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| Email Writing Skills |
1) Subject Line
2) Say Hello
3) Be very careful of capital letters, punctuation, spelling and basic grammar
4)Think of who your reader is going to be
5)The reader will also accept bad grammar in informal emails
6)Think about how direct or indirect you want to be
7)Be positive!
8)Get feedback
9)Short and Simple Sentences
10)Put your message in context
11)Focus on what they need to know
12)Use a well designed signature
1) Subject Line
This is the most important part of the e-mail. When people first check their new messages, this is what they see listed – and this is the information they have to use to decide whether your e-mail is either important or urgent.
Make sure you put a concise description of your message content here. If possible, write it in a way that means they don’t necessarily have to open the message to know what it is about.
e.g. Weekly Team Meeting moved to 3.30pm next week
2) Say Hello
3) Be very careful of capital letters, punctuation, spelling and basic grammar
While these can be tolerated in informal emails, they are very important in business emails as they are an important part of the image you create. Give yourself time to edit what you’ve written before you push that Send button. In today’s busy world, it’s very easy to send out many emails without checking them so make a conscious effort to edit.
4) Think of who your reader is going to be
Is it a colleague, a client or your boss? Should the email be informal or formal? Most Business Emails these days have a neutral tone. Note the difference between Informal and Formal:
Informal – Thanks for the email of 15 February
Formal – Thank you for your email received 15 February
Informal – Sorry, I can’t make it.
Formal – I am afraid I will not be able to attend
Informal – Could you…?
Formal – I was wondering if you could….?
Some emails to colleagues can be informal if they are friends. This is the style that is closest to speech, so there are often everyday words and conversational expressions that can be used. For instance, ‘Don’t forget’, ‘Catch you later’, ‘Cheers’.
5) The reader will also accept bad grammar in informal emails.
However, if the email is going to a client or senior colleague, bad grammar and an over-friendly style will not be acceptable.
6) Think about how direct or indirect you want to be
In some cultures it is common practice to be very direct in email correspondence. However, this can cause a problem if you’re writing to someone in another country and in a language that is not yours. They might find your directness rude and sometimes offensive.
Consider these:
Direct – I need this in half an hour.
Indirect and polite – Would it be possible to have this in half an hour?
Direct – There will be a delay
Indirect – I’m afraid there will be a slight delay.
Direct – It’s a bad idea
Indirect – To be honest, I’m not sure it would be a good idea.
By adjusting your tone, you are more likely to get a more positive response from your reader.
7) Be positive!
Look at these words: helpful, good question, agreed, together, useful, I’d be delighted, mutual, opportunity.
Now look at these: busy, crisis, failure, forget it, I can’t, it’s impossible, waste, hard
The words you use show your attitude to life so choose your words wisely.
8) Get feedback
Try and get some feedback on the emails that you write in real life. This could be from your English Teacher or someone you know whose English is better than yours.
Study the English in the emails you receive. If it is a well-written email, look carefully at some of the language used. Start your own phrase book and build a bank of phrases from the ones you receive and think would be useful in the future.
9) Short and Simple Sentences
Use short and easy sentences. Long sentences can often be difficult to read and understand. The most common mistake that I see my students making is to translate directly from their own language. This can often lead to confusing sentences. I always tell my students to use the KISS Test – Keep It Short and Simple
10) Put your message in context
Don’t expect the person you are sending the message to to remember all your previous conversations. If you’re not replying to an e-mail that they sent you, you need to make it clear what you are talking about. Use the first line to add some background information.
e.g. You may remember I spoke to you last week about the issues we were having with George’s schedule….11) Focus on what they need to know
Don’t give any more information than they need to know to make a decision. Their first decision will be “do I need to deal with this now?” so it helps to give an indication of urgency or importance. However, avoid using the words “important” or “urgent” – as these are actually pretty meaningless on their own. If there is a deadline involved, just state the date/time they need to act by. If it is important, state the consequences of inaction.
You can use layered complexity here to keep the message short – just give them what you think they need, and offer a phone call or follow up message if this isn’t what they were after. This saves you time writing paragraphs and paragraphs covering the options in detail.
e.g. We have several of them available – our blue model costs £452.99. We have twenty available – if you want a quote on another colour, let me know which one, and I can give you more details. Alternatively, I’m in the office all afternoon if you want to give me a call to discuss.12) Use a well designed signature
Most people spend a couple of minutes setting up their e-mail signature, then never change it again. Since your signature goes out on every e-mail you send, you can use it to offer some very useful information, including:
- When you check your messages (e.g. I check my e-mails every weekday at 10am and 3:30pm). This stops them getting annoyed when you don’t respond in three minutes.
- If you’re going to be unavailable shortly – add red text to draw their attention (e.g. Vacation: I’ll be on vacation from the 6th-19th June. Please call Mary on xxxx during this time.)
- Changes to your contact details. (e.g. Telephone Change: My new mobile number is xxxxxxxxxxx)
Courtesy Source: http://www.myenglishteacher.eu, http://www.infogineering.net
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