You may have already seen this “Insights from 5 Million Emails” infographic that Mashable published a few weeks ago. If not, take a look.

Baydin, the makers of email plugin Boomerang,  pulled data from five million emails and discovered some interesting tidbits:

• on average, we spend over 2.5 hours a day on email
• 80% of those messages are deleted in under 3.2 seconds

• more people recommend sending email early morning
• we prefer to read email in the early morning
• plus tips on how to master the evil email dragon

But the most valuable section on that infographic, in my humble opinion?

The “words to use” and “words not to use” section.

Basically, they tell you how to better connect with another person. And how not to screw up in your attempts to connect. Very powerful.

But of course that’s my opinion – after all, we designed The People Profiler in the same way, providing  customized “what to do” and “what not to do” guidance specific to the person you’re dealing with.

Knowing what not to say – and what not to do – when trying to connect with someone is key.

To better illustrate my point, here’s a sample report, with a few notes scribbled on it.

This report is specific to a certain profile – one of 60 different versions in our database. It also happens to be the profile of someone on our team.

Because I have access to this valuable info, I’m better able to connect with this person because before important interactions with her, I remind myself of the biggies:

• provide facts and options – don’t just spew my opinion
• have an organized approach in my materials and what I share verbally
• be prepared for potentially tactless responses and don’t shrink back from them
• don’t ramble during my interactions with her
• make sure what I heard in the meeting is what she heard in the meeting

Basically, I remind myself how not to screw up. And that has made all the difference.