If you could write an out of office autoreply with no consequences, what would you write?
I saw some really funny examples a while ago and it got me thinking.
Most autoreplies are really dull or super-pretentious:
- I’m out of the office for three days and back on xxx date. YAWN.
- I’m taking some much needed and well-deserved me time, you should too, blah blah blah.
How about, instead:
- I’m done with this bullshit for 3 weeks. Hurrah!
- I am on annual leave until dd/mm/yyyy. I will allow each sender one email and if you send me multiple emails, I will randomly delete your emails until there is only one remaining. Choose wisely. Please note that you have already sent me one email. ← saw this online and it cracked me up.
- Imagine I’m holding a sign that says “what would you do if I wasn’t here?” then do that! Because I’m not here! I’m on a beach hurrah!
- Hi, I’m Vicky’s autoresponder. Vicky can’t come to the laptop right now, but if you leave a message, she’ll get back to you in 3 weeks. That’s 1 week for holiday and 2 weeks to delete all the emails piling up. Honestly, you have no idea what it’s like being an autoresponder. I’m not sure I can take the stress.
Set a timer and start outrageously—then ramp it back and see if you can come up with a cool, interesting, quirky out of office reply that makes people smile.
Happy writing!
TTFN,
Vicky
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Notes in the Margin
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