I used to work for a former U.S. Marine who had a good quote - "don't write when you can speak, don't speak when you can nod, and don't nod when you can wink".
Eliot Spitzer (!) infamously added the addendum "And never put anything in email"
you see powerful people following this advice all the time, like with Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch’s tarmac meeting. He flew in a plane to talk face to face just to ensure it wouldn't get recorded.