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Nine-hundred and seventy-two. 972 That's the total number of e-mails I received just in May, and it's about my average. That's not counting the hundreds and hundreds of messages Gmail dumped into categories for promotional mail, forum posts, and social networking updates. I've become proficient at jumping through messages quickly, but there's one thing I've mastered even more than that: spotting a lack of confidence. 这是仅五月份一个月我收到的邮件总数，这也是我的平均值。其中不包括被谷歌邮箱分类的数以千计的广告邮件，论坛帖子和社交网络更新。我已经变得非常善于在邮件之间快速切换，但我掌握的另一项能力更加重要：识别不自信。 I also take quite a few cold calls--people who are not really sure what I do and have not really done too much research but have me on a phone list for some reason. 我也会接到一些推销电话—那些人既不确定我的职业也没有做很多调查工作，但会因为某种原因把我放在通讯录中。 In most cases, it's a pitch about a product or someone asking a question about marketing to journalists. He or she might say he or she "usually" does something. In a few cases, it's someone with a business idea he or she "suspects" will be perfect. Most of the time, these messages are straightforward--the sender isn't messing around. But a few seem hesitant. I fire back a question, and the response makes me question the person's authority on the subject. | 
