It's not often a new product comes along that completely changes my behavior for the better. Just Not Sorry is a genius Chrome extension I've been trying out that highlights words/phrases people often use that undermine their message, so I can edit them out before I send an email like 'if I could just please have a moment of your time, I actually think I've got something valuable to say...'
Backstory: it's no secret that some people (ok, mostly women) tend to qualify their message. Maybe they're humble. Maybe they're not totally confident. Maybe they've been conditioned by society to tone down what they say to avoid being seen as bitchy or demanding. (we've all seen the WaPo article on 'Famous Quotes, the way a woman would have to say them during a meeting, right?)
This extension reminds me of Hemingway Editor by @adam_b_long but it catches your writing as you're doing it in your gmail compose box rather than having to copy/paste it into another website. (hint hint: would love a similar functionality for Hemingway Editor..)
This was made by the team at @cyrusinnovation led by @tamireiss with inspiration/support from @ES_entrepreneur@saritwish and @karasilverman. I hope you check it out and pledge to have a #justNOTsorry 2016!
@tamireiss This is brilliant. I use "just" all the time in my writing.
@gillianim Thanks for the suggestion. It would definitely be cool to suggest Hemingway issues inside Gmail.
I would say my only problem with this is that there's no mobile version - is there any way to build extensions on top of native apps yet? Seems inevitable there will be one of there isn't already..
@gillianim we opensourced the code here: bit.ly/just-not-sorry-code so that people could add trigger phrases and use similar tools on other browsers and email clients.
@rrhoover Wow that cartoon really drove the point home. I wouldn't use an extension like this because I think a softer email suits my offline persona better but that cartoon will stick with me.
Hi, I'm Tami the creator of Just Not Sorry.
We created this free Gmail plug-in to help everyone stop getting in their own way. Phrases like "just" and "sorry" have been proven to undermine your message and diminish confidence in the reader.
We wrote up the entire backstory here (https://medium.com/cyrusite-chat...)
The goal is to have 10000 people sign the pledge to stop using these words and send more effective emails in 2016.
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@tamireiss Hey. Great work. Will it still work with Inbox by Google or is it only for Gmail? Thanks :)
@tamireiss Update - we've been downloaded 8000 times in the past two days!!! Covered in Slate, Inc, Business Insider, and Women2.0 (among others) We can't thank the @producthunt community enough as we know so much of our success was seeded here.
Thank you Product Hunt community! You kicked off the launch of Just Not Sorry and have created a viral phenomenon. (22k downloads and counting in 2.5 days)
We've been covered on The Today Show, Fox News, Inc, Women2.0, All Things Considered, Marketplace, and so many more blogs and news outlets. We know it all started here. Thanks to @gillianim for posting here and @rrhoover for creating such a supportive community.
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Sorry, but I just think this is important to share with the world. May we all sound smarter and stronger in 2016.
@tamireiss I saw this post by @gillianim and had to consider exploring Just Not Sorry tool. I use her app Hitlist which changed my behavior of how I book my airline tickets. One of my goals is to write short and easy to read emails. I am really excited to make this my go-to tool.
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