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The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence: Including Model Letters for Every Situation
The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence: Including Model Letters for Every Situation
The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence: Including Model Letters for Every Situation
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The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence: Including Model Letters for Every Situation

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Make your messages shorter, simpler, and more effective with this guide to writing e-mails that get read—and get results.

As we correspond with everyone from international partners to remote workers, writing skills are more important than ever to business and career success. They can make the difference between climbing the corporate ladder and getting stuck on a low rung. An e-mail that’s clear, concise, and targeted will get more than just a response. It will get results—including your boss’s attention.

No matter what sector a company is in, excellent written communication skills are in demand—because too-long, wordy, or unclear emails bog down a business. This guide provides insight, guidelines, and a wide variety of templates to help you get it right and rapidly transform basic writing skills into global communications expertise. In a lively, here’s-how style, it:
  • demonstrates the hallmarks of effective business e-mails
  • features ready-to-use organizational plans
  • presents quick and easy editing techniques
  • furnishes before-and-after editing models
  • focuses on the do’s and don’ts of proficient e-mails
  • supplies practical writing tips and tricks, and more
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 15, 2006
ISBN9781601638632
The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence: Including Model Letters for Every Situation
Author

Dawn Michelle Baude

Dawn-Michelle Baude, PhD is a professor of poetry at the American University in Paris, France, teaching comparative literature. A graduate of the Sorbonne University with an advanced degree in French, Dawn-Michelle has lived in France for almost twenty years with her French husband and her son.  

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    The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence - Dawn Michelle Baude

    Introduction

    E-mail is not hard copy

    Don’t make the mistake of thinking that an e-mail is just a document you read on a computer screen. Because it’s not. E-mail is designed to move or transact information as rapidly as possible from writer to reader. E-mail usually produces immediate action, often in the form of another e-mail.

    Hard copy is designed for contemplation over time. Hard copy does not necessarily move the reader to act. Readers don’t immediately respond to hard copy with more hard copy, if ever. E-mail is a transaction; hard copy is a reflection.

    E-mail is more than rectangular

    E-mail appears in a window, with clearly defined edges. The window is on a screen, and the edges of the screen are reinforced. The edges of the computer conceal armatures that hold the screen in place. These edges and frames—windows and screens—focus reading in a way that is very different from the way we read hard copy. The edge of the piece of paper, of the book or booklet, is not so insistent. It’s easier for the eye to lift, to wander, to reflect.

    Boxed-in

    In e-mail, multiple frames relentlessly focus the eye on the text. Rigid borders confine our gaze, keep it on the words. The trapped-in quality of the text affects our expectations about the purpose and intent of reading. When we look at an e-mail, we expect to receive information—right away. And we get frustrated when we don’t get it.

    E-mail in the box

    The frame pops open; the e-mail appears. In a click, the window closes and it’s gone. The ephemeral character of e-mail means it can’t waste time. It either rapidly communicates, or it doesn’t communicate at all.

    E-mail is not quaint

    Since e-mail and hard copy don’t deliver information in the same way, they’re not written in the same way either. Everything from layout to sentence patterns to vocabulary changes. For example: long, ponderous paragraphs don’t work well in business e-mail—it’s better to divvy the text up into smaller units. And standard hard copy letter formulas, such as Yours very truly, sound quaint in e-mail. It’s better to go with Regards. In business e-mail, efficiency of communication takes precedence over literary style and social conventions.

    Do-it-yourself reading

    To communicate information rapidly, let the reader direct his or her own reading. Map the document so that the reader intuitively knows where to look for specific information. Simplicity gives the reader freedom to navigate the e-mail without wasting time.

    To skim and scan

    Skimming means that the reader gives different levels of attention to different parts of an e-mail. Some sentences receive a close, word-by-word, focus—other sentences aren’t read at all. Scanning means the reader is looking for specific information and ignoring the rest. For example, a reader may skim an itinerary in an e-mail from a travel agent and scan for the price of airfare. Knowing how to set-up a business e-mail for skimming and scanning is a highly sought after skill.

    More white space, please

    In order to skim and scan, the eyes need to be able to move around the text. The eyes want to focus in some places, rest in others.

