E N D
Use a neutral e-mail address. Your e-mail addressshouldbe a variationofyourrealname, not a username or nickname. Usehyphens, or underscores to securean e-mail addressthat's just yourname, without extra numbers or letters, ifyoucan. • Never useanunprofessional email address. No onewilltakeyouseriouslyifyourreply-toismonsigneur.harry.manback@slip’nslides.net.
Use a short and accuratesubjectheader. Avoidsayingtoomuch in thesubjectheader, butmakesureitreflectsthecontentofyour email to a person unfamiliarwithyou. Ifpossible, include a keywordthatwillmakethe email contenteasier to remember and/or searchfor in a crowdedinbox. • Forexample, “Meeting on March 12th” isspecificenoughthatthe email topicwon’tbemistakenforanythingelsebutnot so specificas to bedistracting (ex. “Schedule, Guest List, LunchRequests, and MeetingOverviewforMarch 12th").
Use a propersalutation. Addressingthe recipient by nameispreferred. Usetheperson'stitle (Mr. Mrs. Ms. or Dr.) withtheirlastname, followed by a comma or a colon. Optionally, youcanprecedethesalutationwith "Dear..." (but "Hello..." isacceptableaswell). Using a lastnameis more formal and shouldbeusedunlessyou are on first-nametermswiththe recipient. Ifyoudon'tknowthenameofthe person you'rewriting to (butyoureallyshouldtry and findone) use "Dear Sir/Madam" or "Dear Sir or Madam" followed by a colon.
Introduceyourself in thefirstparagraph (ifnecessary). Alsoincludewhyyou'rewriting, and howyoufoundthatperson's e-mail address, or theopportunityyou'rewritingabout. Ex.: My nameisEarlRivers. I'mcontactingyou to applyfortheadministrativeassistantpositionlisted on CareerXYZ.com. My nameisArleneRivers. I am writingaboutthetrafficcitation I received on December 31, 2009. I obtainedyour e-mail addressfortheWestchesterCountyClerkwebsite.
Writetheactualmessage. Besure to get your point acrosswithoutrambling; ifit'sfluffedup, thereadermayglance over theimportantdetails. Try to break upthemessageintoparagraphs by topic to makeyourmessage more logical and digestible. • Theemail shouldbeno more than 5 paragraphslong and eachparagraphshouldbe no more than 5 sentenceslong. • Inserta line breakbetweeneachparagraph; indentingisn'tnecessary and willlikelybelostduringthe email transfer anyway. • Besure to avoidinformalwriting.
Usethecorrectformofleave-taking. Thiswilldepend on yourlevelofintimacywiththe recipient. • Examplesinclude: Yourssincerely, Yourscordially, Respectfully, Best,
Signwithyourfullname. Ifyouhave a jobtitle, includethat in thelineafteryourname, and writethecompanynameor website in thelineafterthat.
Proofreadyourmessageforcontent. Makesureyouhaven’tomittedanyimportantdetails (or repeatedyourself). • Readingyour email aloud or askingsomeoneto proofreaditis a greatway to get a differentperspective on whatyou’vewritten.
Proofreadyourmessageforspelling and grammar. Ifyour email providerdoesn’talreadyprovidespelling and grammaroptionsforyou, copy and paste your email into a wordprocessor, reviseitifnecessary, and copyand paste itbackintoyouremail.