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Tips on communication, tone, and writing for the people who matter.

How to raise your rates with a client you like, without explaining why

Justification invites negotiation. A reason is something a client can argue with, a date is not. The structure of a rate increase that does not turn into a discussion.

August 1, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Scope creep starts with a yes you already gave. Here is how to walk it back.

Most scope creep advice assumes you can refuse at the start. By the time it hurts you have already agreed twice. How to reset without a confrontation.

July 29, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Your English teacher was wrong about passive voice. Use it when someone messed up.

Kill the passive is the most repeated writing rule there is, and it fails badly in one specific situation. How agentless passive lets you fix a problem without assigning blame.

July 25, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Why "I would like to" sounds colder than "I'd like to"

Dropping contractions is what English does when it gets formal, and formal in a short message reads as distance. The register trap that catches careful writers.

July 22, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Telling a client you will miss the deadline: give the new date before the reason

Most delay emails bury the new date under paragraphs of explanation, which reads as excuse-building. A simple reordering that keeps the client calm.

July 18, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Kindly revert: eight phrases your American client quietly misreads

Perfectly correct Indian English that lands differently with Western clients. What each phrase communicates on the other end, and when it is worth changing.

July 16, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Does "by Friday" include Friday? Your client thinks it does not.

By, before, EOD and COB are ambiguous in ways that cause real missed deadlines. What each one means to different readers, and how to write a deadline nobody can misread.

July 11, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Per my last email, and five other phrases that read as furious

Some of the most common phrases in professional email carry a tone nobody intends. What each one actually signals to the reader, and what to write instead.

July 9, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Chasing a late invoice? Stop apologising in the first line.

Most payment reminders open with an apology, which quietly puts the client in the position of the inconvenienced party. A structural fix that gets invoices paid faster.

July 5, 2026 · Depender Sethi

Nobody reads your email in the mood you wrote it in

The same sentence can land warmly with one client and badly with another. Here is why tone is supplied by the reader, not the writer, and what to do about it.

July 2, 2026 · Depender Sethi