The Art of the "Per My Last Email"

It is the office equivalent of screaming. When someone writes "Per my last email," what they are actually saying is: "Can you read? I already answered this."

While it feels satisfying to type, it rarely gets the result you want. It puts the recipient on the defensive. Defensive people don't help you; they fight you.

The Translation Layer

Let's look at what you want to say vs. what you should say.

3 Alternatives to "Per my last email"

• 1
  The "Quick Refresh": "To recap our discussion on Tuesday..." (This assumes they forgot, rather than ignored you).
• 2
  The "Confusion Blame": "Apologies if my previous note was unclear. To clarify..." (Takes the blame to lower tension).
• 3
  The "Solution Forward": "As mentioned below, the deadline is Friday. Can we confirm if this is still feasible?"

Check your Tone Score

Not sure if your email sounds too aggressive? We built a tool for exactly this. Paste your draft into our analyzer to see if you are being "Firm" or just "Rude."