    A dense block of print on the screen does not encourage rapid eye movement. It’s impossible to jump around, because there’s nowhere to jump to. The reader has no choice but to continue, sentence by sentence, word by word. It plods. It takes time.

    Contrast speeds things up. Alternating print with empty white space gives the reader wings. In the rhythm of black text and white space, attention can vary with curiosity. The eye has freedom to alight here and there in the text, instead of just dutifully soldiering on.

    White space is meaningful

    White space is not empty. It’s full of meaning. White space tells the reader that there’s a change in idea, a shift in the argument, an example on the way, a contrast coming, or an objection being raised. Readers use white space to navigate information in an e-mail as much as they use printed words on the screen.

    First things first

    Years of reading practice have taught us to emphasize first-things in a text. In business e-mail, the first sentence of the text is more important than the fourth sentence in the third paragraph. And the first sentence in any paragraph is usually more important than any other sentence in the same paragraph.

    Readers skim first sentences in paragraphs to decide if they need to take more time to read the paragraph slowly in its entirety. And readers will also decide to read an e-mail immediately or save it for later based on the first sentence.

    The paragraph rule

    The business e-mail paragraph often moves from a general idea to specific ideas, or from the most important idea to least important. The most general or important sentence goes first. The other sentences amplify the idea, extend the idea, compare or contrast the idea, or support the idea.

    Of course, not every single e-mail paragraph follows the general-to-specific, or most-to-least important pattern. But that doesn’t mean the reader doesn’t pay attention to the first sentence of each paragraph anyway. In fact, it’s very hard not to. Ever since we learned to read, we’ve been taught to pay close attention to the first sentence. And we do!

    Readers are creatures of habit

    Want a reader to notice a particular point? Put it at the top of the e-mail or in the first sentence of a paragraph. Want to hide a point you still have to make? Bury it in the fourth sentence of the third paragraph.

    Announce your subject

    The most important sentence in an e-mail is the first one. It often decides whether your reader will read on grudgingly or with interest. In fact, it decides if your reader will read on at all! For that reason, the first sentence announces the main point of the e-mail. Readers want to cut right to the chase. Occasionally, the subject announcement may extend to two sentences, but one sentence is preferable.

    Make sure the intent is clear

    Begin with your conclusion, then explain.

    —For replies, give your answer in the first sentence and explain your reasoning below.

    —For updates, summarize the situation in the first sentence and then detail it in the rest of the e-mail.

    —If you have a question to ask, do so right away.

    —If the reader has asked you to reply, remind him or her at the start.

    Attention diminishes with length

    The longer you carry on, the less likely the reader is paying attention.

    Headers can help

    Using headers—or subtitles—enhances skimming. Headers give readers clues about e-mail content so that they can make decisions about what they want to read, the order in which to read, and the material they don’t need to bother with.

    For example, you could label paragraphs with headers describing stages in a process, such as Problem, Analysis, and Solution. Or you could use paired headers, such as Assets and Liabilities, or even Action and Outcome. Dates, or steps in a sequence, also work well.

    E-mail’s odd relationship with print

    Business e-mail has, in fact, spawned its own writing conventions, such as signature lines with the information that once appeared at the top of hard copy, such as snail-mail addresses and phone numbers. Semicolons, already on the wane in hard copy correspondence, are rare in e-mail, while the dash is rapidly gaining ground. As generations who have never known a world without the Internet hit the marketplace, they’ll continue to shape language to our evolving digital needs.

    A little less formal

    E-mail is more like sticking your head through a colleague’s office door than introducing yourself at a conference table. It remains polite and dignified, but it often loses many of the trappings of hard copy correspondence. One-word sentences or paragraphs, for example, are okay. Roman numerals (I. II. III.) look fussy in e-mail, while Arabic numbers (1. 2. 3.) work just fine. Or, better yet, drop the numeric system altogether and go with a simple bullet point (•).

    Simplify, simplify, simplify

    An excellent test of a writer’s skills is the ability to translate complex subjects into straightforward prose. In business e-mail, the smartest writers use short sentences and common vocabulary whenever possible.

