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HOW TO WRITE PROFESSIONAL EMAIL

HOW TO WRITE PROFESSIONAL EMAIL. Editor: Angela Lee/MXIC Test Div.(OG100) Data source: James B. De Lange/B.E.S.T (Business English Service & Training Co., Ltd.) Date: November 28, 2001. Lecture on How to Write Professional Email. CONTENTS  Introduction  Requests  Follow-up Emails

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HOW TO WRITE PROFESSIONAL EMAIL

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  1. HOW TO WRITE PROFESSIONAL EMAIL Editor: Angela Lee/MXIC Test Div.(OG100) Data source: James B. De Lange/B.E.S.T (Business English Service & Training Co., Ltd.) Date: November 28, 2001

  2. Lecture on How to Write Professional Email CONTENTS  Introduction  Requests  Follow-up Emails  Reminders  Postponements

  3. INTRODUCTION What is a Good Business Email? A good business email is one that can clearly & effectively deliver your intention,meaning,background/or reason. 永遠牢記商業書信可不是在寫情書, 應明確的點明你的來意. 客套話能省即省. Why are good business writing skills important? 1.Customers see your writing more than they see you. 2.Good writing skills show that you really care. 3.Good writing skills contribute more forcefully to arguments/persuasion/selling. 4.Good writing skills reduce risk of losing a customer or damaging a customer relationship,and foster good relationships with colleagues. 許多遠地的客戶雖然通了無數的Email,但彼此可能未曾謀面. 因此一份合宜的商業書信不但可幫助你建立正面形象,也可以避免因語言隔闔造成爭端而傷及與客戶間的友好關係.

  4. BUSINESS EMAIL : REQUESTS Requests: A request is a message asking the receiver to do something. 要求收信人配合達成某項目標即是所謂的REQUEST文件. 1. Focus immediately on the information you need.Make your call for action(the main idea)at or near the opening of the email. 2. Tell why you need the information if the reason is not obvious. 3. Emphasize due dates.Phrases such as :at your earliest convenience” or “as soon as possible” seem polite, but they make it easy for the reader to delay answering; if you have a due date in mind, say so. For special emphasis put the due date in a paragraph by itself. 4. Supply any further information, contact names and numbers, or forms so the reader can respond quickly and easily. 重點放在你希望對方配合的事項上. 尤其應該強調你希望對方回覆的截止期限. 類似像 at your earliest convenience 或as soon as possible這類較客套的句子,反而容易因目標不明確而增加對方延遲回覆的機率. 要提供明確的資訊讓對方知道如何回覆.如please give me a call …,如果只用contact me (注意!不加with..在台灣常見有人喜歡用contact with me)似乎不夠具體.應說明方式email,fax,….等.

  5. EXAMPLE OF REQUESTS 讓我們一起來看一個典型的REQUESTS文件 Dear James, Thanks for your preparation and time on this project. I’ve attached (or Attached please find ) the process flow charts you requested. As to the exact implementation date, Elaine will coordinate with the supervisors involved and let you know by December 7. Since this training is not in our original approved budget,I would appreciate it ifyou could provide me with some cost information. Thanks you very much. Best regards, 如果要向對方make a request , 聰明的用法就是使用 I would appreciate it if you could ….( do something).

  6. BUSINESS EMAIL : FOLLOW-UP EMAILS Follow-up 1 State immediately that the email is a follow-up. Restate your original message and request. 例句1>I am writing to follow up on our earlier decision to …. 例句2>As a follow-up to our phone conversation yesterday, I wanted to get back to you about our agreement to ….. 商業書信中另有一種 Follow-up文件,此類書信往來多半直接表明來意, 可用開場白有 Per your requirement….., As our decision….., As you requested ….,As we discussed…..

  7. BUSINESS EMAIL : FOLLOW-UP EMAILS Offer an excuse for your reader’s failure to reply-- one that will allow him or her to save face for having failed to respond by the specified date or to acknowledge receipt of your request or message. Even a phrase such as, “Could you let me know the status of …” implies some progress. <例句> I can understand how busy you are this time of year, especially with budget reviews going on. However, I would really appreciate it if you could update me on the status of this order by Friday so that I can inform our customer. 2 商業書信往來有時亦可使用一些小技巧,其中在Follow-up文件中最常用到的便是 --- 為對方留點顏面,然後順勢道出解決辦法. 例如例句中, 明明對方已經DELAY你交付的REQUEST了, 可是開啟你的信件後, 卻發現你已經為他的失誤找了個台階下,你認為他還會不敢緊補救嗎?

  8. BUSINESS EMAIL : FOLLOW-UP EMAILS Emphasize the critical need for a response. If you can, find reader incentive for the action. If appropriate, use the if-I-don’t-hear-from-you-by approach; state your next action if you get no response. In order to complete our customer’s order and deliver on schedule, I will need your reply by September 20 at the latest. If I don’t hear from you by October 20, I will assume that you are committed to the travel dates we set in last week Friday’s meeting (December 3-6 Shanghai;December 7-8 Beijing). 3 商業書信有軟性訴求,當然也有強硬手段. 其中針對慢郎中的對手,你就可以使用美國人最愛用的 If I don’t hear from you by ……, I will …….. 不過 Mr.James也提醒大家這類恐嚇的語氣千萬不可用於英國或歐州國家,即使美國人也對這類敘述很反感. 不過,面對你的下包商遲遲不肯定案時, 這類的敘述手法可以保護自己與客戶的合約權益.

