Tact? Where do I download one of those?

There are certain types of communication that I really suck at, and I also suck at using certain communications media. For instance, I'm terrible at writing emails. I'm also terrible at making requests. If you put the two together, you have the potential for social suicide. I've known this for a while, and noticed it yet again with the last couple of emails I sent that were requests for information so I thought it would be worth writing about.

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I promise that I'm doing my best to get better at it. Every time I have to communicate a request, particularly in writing (though also in spoken conversations), I am trying to improve on the last one and trying to remember advice I've had in the past on how to do it in a way which doesn't break social norms, or to remember things that I realised I did poorly, but not until after sending (much to my dismay). I'll often have a third party proof-read it for me and give advice on how it comes across and what I can do to change anything which is written particularly badly.

I will always keep striving to improve, but I still have a lot of practice to do at this sort of thing and I will often forget or trip up. Just be patient with me, and please don't take offence at my awkward attempts to be polite, because I really do want to be. I just don't always know how.