Debbie Mayo-Smith: How you speed up your emailing and texting

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What are doing now for the:

• 101 times you yet again retype the same information in emails or text messages?

• Meet someone new but don't have the time to write a card or greeting?

• Want to thank someone, pose a question, respond nicely to a LinkedIn request - but don't have the time?

• Email the same form or directions to someone yet again?

• Put a quick proposal together from several different saved Word document paragraphs?

You can retype and type and retype. Or you can use these two ideas:

On your smartphone:

- Write all your repetitive phrases, directions, texts and save them as a note in your notepad.

- The next time you need it, do not retype. Go to notepad

- Double click the respective not to copy.

- Then go back to your email/SMS and tap again to paste in your new message.

Outlook 2007-2013

Do a similar thing with the feature called Quick Parts. Here is the 43 second video I made to show you.

- You'll find Quick Parts when you click open a new email.

- On the Insert tab, in the Text Pane group, click Quick Parts.

It's as easy as 1-2-3 to create a quick part

• Open and type out what you would like to save in an email.

• On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts

• Click Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery.

After you save your content to the Quick Part Gallery, you can reuse it over and over and over again.

I haven't found anything similar in Gmail.

Outlook 2003

Who ever said a signature has to be a signature? Save your entire repetitive paragraphs as individual signatures. Formatting will be preserved if you send emails as html or rich text. Then when you create a new email, click insert>signature and you can put any number of your (repetitive phrase) signatures on top of each other. You can even create a full blown quote this

A few thoughts:

• Thank you (for your enquiry, response, interest, request for more information)

• Lovely meeting you at the ...

• Responding to a meeting request

• Responding to applicants

• Forms normally sent to staff

• Pieces of quotes, proposals

• About our company

• Emails to other departments requesting information

• We need further information.

• A Google map link to your location

How would you / do you use your Notepad or Quick Parts?

Written by Debbie Mayo-Smith, One of Australasia's most in-demand speakers, trainers and bestselling authors. For more tips and business ideas sign up for her monthly newsletter.