    Short = fast

    Short sentences keep ideas on track—for the writer as much as for the reader. They’re a quick remedy against grammatical issues clogging long, convoluted sentence structures. Short sentences don’t usually have as many grammar issues, if any at all. They speed along, unencumbered by pretentious—or misguided—mass.

    Length matters!

    Because e-mail is designed to be skimmed, screen-size document length is preferred. Long e-mails should be divided up into short, concise e-mails whenever possible. Supporting information, the backstory, and contextual documents should be relegated to attachments—they stay off the center stage (or in this case, out of the active window). A short e-mail targets its subject, allowing the reader to hit the reply button right away. No scrolling necessary.

    Hold the fancy vocabulary

    Perspicacious is a great word, but sharp is better in a business e-mail context. The idea isn’t to impress the reader with semantic subtlety and texture—the idea is to get the message across, right away. Longer words take more time to process than short words. We don’t have to spend a sliver of neural time to observe, Wow—haven’t seen that word in a while! We just keep right on going.

    Keep the tense simple

    The trend toward simplicity in e-mail English extends to verb tense. Who needs He would have been phoning when He phoned will do? Simple present and past tenses can do a lot of the tense work in English. They’re shorter, quicker, and less apt to fall victim to grammatical error. Their authority shines through.

    What’s with indents?

    The indent at the beginning of the hard copy paragraph has gone the way of envelope. It’s a relic of how we used to communicate in the past, not the way we’ll communicate in the future…at least as far as e-mail is concerned. Why? Because the eye needs a full empty line between paragraphs to skim.

    Dear Reader

    The elaborate salutations of hard copy correspondence are disappearing. For example, instead of Dear Mrs. Notley, or even Dear Alma, in a business e-mail, just Alma will do, even when the correspondents don’t know each other personally. Most business e-mail favors a comma after the name, unless the writer is trying to send a signal of high formality—then the colon comes into play. Alma: tells the reader that something very important is about to follow, while Alma, signals business-as-usual.

    More e-mail, fewer windows

    Because one e-mail leads to another e-mail, back-and-forth e-mail is common. In an e-mail thread, a record of the previous installment is pasted in below the most recent e-mail. That way, you can trace the development of ideas without having to click open each e-mail individually.

    More e-mail, less formality

    As the e-mail thread lengthens, a curious thing happens—the e-mail installments tend to shrink. New installments in a thread don’t function as new e-mails. They operate as extensions of the original mail.

    First to go are the names. Sometimes the writer will use initials, but often markers of identity disappear altogether from the active frame. Sentences simplify, reduce. Markers of context, such dates and times, are often omitted. There’s no need to identify or reinforce the parameters of the initial e-mail over and over again. If the readers lose the thread, they can check the previous e-mails.

    Intertextual and hypertextual

    An e-mail usually doesn’t exist in literal isolation, as hard copy does. It is explicitly intertextual, in the sense that it links to previous e-mail in the same window. It is explicitly hypertextual, in the sense that it’s apt to include attachments or links to Websites. Because e-mail is both intertextual and hypertextual, content often does not have to be continually reiterated, because the reader already has access to all the information in the current window.

    Cut the thread

    Long e-mail threads take on historic value. But they can quickly become heavy. There’s a point at which the back-and-forth of correspondence has only a residual value. No one is going to scroll through it all, even when the issue is of primary concern. To avoid dragging a useless tail around, cut the e-mail thread now and then. Begin a fresh, new e-mail. That way, when readers need to sift through the sand, they’ll be more likely to find the true value.

    What about the subject field?

    Subject fields in e-mail function like titles in hard copy. Most often, the subject field summarizes the topic of the e-mail (May 14 Committee Meeting). It can also pique the reader’s curiosity by asking a question (Lumina Going Public?), comment on an aspect of the content

    (Yesterday’s Security Breach), quote directly from the content (5-Step Background Checklist), or demand the reader’s attention by announcing urgency (Urgent M&A Update).

    Sometimes writers want to draw attention to the personal nature of their mail. In this case, they often use their names (From Pres. Wilkins); titles (From the VPs Office); or coded, personalized references ("About

    Our Project). Other times, the readers don’t bother to type in a subject field, so the computer does it for them, Re: From the VPs Office."

    The problem with subject lines

    The busy reader doesn’t always read them.