  9. EXAMPLE OF FOLLOW-UP EMAILS 範 例 Dear Betty, Could you please check why Orders A04 and A07 of the Anvil 6400 still do not have shipping dates? (The order had been entered for 7 days). At this time, the shipping date of Orders A05 and A06 had been given as September 9. If at all possible, we would like to move up the shipping date for all orders (A04,A05,A06 and A07). HP is a very important customer for us, and a delay is certain to negatively influence our business with them. I hope we can have a reply from you by Thursday so we can update UP. Best regards, (or sincerely yours,) 1.為何不用I wish….,因為wish通常指這件事實現的可能性很小.例如. I wish I can fly in sky. 2.不要再用Your prompt response will be highly appreciated.或 I would highly appreciate your prompt response.這類文字用在follow-up文件根本是裝飾品. 3.慎用“kindly”: Please kindly give me your reply…. 對英國人而言可是很不禮貌的.因為kindly 和please一樣,當你連說了二次please通常是表示有些生氣和不耐煩的. 常見的錯誤: 1.簡(縮)寫: Bst rgrds, --- 對方看到這種結語,只會覺得You really like a busy person. 2.不當大寫: REGARDS, Best Regards --- 對歐美語系國家字母大寫文句通常是想強調某件事,這種大寫結尾讓人感覺你是很生氣的結束本文喔! 3.Truly yours: 這通常是LOVER間才會用到,所以千萬別表錯情囉! 4.Thanks and best regards: 多禮的中國人最常犯的錯誤.Thanks只用於本文,並不適合用來和regards合併使用.

  10. BUSINESS EMAIL : REMINDERS Reminders • State up front the item you wish to remind the reader about and his/her expected action. • Just a reminder to you that ….. • Just a note to confirm you will be …. • I’m just writing to remind you of …… • Make the reminder as complete as the first announcement.Repeat all necessary information -- time, date, place, purpose, topics of concern, deadlines, and so forth. • In emails, it’s a good idea to mention in both the subject line and the body of the memo the word ”reminder.” Otherwise, the reader may think you are sending him new information containing some detail about which he or she was unaware beforehand. 商業書信中的reminder文件有提醒及催促的作用,常用開場白如左列例句. Mr..James 提供給大家一個好方法, 直接在標題列以及正文中註明“reminder”這個字,可以幫助收信人快速進入狀況.

  11. BUSINESS EMAIL : REMINDERS Reminders • If the reminder is sent due to some change in the former plan or announcement, call special attention to that change. To add emphasis, place that detail alone in a separate paragraph or underline or capitalize it. • Please note we had originally ….. • This location is different from the one we had previously discussed on the phone. • There’s been a CHANGE ! Please re-mark your calendars …. 假若你發此信的目的是提醒對方原先協議已變更, 建議你可以將新的內容/條款單獨一個段落特別敘述,或者也可將其用全部大寫以及文字加底線的方式來強調,提醒對方特別注意.

  12. BUSINESS EMAIL : REMINDERS Reminders • Request confirmation, if necessary. • Would you please phone me before May6 if we can count on you to participate? • Would you please reply to this email if you plan to attend? • If we don’t hear from you by May 6, we will assume you will be unable to join us in this effort. 當你發出一份Reminder時, 若需要對方作一個confirmation的動作,可在結語使用上列例句提醒收信人注意.

  13. EXAMPLE OF REMINDERS 範 例 Reminders Dear Harold, Recognizing your very busy schedule, I’m sending you this note as a reminder that you were going to select ten sales managers who will participate in our upcoming management seminar on December 15. Please check off the names of those who will be attending in the attached Excel file. If at all possible, could you get this list to us before December 2? In this way we can distribute pre-training materials to the participants in advance, and they will have plenty of time to peruse the materials before the training begins. I’m sincerely looking forward to working with you on this project. Best regards,

  14. BUSINESS EMAIL : REMINDERS 看看Nicole如何向James要求暫緩目前的Training Postponements 常犯的錯誤: I apologize you for not replying you sooner .正確應是I apologize for not replying sooner to you. Dear James, I apologize for not replying sooner. Christine is back this week. After we discussed the Management training with our production managers, we are afraid we have to postpone this training due to the recent economic downturn and sales below our projections. Because of this, we are utilizing our financial and time resources in other areas at this time. Production management prefers to postpone this training until at least the 2nd quarter of 2002. Your patience and cooperation are highly appreciated. I will inform you at the appropriate time to reschedule this training. Best regards, Nicole 學到一個很棒的單字 economic downturn (經濟不景氣) . 你記住了嗎?

  15. IMPROVING YOUR BUSINESS ENGLISH SKILLS To improve your Business English Skills 如何增強你目前的商用英文程度  Focus on English for the specific purposes you need in your field. (針對你的需要,然後持續深耕這個特定的領域)  Understand that spoken and written language is very different. (要明白口語英文和書面英文可是不同的)  Focus on being aware of and looking for phrases(collocation) whenever you are reading in English or listening to English. (當你在閱讀或聽到一句英文時,多注意文字的關聯性和使用的片語)  Put some “pleasure” back into studying English: Always reserve some of your “study” time just for reading for just fun. (最後,就是所有的老師都會傳授你的一項秘訣: “樂在學習”)

  16. THE END 報告完畢  下課囉!

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