See it in action

You end up with: a follow-up that gets a reply, not an eye-roll.

Rehearse a tough conversation answers ready for the objections you will actually face Few steps ▸

Purpose: For a live conversation you are nervous about, a salary ask, a difficult review, a client renegotiation. Smith role-plays the other person and preps your answers.

When to use this: Before any high-stakes live conversation you want to walk into prepared.

Steps
# What you do What you should see
1 Describe the conversation, who you are talking to, and your goal Smith grasps the dynamic
2 "Play [the other person] and push back like they would" A realistic role-play
3 Respond as yourself; let it counter A back-and-forth that surfaces objections
4 "What are their 3 likely objections, and how should I answer each?" A prep sheet
5 "Give me one strong opening line and one clean closing line" Bookends ready
Example
I have a salary conversation with my manager Friday. Play my manager and push back the way they would, then give me a prep sheet.
See it in action

You end up with: a rehearsed conversation and answers ready for the objections you will actually face.

See a Full Workflow in Action

These recipes shine when they run together. Here is one morning of communications work, triage, a hard reply, and scheduling, as a single flow.

✉️Inbox to action

Three communications recipes, one morning

Watch several of these recipes run together as one continuous flow.

Next Steps: Open one recipe and run it end to end today. For single one-prompt moves, browse the Playbook. Working through your first month? The First 30 Days plan tells you which recipes to use each week.

Recipes 3: Other Apps & Tools

The next category of multi-step recipes.

Recipes 1: Building Your Smith Setup

The previous category of recipes.

The Playbook

Looking for single one-prompt moves instead?

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