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Writing Effective E-mails

Learn the essential rules for writing professional emails to improve communication skills. Avoid common mistakes and enhance your email signature. Understand the importance of email privacy and grammar.

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Writing Effective E-mails

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  1. Writing Effective E-mails

  2. At some point in school we were taught how to compose a letter. Even though e-mail is now easily one of the most popular communication methods, we’ve spent little or no time training our students or professionals generally accepted etiquette. As a result, we seem to be left with a bit of confusion: is it an informal or formal communication method? What are the common sense rules to professional email? This confusion has led to a lot of “professional emails” looking something like this:

  3. This communication is being transmitted by the Department of Social Services (DSS) and is confidential, privileged, and intended only for the use of the recipient named above. If you are not the intended recipient, unauthorized disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender and destroy the material received.

  4. The Basics • Rule One • Never Use Crazy Fonts or Colors • Only use standard email font – that means basic fonts (i.e. Times Roman, Arial etc.) in black. Why? Most people spend over 2 hours a day reading email. Next time you curl up with a book for 2 hours, just imagine the entire book is in • fuchsia Comic Sans font • – it’ll give you a migraine.

  5. Rule 2 • DON’T WRITE IN ALL UPPER CASE • Did it look like I was just yelling at you? That’s what an all-caps email reads like: one big scream-fest. Only use upper case if you absolutely MUST add emphasis, and use sparingly at best. • Rule 3 • Do Not Use Emoticons:( • If you’re trying to express emotion to a client or colleague, find a way to use your words…not an emoticon. Emoticons are very simply a way to express emotion in lieu of polished writing – they are best left to personal emails, and generally look unprofessional. :) is probably the most accepted in the professional world, even then you should still be very aware of who you are e-mailing.

  6. Rule 4 • Write a Short Descriptive Subject Line • If you are writing about Monday’s meeting? Then you should write “Monday’s Meeting” in the subject line. • Rule 5 • Start with a Salutation • Starting right into your e-mail without a Salutation can • come across a bit cold – so make it a habit to just say hello first. • Rule 6 • Say The Most Important Thing First • You’re not writing a mystery novel – get your point across in the first 2 sentences. Elaborate from there if you need to.

  7. EmailSignature • One of the core problems with email signatures is that we overthink them. If your signature does any of the following, it’s likely distracting recipients from the actual content of your email: • Includes every possible way to contact you. We’re already emailing someone, so shouldn’t the best possible way to reach you to be to email back at the same address? Why do we include emails in email signatures? The only contact information needed in a signature is a phone number. • Uses an image of any kind. Not only can images get blocked by image blockers, but images typically render much larger on mobile phones than desktop. Highly visual signatures can also distract our contacts. Headshots are not critical elements of an effective signature. • Fall into any of the above traps and your email signature may end up looking like this example: 

  8. Remember That All Emails Are Public • When you’re discussing business via email, someone’s privacy is in your hands. Emails are easily dragged out of archive for lawsuits, and even more relevant, people will often absent-mindedly forward an email chain without thinking of what you said 14 replies ago. With this in mind, don’t write angry, nasty, or inappropriate emails – they could very easily end up in front of the wrong eyes. When forwarding an email, read back through the entire email chain for private information before sending – this is a very common and costly mistake. • When responding to a particularly contentious, rude or anger e-mail it is a good idea to have a co-worker review the e-mail before responding. In some cases, not responding at all maybe for the best.

  9. CC- Carbon Copy- BCC- Blind Carbon Copy-

  10. Punctuation, Grammar, and Copy Proper sentence structure may sound overrated, but think of this way: After someone reads our email, do we want the main takeaway to be the core message, or the fact that we can’t write a grammatically sound sentence?

  11. Grammar In a world of acronyms -- omg, btw, lol -- it’s easy to let proper grammar fall to the wayside. Use only approved acronyms from your agency. If you are communicating with entities that you are unsure understands the acronyms from your agency, then spell it out.

  12. http://dssweb.cds.state.mo.us/fsd/training/Main/acronyms_and_definitions/index.htmlhttp://dssweb.cds.state.mo.us/fsd/training/Main/acronyms_and_definitions/index.html

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