Scribd
Upload
37 views21 pages

Email

How to write affective email

Uploaded by

jaydattsevak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
37 views21 pages

Email

How to write affective email

Uploaded by

jaydattsevak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 21

Writing of email

For writing effective emails the following should be kept in mind:

1. Write a meaningful subject line.


2. Keep the message focused.
3. Avoid attachments (as far as possible)
4. Identify yourself clearly.
5. Be kind.
6. Proofread.
7. Do not assume privacy.
8. Distinguish between (in) formal situations.
9. Respond Promptly.
10. Show Respect and Restraint.
1. Write a meaningful subject line

• Subject line should accurately describes the content, giving a


concrete reason to open your message.

• Subject: [If left blank]


It suggests that your name in the “From” line is all your recipient
should need. That seems arrogant.

• A well-chosen subject line is an important opportunity to inform


and persuade your reader.
1. Write a meaningful subject line

• What is important to you may not be important to your reader.


• Subject: “Important! Read Immediately!!“

• Rather than announcing that contents of message are important,


write an informative headline.
• “Emergency: All cars outside the parking lot area will be towed
in 1 Hour.”
1. Write a meaningful subject line

• Subject: “Quick question.“


• If the question is quick, why not just ask it in the subject line? This
subject line is hardly useful.

• Subject: “Follow-up about Friday“


• Fractionally better — provided that the recipient remembers why a
follow-up was necessary.
1. Write a meaningful subject line

• Subject: “That file you requested.“


• If you are confident your recipient will recognize your email
address, and really is expecting a file from you, then this would be
fine.

• Subject: “Conference on 20th – will need a larger room”


• Upon reading this revised, informative subject line, the recipient
immediately starts thinking about the size of the room, not about
whether it will be worth it to open the email.
2. Keep the message focused

• Purpose: complaint and adjustment letters, proposal letters,


progress reports, application letters etc.

• Why are you writing? Are you responding to a request?


Apologizing for an error? Asking for the recipient to take some
action for you?

• Directness: You probably don’t need to open with “Dear Ms.


Shah,” and close with “Yours Truly.”
2. Keep the message focused

• Organization: Readers will often read half the message and “reply”
to say something and forget to read the rest. That’s human nature.

• Number your points in complex message.

• Split unrelated points into separate emails.

• Politeness: “Please” and “thank you” are still important


2. Keep the message focused - Example

• Indirect and wasteful:


Dearest Jay:
I would be very much obliged if, at your earliest convenience, you
could send me the current password for the website. I look forward
to your response.
Have a nice day!
Yours Truly,
Priti.

• Blunt to the point of rudeness:


Need the password for the website.

• Urgent, yet polite:


Site is down, but I can’t troubleshoot without the new password.
Do you know it?
2. Keep the message focused

• Keep your text readable. To help your reader focus on your


message:

Proofread, especially when your message asks your recipient to do


work for you.

All-caps comes across as shouting, and no-caps makes you look


like a lazy teenager. Regardless of your intention, people will
respond accordingly.
2. Keep the message focused

A gushing statement “thx 4 ur help 2day ur gr8!″ may make a


busy professional shudder.

Often, the sweetness of the gesture won’t be enough. u want ur


prof r ur boss 2 think u cant spl? LOL ;-)

• Short paragraphs, separated by blank lines. Unbroken blocks of


text boring, or even intimidating. Take the time to format your
message for the ease of your reader.
2. Keep the message focused

• Avoid fancy typefaces. Do not depend upon bold font or large


size to add shades.

• Your recipient’s email reader may not have all the features that
yours does. You may use asterisks to show *emphasis*.
3. Avoid attachments

• Rather than forcing you reader to download an attachment and


open it in a separate program, you will probably get faster
results if you just copy-paste the most important part of the
document into the body of your message.

• Attachments consume bandwidth

• may require your recipient to have certain software installed


(such as Microsoft Publisher or Apple’s Pages)
4. Identify yourself clearly

• While a routine email does not require a formal salutation such


as “Dear Ms. Parul,” ask yourself whether the person you are
writing knows you well enough to recognize your email address.

• To: Professor Desai


From: [email protected]
Subject: [Blank] Yo goin 2 miss class what’s the homework

• To: Professor Desai


From: [email protected]
Subject: Roll No. 420 Absence on Oct 24
5. Be kind

• Think before you click “Send.”

• If you find yourself writing in anger, save a draft, go get a cup of


coffee. Would your associates and friends be shocked by your
language or attitude?

• Will you have to work with this person for the rest of the
semester?

• Do you want a copy of your bitter correspondence to surface


years from now?
5. Be kind

• @!$% &*@!! &(*!

• Go ahead… write it, revise it, liven it up with traditional Lebanese


curses, print it out, throw darts on it, and scribble on it with
crayon.

• Do whatever you need in order to get it out of your system.


Just don’t hit “Send” while you’re still angry.
6. Proofread

• Take the time to make your message look professional.

• While you spell checker will not catch every mistook, at the every
least it will caught a few typos.

• While your spell checker will not catch every mistake, at the very
least it will catch a few typos.

• Get it read by some higher ups. Or, show a draft to a close


associate, in order to see whether it actually makes sense.
7. Do not assume privacy

• Email is not secure: A curious hacker, and your IT department


can probably read any and all email messages in your work
account.

• You are creating a written record that your recipient can (and will)
use to determine whether you are uninformed or confused.
8. Distinguish between (in) formal situations

• When you are writing to a friend, it is OK to use “smilies” :-) ,


abbreviations, LOL etc.

• These linguistic shortcuts are generally signs of friendly intimacy


and conveying that you do not really care about the meeting.
9. Respond promptly

• If you want to appear professional and courteous, make yourself


available to your online correspondents.

• Even if your reply is, “Sorry, I’m too busy to help you now,” at
least your correspondent won’t be waiting in vain for your reply.
10. Show respect and restraint

• Many a flame war has been started by someone who hit “reply
all” instead of “reply.”

• Use BCC instead of CC when sending sensitive information to


large groups.

You might also like