Nobody reaches out. People send emails. The phrase “I’m reaching out” is a way of making an email sound like a hand extended across a chasm, when in fact it is a hand extended across a desk to take something from me.
“I wanted to reach out about the invoice.” You wanted to ask about the invoice. “Reaching out to see if you had a chance to look at the deck.” You are asking whether I read the deck. I have not read the deck. The deck is forty-one slides and the title of the deck is Synergies.
I propose we retire the phrase and replace it with the thing it means. “I am asking.” “I am reminding you.” “I am about to ask you for a favour that is larger than it sounds.” Honesty would save us all a tiny amount of time, which, multiplied across every email ever sent, is a civilisation.