Electronic Mail (Email)

Electronic Mail (Email) Prepared by Dr.Khaled .A. Dweikat

Introduction -Electronic mail is an integral part of the 21st century communication. - Email is primarily a medium rather than a style of communication. People write emails in many different styles , depending on whether they are writing a business letter to a client, a memo to subordinates or a note to colleagues. We need to treat our email messages as though they are letters, even though they are being sent electronically.

Introduction • Email is not a private way of communicating. Employers have the right to access your mail, of course not your personal email. Deleted mail can be retrieved by experts. Therefore…. • Use caution when communicating confidential or legally sensitive information. • Make sure you know who will read the information you are sending.

Believe it or not ! The average office worker receives 60-200 e-mail messages per day. it is estimated that over 7 trillion e-mails were sent last year!

Email Categories - (Formal Emails): Those convey information such as letters and reports. They need to be clear, concise and complete. • (Informal Emails) Those that are part of a dialogue between you and another person

Are You A good Emailer ? Do you…….. ♣ keep messages short. ♣ present information clearly with bullet points ♣ enter a precise subject in the subject box ♣ overuse the reply function ♣ check the mail box at least three times daily ♣ give people time to reply

Are You A good Emailer ? Do you…….. ♣ forward mail without thinking ♣ create a filing system for mail/attachments ♣ add key information in the email signatur ♣ think twice about attaching very large files ♣ telephone if an immediate answer is required ♣ keep address book up-to-date ♣ prefer to be professional at all times.

Techniques to Become a Better Email User The coming 10 tips to help you write effective professional e-mails. The informal e-mails you exchange with your friends don't have to meet any particular standards, of course, but if you want to be taken seriously by professionals, you should know e-mail etiquette.

The Useful 10 Tips 1-Write a meaningful subject line. 2-Keep the message focused and readable. 3-Use attachments sparingly. 4-Identify yourself clearly. 5-Be kind. Don't flame. 6-Proofread. 7-Don't assume privacy. 8-Distinguish between formal and informal situations. 9-Check your inbox regularly. 10-Always reply promptly

Write an informative subject line - Recipients often scan the subject line first in order to decide which messages to open and which to trash. If you want your message to be read immediately, highlight its importance with a subject headline that piques curiosity or actually states the substance of your message. - Let your readers know exactly what they’re about to see by including accurate, concise information in the subject line. Receiving and reading e-mails shouldn’t be a guessing game!

Samples of a meaningful subject line Subject: "Important! Read Immediately!“ What is important to you may not be important to your reader. [I have my e-mail filter set to trash e-mail messages with more than one exclamation mark in the subject line. Anyone who shouts at me is being abusive, trying to sell me something, or both.]

Samples of a meaningful subject line Subject:"Meeting" The content of this message could be anything from a request for a meeting, the announcement of a cancellation or a rescheduling, or the minutes of a meeting that is already over. Subject:"Questions about Meeting"Fractionally better. If the recipient recognizes your name, and remembers what the two of you last discussed, then the subject line might be somewhat meaningful.

Samples of a meaningful subject line Subject:"Quarterly report: how do I write the intro?" Details like this will encourage the recipient to read and respond quickly. ♣You need to keep your subject line short but informative so as to encourage others to open the message and not delete it.

Tip 2. Keep the message focused and readable ♣Stick to two or three short paragraphs. Often recipients only read partway through, hit "reply" as soon as they have something to contribute, and forget to read the rest of the message. ♣ If you have multiple subjects, don't be afraid to send multiple messages. ♣You’ll get faster responses that you can more easily keep track of; instead of searching through massive e-mails for buried information, find the details quickly in the shorter, more organized messages you’ll have.

Keep it Focused • Write an effective opening statement followed by supporting details that the expected reader needs to know, respond or act correctly. You can separate your information into two compartments: 1-Need to Know( fact the reader must have) 2-Nice to Know( details your reader does not really need. • So focus your email on the Need to Know information because readers expect to be told immediately what they most need know

Focused • Provide the who, what, when, where, and why, unless the topic is of a personal rather than a business nature. • If you put more multiple questions in an e-mail, your recipient is likely to hit "return" after the first question that sparks his or her interest, and completely ignore the second. • Some people receive hundreds of messages a day, so the last thing they want to see is a four-page manifesto with figurative language and irrelevant details. Keep it simple!

