Licensed to:

For exclusive use at The Walt Disney Company Latin America (Buenos Aires)

Inbox Hero
Successful Email Writing in English

Module 1

FORM AND STYLE

By P. Ponce de Leon English Teacher, Communication Consultant

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Contents

Intro Module 1: Links: Form and Style Useful Links

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Introduction

Because its fast, effective and flexible, email is an essential communication tool for business in the 21st Century. And of course, English is the international language of business emails. In this Course Book presented in 7 modules- you will learn the basics of writing a business email in English. Yet rather than just establish the rules, this book focuses on providing examples in context and extracting the basics from there. We recommend you read it once in order doing the recommended exercises. After that, you may return to any section in any order as a handy source of reference. Of course, this is a writing book. So like all things related to writing, the only way to get better is to do more writing and to get feedback on it. To give you an idea of how to write correctly, in this book, you will find examples of common mistakes. Those mistakes are later corrected. These examples are written within the context of two companies that work together. If you follow the situation or the story of each email, you will get a feeling for proper email writing. But even better, if you use the tips and techniques suggested in this book, in time you will become a proficient email writer. In time, you will become an inbox hero.

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Module 1 Form and Style

Three Means of Communication

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Of course, right in the middle. But theres a little more to it than that.

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Lets introduce our subject.

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

The Subject Line

The Message

And to give some context to our example, lets try to understand the story. Imagine we work in a company. Lets call it OurCompany or OC, for short. Well, OC has a supplier called Macrosys or MS. Our purchasing representative needs to communicate with MS by email. Heres the situation.

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Here is Albertos email.

So lets see if we can help our purchasing manager improve his communication and avoid misunderstandings. Read the message one more time. Name three things that are wrong with it. When you finish, move on.

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

The Correction

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Reviewing the Example

Here is Albertos email once again.

Read it and make a list of everything you see that needs correction. Then move on.

INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

What Problems Does It Have?

Did you see these mistakes? Did you see any others? Read it one more time and make a list of additional mistakes you see. Then move on.

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Did you see these mistakes? Did you see any others? Read it again and make a list of additional mistakes you see. Then move on.

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Did you see these mistakes? Did you see any others? Read it yet again and make a list of additional mistakes you see. Then move on.

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Did you see these mistakes too? Are you ready to see it corrected? Just in case, check to see if there is anything that doesnt sound right. Then move on.

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

How does it sound to you? Would you send an email like this? Why or why not?

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Do you use greetings and salutations? If so, when? Do other people you work with use them? If so, when? Lets look at the message without them.

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

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INBOX HERO - How to Write a Successful Business Email / Module 01

By P. Ponce de Leon 2014 All Rights Reserved

Links

Online Spell Check http://www.gingersoftware.com/spellcheck Online Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com General Writing Style Manual https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/ Business Idioms http://www.idiomconnection.com/business.html Business Writing Style Business Email o http://www.emailexcellence.com/Free-Writing-Tools.cfm Business Reports o https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/726/01/ Business Plans o http://www.bplans.com/sample_business_plans.php Punctuation Rules https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/566/01/ Grammar Rules https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/5/

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