“Hope you’re well.” How many times have you sent or received an email that begins with this innocuous greeting? If you’re writing “hope you’re well,” or some variant, in your email’s opening sentences, you should stop.

That advice comes from Lorraine K. Lee, author of Unforgettable Presence (Wiley, 2025), who helps professionals improve their communications. What’s wrong with this well-wishing phrase? “The problem isn’t that this phrase is rude—it’s just forgettable,” Lee writes in a thoughtful piece on CNBC.com. As she notes, the beginning of your email is a valuable opportunity to make a lasting first impression. As first impressions go, “hope you’re well,” is a poor choice. It’s boring, for one thing. You may wish well to all people, but if you’re writing to someone you haven’t met, the phrase feels insincere. As Lee notes, this phrase and others like it are examples of autopilot language. “If your opener could be copied and pasted into 100 other emails without changing anything, it’s probably too generic,” she notes. For the same reason, she also advises against what she calls “empty enthusiasm,” such as “Happy Monday!” or “I hope your week is off to a great start!” There are stronger email openers What should you write instead? Lee suggests making your opening as personal as possible. “A strong opener feels human, specific, and intentional,” she writes. Have you interacted before? Did you chat briefly during an event or exchange emails about a previous project? If so, it’s always a good idea to reference your past connection.

If not, you can still make your message more personal by referencing something your recipient said or did. Mention a speech they gave, a comment they shared during a meeting, or even an insightful social media post. I always open an email that reference one of my articles, even knowing it’s likely to be a pitch. Lee also gives one piece of advice that I really disagree with. “Jumping straight into a request—especially without a relationship—can feel transactional.” If you do have a prior relationship, definitely begin your email by reminding your recipient of that existing connection. If you don’t, then I think jumping straight to the reason for your email is a good idea. I’m often on the receiving end of pitches, and I don’t mind people jumping right to whatever it is they want. I do want them to provide the information I need to decide whether I want to learn more. 2 seconds of attention Mark Cuban, who famously reads all his email, gives each one about two seconds of his attention before deciding whether to keep reading or delete. I think a lot of busy people take a similar approach. So there’s something to be said for getting straight to the point. Incidentally, I don’t open most of the emails I get, and I’m guessing, other than Cuban, a lot of other people don’t either. So write a subject line that will let me know what your email is about and why I might want to read it.

If you’re using phrases like “hope you’re well” when writing pitching emails to people you don’t know, it might be time to try one of these other approaches instead.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.