    Playing the style game

    Vocabulary, sentences, punctuation, and layout can all be modulated for style. The closer the conventions are to hard copy, the more formal the email. Add a semicolon, and it veers toward formality. Sign your e-mail with initials, and you’ve opted for informality. Use italics instead of capital letters for emphasis, and you look very formal. Put in a lot of dashes and you’re informal. Having a feel for the signals words, sentence structure, punctuation, and layout give allows you to have more control over the impression your e-mail makes.

    Errors in email?

    The speed with which e-mail is written, sent, and read seems to invite error. Even the most scrupulous writers can press the send button before they correct the grammatical error in the fourth sentence. The grammar check missed it, too. Occasional errors, while undesirable, are not uncommon. Continual errors, however, are worrisome and suggest the writer needs serious writing help.

    Can you see what you’re writing?

    The quickest way to find errors in your e-mail is to consult the copy of the e-mail you’ve already sent. Once the pressure is off to send, you see the email baldly, for what it’s worth, in all its shame and glory.

    When we’re trying to bang out an e-mail to send, a different situation inheres. We type too fast. We read too fast. We proof too fast. Our dyslexia, corrective lenses, eye strain, overindulgence from the night before, and lack of sleep get the better of us. Oh no! It’s too late. Not even the grammar and spellchecks can save us. It’s gone.

    Perhaps one day our e-mail programs will psychological delays tagged to the stress or sleepiness of the writer. Until then, we have to help ourselves by:

    —changing the typeface of the e-mail to see the contents afresh when we edit and revise

    —changing the type size for the same reason

    —printing out a hard copy

    —reading the e-mail aloud so that the ear can hear errors that the eye can’t see

    Put out the fire

    Flaming is a no-no. No matter how angry, insulted, and indignant you are at the e-mail you just received, fight the temptation to let off steam. Mean and angry e-mails are easily dismissed—it’s the cool, calm ones that get revenge. And sometimes, a pleasant, understanding e-mail catches your adversary off guard. The last thing you need at work is a reputation as a flamer. Coworkers will sift through the ashes and gossip.

    Frames magnify

    Emotion comes across in e-mail with more force than we often imagine. It’s almost as if the focused reading produced by framing in screens and windows intensifies emotion rather than diminishes it. What may have seemed like an aloof observation could strike the reader as downright rude. The off-hand complaint could come across as aggressive. A little bit of emotion goes a long way in business e-mail.

    When to pick up the phone

    —When you need to communicate how you feel.

    —When you need to break bad news before you send the e-mail.

    —When you’ve been e-mailing someone back and forth for weeks.

    What’s left in an e-mail once all the nonessential words have been taken away?

    A clear message.

    A startling observation

    A lot of the business e-mail circulating right this second through cyberspace can be halved in length. Some business e-mail can even be reduced even further, provided the writer knows what to look for.

    If business e-mails were more concise, there’d be less e-mail stuffing the inbox. All the time wasted with replying, with correcting miscommunications, with complementing incomplete communications, and/or dithering in order to delay the Herculean task of communication could be invested in other activities.

    E-mail is economic

    The economy is based on transactions of goods and service. You want to get the most for your money. You want to spend as little as possible and maximize the returns. The same thing is true in e-mail. You want to get maximum returns on the fewest words possible. That’s just good business, and good communication.

    CHAPTER ONE

    The Basics

    INCLUDING

    Request for Approval

    Reply to a Request for Approval

    Request for Information

    Reply to a Request for Information

    Request for Approval

    011

    Bree,

    Subject Announcement

    I need your urgent support on an issue regarding a nationwide rebate program. I don’t believe we should approve additional rebates for the southern region because of potential business partner issues.

    Background

    A nationwide 1% rebate program is scheduled to launch in February 2008. Because of storm damage, the time frame in the southern states has been extended. An additional 0.5% rebate is to be offered in March and April in the southern region.

    Problem

    Due to slack markets in disaster areas, the southern states want a 1.5% rebate throughout the duration of the program. Business, including Sikibu, is behind it. In response to the pressure, Promotions and Discounts has come up with a region- and state-only promotions policy.

    Analysis

    The extended 1.5% rebate for the southern region doesn’t meet

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