Email Etiquette

Russell’s Institute Of Spoken

English
Email

 Electronic mail, or e-mail, is the most

frequently used service on the Internet.
Essentials of E-mail
 E-mail employs an electronic medium to
convey the message instantly .

 Clarity, Precision and appropriate tone are

essential for ensuring that your E-mail is
well received and understood by the
readers.
Essentials of E-mail
 Keep ideas short but complete one idea per
sentence.
 Provide a subject line for each message.
 Limit each message to one subject.
 Maintain a professional business like tone.
 No angry messages – no humour.
 Do not use acronyms, clichés, abbreviation ,slang,
jargon, or regional expressions.
 Edit and proof read for correct spelling, grammar
and punctuation.
Contd.
 Do not use capitals
 Avoid using ‘ URGENT’ and ‘IMPORTANT’
Poor Usage Examples
No Subject line
Poor usage

 Action required and key points are hidden

in the message.
Use Smart Subject Lines
 All messages should have clear and specific
“Subject Lines” that
 describes the message content
 specifies if there are any actions required &
due dates
 mentions clearly who the message is for
 Subject Line Template:
TAG description [actions] [due date] [(EOM)]
Use Smart Subject Lines
 If you can type your entire message in the subject
line and don’t need to write anything in the body
of the message - do so!
 Type (EOM) at the end of the subject line. EOM
means “end of message”
Recommended Standards
Recommended Subject Line Tags:
 URG - Stop everything, read me first
 HOT - Need immediate attention
 RSP - Need you to respond, either way
 MTG - New/modified meetings
 FWD - Forward to your respective group(s)
 HLP - Need information, assistance with a
problem
 FYI - Just for your information
 ACT - Needs action
Recommended Standards
Rules:
 No outlook templates or “pretty stationary" when
sending/replying messages
 Reply to sender only. Only "Reply to All" when
absolutely necessary
 PowerPoint Files: Zip all attachments. Large
files; use shared server or websites
 When possible, short messages should be written
in the subject line, with the EOM tag
Recommended Standards
Rules:
 No discussions in email. When people start
"talking" in email, please stop
 Carbon Copy your manager if you really need to
 Do not use UPPER case alphabets unless using it
as a title. This gives a negative connotation
(looks like you are yelling those words)
General Tips
 Use Follow Up Flags.
 If you find you are on a distribution list you don’t need to
be on
 send a note to the originator to be removed.
 If you get involved in an email discussion that you don’t
need to be in
 ask to be taken off the distribution.
 While forwarding the message delete the list of email
addresses if not necessary
 If you see someone else practicing bad email etiquette
 send a friendly note and ask them to correct it
General Tips
Font:
 Use standard font throughout the message content
 Avoid colored fonts in a professional email
 Be very specific with the use of bold, italic or
underline font style
 Keep the size of the font visible and constant
 Paragraph and line spacing should be legitimate and
visually appealing
 Avoid short forms or slang (e.g. ‘u’ instead of ‘you’,
‘y’ instead of ‘why’, ‘r’ instead of ‘are’, etc)

Examples
From: XYZ
 Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 5:46 PM
 To: ABC
 Subject: Information

 Dear Sir,

 With reference to the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the
required action was taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue
to a higher level. With reference to the below mentioned mail, the issue to a higher
level.

 With reference to the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the
required action was taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue
to a higher level With reference to the below mentioned mail.

 Regards,
 XYZ 
Examples
 From: XYZ
 Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 5:46 PM
 To: ABC
 Subject: Information

 Dear Sir,

 With reference to the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action
was taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level. With
reference to the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action was
taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level With reference to
the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action was taken long back
and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level With reference to the below
mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action was taken long back and hence
there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level
 With reference to the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action
was taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level With
reference to the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action was
taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level With reference to
the below mentioned mail.

 Regards,
 XYZ 
Examples
 From: XYZ
 Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 5:46 PM
 To: ABC
 Subject: Information

 Dear Sir,

 With reference to the below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action was
taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level. With reference to the
below mentioned mail, I would like to mention here that the required action was taken long back and hence
there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level With reference to the below mentioned mail, I would
like to mention here that the required action was taken long back and

 HENCE THERE WAS NO NEED TO ESCALATE THE ISSUE TO A HIGHER LEVEL WITH
REFERENCE TO THE BELOW MENTIONED mail, I would like to mention here that the required
action was taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level

 action was taken long back and hence there was no need to escalate the issue to a higher level With
reference to the below mentioned mail.

 Regards,
 XYZ 
Common Mistakes In
E-Mail Writing
 Repetitive Words :  Preferred Words
 As a general rule  As a rule
 Continue on  Continue
 Dropping down  Dropping
 Disregard altogether  Disregard
 Return back  Return
 Reply back  Reply
 Repeat again  Repeat
 Basic essentials  Basic or essentials
 First priority  Priority
 Qualified expert  Expert
Flabby Modifiers
 Some terms tend to make message unnecessarily
long –winded and clumsy.
 Certain modifiers such as very, unusually and
extremely do not add value to the phrase.
 A few example of unnecessary modifiers are :
Very regularly
Unusually strange
Already occurred before.
Kind of confusing
Effective Discourse Markers
 Starting:
We are writing to inform you that…..
(to conform/ to request/ to enquire about)
I am contacting you for the following reason….
I would be interested in (obtaining/ receiving)….
I am writing to tell you about……
Referring to the previous contact
Thank you for your letter of …….
Thank you for contacting us……
In reply to your request……
With reference to our telephonic conversation…
Further to our meeting last week…..
Making a request
 We would appreciate it if you would…..
 I would be grateful if you could …..
 Please let me know what action you propose to
take…..
 It would be helpful if you could send us…..
 In addition, I would like to receive….
Offering Help
 We would be happy to …..
 Would you like us to…….
 We are quite willing to ……
 Our company would be pleased to…..
Giving Good News
 We are pleased to announce that……
 I am delighted to inform you that……
 You will be pleased to learn that……
Giving Bad News
 We regret to inform you that…..
 I’m afraid it would not be possible to….
 Unfortunately we cannot/ we are unable
to…..
 After careful consideration we have
decided (not) to…….
Complaining
 I am writing to express my dissatisfaction
with….
 I am writing to complain you about…
 We regret to inform you ……
 I’d like to raise a query……
Apologizing
 We are sorry for the delay in replying…..
 I regret any inconvenience caused….
 I’d like to apologize for (the delay/the
inconvenience)…..
 Once again, I apologize for…..
Orders
 Thank you for your quotation……
 We are pleased to place an order with your
company….
 We would like to cancel…
 Please confirm receipt of our order…..
 I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of ….
Closing Remarks
 If we can be of any further assistance,
please let us know..
 If you require more information…
 For further details….
 We hope you are happy with this
arrangement…
 We hope you can settle this matter to our
satisfaction…..
 Thank you for your help.
Ending
 For all customers and clients
 Sincerely,
 Yours Sincerely,
 Sincerely yours
 For those you already know and have
working relationship with
 Regards