Writing Excellent Emails
Most of the things in business are about using common sense. Fortunately or unfortunately I have found that people do not care to apply it as frequently as they are required to. Most of the books that I have read on self improvement have just presented a few common sense things, given them fancy names and built a story around them. That’s the Mantra of most of the best seller books, successful consultants and businessmen. And that’s also what this post is about, How to write excellent emails using common sense?
Emails can be extremely useful tool. One should use it very wisely. Read that again. One should use it very wisely. Here are a few tips on how you can improve your emailing skills and be in the good books.
1. Decide on “To”, “CC” and “BCC”. To should list all the receivers who directly need the information and may also need to act on it. “CC” your email to people who may not even read it, but it’s good to keep it with them for records. “BCC” it When you don’t want your receivers to know each other. I also recommend it when you have a long list of recipients, so that, you don’t have to worry about an obnoxious reply-to-all chain.
2. Subject: Subject is extremely important. No mail should go out without a subject…read again… NO Mail should go out without a subject. Subject should be precise and clear. For informational emails it should clearly state what is it about. E.g.. instead of “Meeting” it can say “Meeting about Strategy planning”. Instead of “request” it can be “Request for stationery allotment”. For informal mails and greetings also, one should state the purpose of email clearly in the subject line. Generally, A subject should always excite the reader to open your email and read it!
3. Salutation:
Simple Rules for generic scenarios
To Bosses, Biggies in your organization: Gentlemen/Hi All/ Hello Everyone,
To Boss: Hi ,
To Unknown: Dear Sir/Madam,
To Known, friends, colleagues, subordinates: Dear , OR , [First Name]
4. Body : Just KISS, Keep it Short & Simple. If you are good at writing you can put in your creativity here, but don’t make it long. Brevity is compulsory. If you are not good at it, just remember to state the key information. You can even list down the info in bullets. Divide your email into Facts, Questions, Answers and list them accordingly. You might even underline/bold/italicize the key words. Keep the fonts same throughout. Best fonts to be used : Arial 10,Calibri 11, Trebuchet 12. They look quite professional and are very clear, distinct and readable.
5. Signature : Always sign your emails. Keep different signatures for new emails and for replies & Forwards. Start with Regards/Thanks/Cheers/Yours Sincerely(only for application). ‘Warm Regards’, ‘Thanks and Regards’ are not quite impressive and should be used rarely. A new email Sign may contain more info, like your full name, Extn, may be address as well. It’s better not to keep it fancy/colorful. It should always contain your Name (first name or full name) and one of your contact number (Extn. or Cell). Your reply sign may contain only your first name and contact number. Signatures are great place to tell the world about yourself, Or write something impressive. Use it! but don’t overdo it! For more refer to my earlier post on Personal Ads.
And of course spelling/grammatical mistakes are to be avoided at all costs. Use whatever tools are available to spell check and grammar check. If you are still not sure ask for help, may be a few times initially. As I told you earlier. These rules are redundant, and absolute common - sense. Nothing else. But if you really apply them, you can get appreciations.
