Add Email Coach skill

submissions/email-coach/README.md

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+# Email Coach
+
+A coach, not a proofreader. Hand it a rough draft and a line of context, and it
+hands back a cleaner email **plus** the reasoning - so the next email is better
+before you write it.
+
+Everything hangs from one idea: **communication only happens on receipt**.
+Sending is not communicating. A 1,500-word email has been sent, not received.
+Every judgement the coach makes traces back to how the message will land for the
+person opening it.
+
+## What it does
+
+**Mode 1 - draft coaching.** Paste a draft and any context. You get:
+
+1. A **reader's-eye read-back** - how the email feels to open, where the reader
+   would drift, where the ask is buried.
+2. The **redraft**, rebuilt to the standard, in a copy-paste-safe block.
+3. The **why** - each meaningful change and the reasoning behind it, kept tight.
+
+The coaching runs in three layers, in order, so prose never gets polished on top
+of a broken foundation:
+
+- **Intent** - is it clear what this email is *for*?
+- **Content** - is the right material present, neither bloated nor missing?
+- **Expression** - structure and language.
+
+**Mode 2 - tips on demand.** Ask how to word a chaser, chase a silent thread, or
+open after a late reply, and it answers from the same principles rather than a
+generic listicle.
+
+## The standard it teaches
+
+Inverted-pyramid structure so the busiest reader can act from the top alone. One
+coherent purpose per email. An explicit ask with a by-when phrased as a reason.
+A single named owner, because an ask fired at five people gets answered by none.
+Active voice by default, passive only as a deliberate diplomatic choice. Specific
+subject lines, no `[ACTION REQUIRED]` tags. Ruthless editing.
+
+It also handles the awkward ones: bad news without tipping into
+passive-aggressive, the late reply (appreciation beats reflexive apology for
+minor delays - there's research behind that, cited in the skill), and the
+last-resort move for a thread that's being ignored.
+
+And it strips AI tells on sight - binary reframes, self-answered questions,
+performed empathy, connector parades - along with buzzwords that fail the
+five-consultancies test.
+
+The reasoning is sourced. The skill carries its evidence base (Concordia, Ohio
+State, plainlanguage.gov, Lumen, and the *Journal of Marketing* work on
+thank-you versus sorry), so you can point a sceptical writer at the research
+rather than at your opinion.
+
+## Microsoft 365 Drafts flow
+
+The redraft always arrives **in chat first**, with the coaching attached - the
+teaching is the product, so it is never skipped.
+
+If the official **Microsoft 365 connector** is available, the coach then offers
+one question: *"Would you like me to add this to your Drafts?"* On a yes, it
+creates the draft under strict rules:
+
+- **Recipient fields stay empty.** Nothing in To, CC or BCC, ever - you address
+  the email. That is what makes an accidental send harmless.
+- **A bold AI-disclosure line sits above the greeting**, telling you to check
+  wording, accuracy and font style and add your signature - then delete the
+  line. You have to engage with it before the email can go anywhere.
+- **It never sends.** The human always sends.
+
+The Microsoft 365 connector is the only sanctioned route to the mailbox. No
+other mail connector, no third-party service, no taking over the mail app.
+
+Without the connector, you get the copy-paste block instead - body only, subject
+delivered separately above it, and formatting chosen to survive the paste into
+Outlook (bold lead-ins and flat bullets, no tables or markdown headings) and to
+degrade gracefully if it lands as plain text.
+
+## Setup
+
+None required. `SKILL.md` is fully self-contained - no scripts, references or
+assets. The Microsoft 365 connector is optional; without it the skill falls back
+to the copy-paste block.
+
+## Provenance
+
+Adapted from FutureAbility's internal email coach, generalised for public use.
+Contributed under the repository's MIT licence.