Should you say "No" to "Please"?

People feel passionately about “please.”

“Common sense might tell you that adding ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ to an email will always make it more polite. Common sense would be wrong.” That’s according to David Shipley and Will Schwalbe in Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better.

I decided to ask the participants in my workshop on “How to Write Effective Business Emails and Letters” if they think “please” should be optional. “No way!” was their response.

I agree that it’s good to leave “please” in your vocabulary. I’m puzzled by Shipley and Schwalbe’s assertion that it’s “almost impossible to use please in writing without coming across as obnoxious.”

Do you use “please” in emails? Please leave a comment below.