We have a problem. One that the Internet and an ‘always on’ world has magnified. I call it ‘Iitis’. We’re all guilty of it, both online and offline. Spend some time today just listening to the exchanges that happen all around you. Conversations between friends at the café. An exchange between the bank teller and customer. Mostly we’re not even waiting to hear the answer to the questions we ask. We’re jumping in to share our own experience.

As humans we’re hard-wired to want to ‘be seen’, but it’s important to recognise that need in others too. That brings me to email.

Before you hit send on anything today check your email for ‘Iitis’. Your inbox might be overflowing and maybe you don’t need one more thing to think about, but when you practice ‘digital empathy’ you’ll be surprised by the results. How many times can you take ‘I’ out of your emails and replace it with ‘you’?

Better brand stories are not just told by the marketing department. They begin by changing how people feel in everything you say and do, email included.

Image by Ian Sanderson.