Email sits in the tricky middle ground between writing and speaking.  We may think that we are talking to the reader when we send an email; they, of course, will be reading and not listening to us. 

The words of an email can never convey all the tacit meaning conveyed by tone of voice, gesture, facial expression or body language.  The text has to work on its own.  

These ten top tips will help you produce effective emails.

 

1.  Create a powerful, clear message and a few key points.

The message is the single most important point you want to make in the email.  Ask yourself: ‘What do I want to say in this email?’  Write down the most important point – the summarizing point – as a single, simple sentence of no more than about 15 words. Now ask: ‘What key points do I need to make to support that message?’  Write those down, also, as single, simple sentences. Finally, add an action point that indicates the way forward for the reader. 

Here is a simple example of an email created in this way.

 

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Derek

I’d like to discuss three key issues at our meeting on Friday.

• How can we promote the conference more effectively to other charities?
• How can we align the main speakers’ messages effectively to support our campaign?
• Do we have the resources to create an informal exhibition area in the foyer?

If you have any other issues to raise, copy me in. See you there!

Gloria 

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Include your message and key points in the first few lines of the email, so that the reader doesn’t need to scroll down.

If your e-mail contains multiple messages that are only loosely related, you could number the points to ensure they are all read.  Your message might then be something like: ‘I am making four points in this email’.

If the points need substantial supporting information – or if they are  intended for different people – split an email into separate parts, or even into separate emails.

 

2.  Write a ‘headline’ in your subject line.

Your reader will scan the subject line to work out whether to open the email.  Avoid subject lines like:

‘[blank]’

‘Urgent!’

‘Meeting’

‘Three subjects’

The best text to put in the subject line is a headline version of your message.

For Gloria’s email, a suitable subject line might be:

‘Our meeting on Friday: three issues I’d like to discuss’

Increasingly, writers are taking this advice one step further and writing their message only in the subject line; when the reader opens the email, it is empty.  I advise against this practice, if only because your reader may think that something has gone wrong with the email.  At the very least, copy and paste the ‘headline’ message into the text field of the email.  

Give every email its own, unique headline.  Don’t reply to an email without changing the subject line.  A subject line very quickly becomes irrelevant in a thread of emails.

 

3. Use attachments for complex information.

Avoid using too many attachments.  But the format of email is notoriously volatile, and you will have very little control over the way your text looks when you send it.  If you are giving complex or voluminous information, put it into a Word document – or, better still, a pdf file – that you can format with confidence.

Consider other possibilities for wide distribution.  Can you post everything onto the intranet for ease of access?

 

4. Identify yourself clearly. 

Always include your full contact details at the end of an email – and not just on initial or cold contacts.  It can be annoying to search through dozens of emails for a telephone number or address.

A gentle reminder of who you are is often a good way of opening an email to an occasional or new contact:  “I enjoyed talking with you about the upcoming conference last week.”

If you have a website or a presence in other media, include links in your contact details.

 

5. Be kind. Don't flame.

Basic gestures of respect include a salutation at the start of the email – ‘Dear [reader]’ or ‘Hi [reader]’ – and a complimentary close at the end: ‘Yours sincerely’ or ‘kind regards’.

The etiquette of email has evolved from letter-writing etiquette and is much more fluid.  Salutations and complimentary closes come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes don’t appear at all.  Be guided by what you consider to be polite in the circumstances, and by how other writers salute you.  If you are replying to an email starting ‘Dear [reader]’, open your email in the same way.

If an email angers you, do not reply at once.  Take a break.  Assume constructive intent on the other person’s part: however they may ‘sound’ in their email to you, assume that they have a good reason in their own mind for saying what they say.  Build a constructive, collaborative relationship at all times.

Never shout.  Avoid capital letters and underlining.  Use bold and italic type very carefully: bold for defining, italics for ‘vocal’ emphasis. Better still, avoid both.  Many email readers display only plain text.  You can use *asterisks* to surround words that you want to emphasize.

 

6. Proofread.

Edit the email before sending it.

Basic checks include actions on three levels: paragraph, sentence, word.

Create space between paragraphs. Summarize a paragraph in a short sentence at the beginning.

Allow no sentence over 25 words long.

Check your wording for ambiguity, especially if writing across a language barrier.  Be aware of idioms that can be hard to understand if English is not the reader’s first language. "Didn’t you get what I told you?” might mean ‘Didn’t you understand what I said?’ or ‘Did you not receive my last email?’

While your spell checker won't catch every mistake, it will catch a few typos.  Read the text aloud and check for potential misunderstandings.  A well placed comma can make all the difference to the meaning of a sentence.

“A woman without her man is nothing.”

“A woman: without her, man is nothing.”

7. Don't assume privacy.

Remember that email is completely public.  Write nothing that you wouldn’t be happy to say face-to-face, or that you would not want to see on the front page of a newspaper. Email can be intercepted by law-enforcement agencies; in some countries, we must assume that government monitoring of email is routine.

 

8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations. 

When you are writing to a friend or a close colleague, you can use "smilies" [:-); [:-) and so on] , abbreviations ['IIRC' for "if I recall correctly", LOL for "laughing out loud,"] and nonstandard punctuation and spelling (like that found in instant messaging or chat rooms). 

These linguistic shortcuts are generally signs of friendly intimacy, like sharing cold pizza with a friend. Imagine inviting a new acquaintance or a business partner to share cold pizza.  Don’t use informal techniques when writing in more formal situations.

In business, I advise these basic rules.

• Always use complete, grammatically correct sentences.  They don’t need to be long or complicated, but they do need to be sentences.
• Use standard capitalization and spelling, especially if you are seeking to persuade or impress the reader.  Use the standardized forms of your own language, rather than the reader's.  If you are British and writing to an American, for example, don’t try to write American. 
• Avoid fancy typefaces.  Many people's e-mail readers only display plain text.
  
• Use standard capitalization. All-caps comes across as shouting, and a complete lack of capitals looks lazy and ignorant.  The proper use of capital letters is not easy to get right; if in doubt, check with a style guide.

Judge the formality of the situation and write accordingly.

 

9. Respond Promptly. 

It’s better to acknowledge an email than to ignore it. 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.

If you want the reader to respond fast, make specific requests.  “Can you provide the latest sales figures from Malaysia?” is a more useful request than “Can you help me with the Malaysian angle?”

Be prompt but don’t rush.  The speed of email gives you the opportunity to edit before sending.

10. Show Respect and Restraint

Avoid spam and blanket copies.  Many a flame war has been started by someone who hit "reply all" instead of "reply."

Be tolerant of other people's etiquette blunders. If you think you've been insulted, quote the line back to your sender and add a neutral comment such as, "I'm not sure how to interpret this... could you elaborate?"

Alan Barker

www.kairostraining.co.uk

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