Readable • Skip lines between paragraphs. • Avoid fancy text.Don't depend upon bold typefaces or text size to communicate information • many people's e-mail readers only display plain text, and the most high-tech people in your office may actually be reading their e-mail on the tiny monochrome screens of their electronic organizers. Use asterisks to show *emphasis*. Use underscores to show _underlining_.

Readable • Don't type in all-caps. • Online, typing in all-caps conventionally represents shouting. • - It doesn't matter whether you do or do not intend to be interpreted as shouting. - The convention is so strong, that people will tend to react aggressively anyway. -The capital letters turn your otherwise ordinary sentence into a kind of challenge.

Tip 3. Use attachments sparingly. • Avoid attachments unless they are essential,as -They take time to download -They could transmit viruses -They take up space on your recipient's computer -They don't always translate correctly (especially for people who might read their e-mail on portable devices). So ,instead of sending a whole word processor file, just copy and paste the relevant text into the e-mail. If you want advice on your layout, then there's a reason to include the whole file

Tip4. Identify yourself clearly ☺When contacting someone (especially someone you do not know), always include your name, occupation, and any other important identification information in the first few sentences. ☺ Identifying yourself will also help the reader decide the context of your message ("E-Mail Ettiquette"). Remember: Your message is not the only one in your receiver's inbox

Tip5. Be kind. Don't flame ♣To "flame" someone is to write an abusive personal attack. If you find yourself writing an angry message in the heat of the moment, walk away and cool off before you hit "send". Once you hit send, you cannot take back what you wrote.

Don’t Flame !! If you flame your boss or your professor, that message will probably surface someday when you're up for promotion or you want a letter of recommendation. If you flame an underling or student (especially in public), then you damage that person's trust in your leadership, and you probably won't get that person's best work in the future.

Tip6.Proofread -Run a spell check before hitting send. Studies have shown that messages full of grammatical errors are often sent straight to the trash. -Don’t risk your readers misunderstanding your important messages. -Remember: It only takes a few extra seconds to run a spell checker, and it may influence whether your message is read or trashed.

Tip7. Don't assume privacy -Don't e-mail anything that you wouldn't want posted, with your name attached, on a public bulletin board. -E-mail is not secure. Just as random pedestrians could easily reach into your mailbox and intercept the envelopes that you send and receive through the post office, a curious hacker, a malicious criminal can easily intercept your e-mail. In some companies, the e-mail administrator has the ability to read any and all e-mail messages.

Tip8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations -When you are writing to a friend or a close colleague, it is OK to use "smilies" :-) , abbreviations (IIRC for "if I recall correctly", LOL for "laughing out loud," etc.) and nonstandard punctuation and spelling. -These linguistic shortcuts are generally signs of friendly intimacy. -don't use informal language when your reader expects a more formal approach. Always know the situation, and write accordingly

Tip9. Check your inbox regularly -If you want to appear professional and courteous, make yourself available to your online correspondents. If you do not check your inbox and reply promptly, someone may think you are ignoring his or her message. ☺Remember: Checking your inbox is just like checking your answering machine.

Tip10. Always reply promptly -A reply lets senders know that you got their messages. Even if all you can manage is a brief acknowledgement, you are still letting the senders know that you received their messages. ☺ Remember: e-mail systems are not flawless, and messages can be lost -- so always reply. - No one is perfect, so be tolerant of other's mistakes

Additional Tips ♣Don’t use abbr. in ur biz msgs (=Don’t use abbreviations in your business messages). Sometimes it takes longer to decode abbreviations in your business messages than it does to read the whole words. Save your readers time by writing out what you need to say. ♣ Include relevant information from past e-mails. When you are responding to communication, an effective e-mail will contain relevant details from previous messages so the reader can quickly recall what’s important.

Additional Tips ♣Send brief, clear messages. No one has the time or energy to scroll through and read a dozen pages.The shorter the e-mail you write, the higher the chance it will be read, so your message will get across.Use bulleted points as an efficient to present information.

Looking forward to getting your e-mails Till next time, have a great day With Best Wishes Dr.Khaled. Dweikat

Electronic Mail (Email)