UNIT 1: COMPOSING A BUSINESS EMAIL

STRUCTURE

1.1 Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 How is the Email Message Sent Across the World?
1.4 Emails in Business
1.5 Writing an Effective Business Email
1.6 More About Email Writing
1.7 Email Writing in Detail
1.8 What can Go Wrong with Written Communication?
1.9 Let us Summarise
1.10 Suggested Reading
1.11 Answers

1.1 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you will be able to discuss:

· What is meant by Internet?

· What is an email?
· Business email
· Do’s and Don’ts of business email writing
· Clarity of thought & expression

1.2 INTRODUCTION

Do you agree that our life is moving very fast these days?

Our pace of life is constantly accelerating. As we move faster and faster, technology is
making an even bigger impact on the lives of everyone on the planet.

Through the ages, communication has come a long way: from messengers on horseback
to the internet explosion.

What is meant by “internet”?

The internet or “net” is the name given for the group of thousands of networks and
millions of computers that are all able to communicate all over the world in a split
second. Information moves along these networks all over the world – hence the much
often used phrase – “The World is now a Global Village”.
There are many service providers, through whose services, businesses are advertising,
selling, and distributing their services.

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What is Email?

Email is “Electronic Mail” – Email can be said to be somewhere between a telephone

conversation and a written letter. It is an extremely powerful and popular way to
communicate in business.

It is now possible to communicate quickly to any part of the world by using email mail
services provided by various internet service providers like AOL, Gmail, Hotmail etc.
Business organizations can have their own email services. Most messages are delivered
within minutes, even to people thousands of miles away. With a computer and internet
connection you can send and receive messages from any location. Email allows you to
reach beyond the walls of your organization or home to like-minded people throughout
the world.

It is time zone friendly. You don’t have to worry about whether you are disturbing
someone at the wrong time, as your day might be their night. If you have to make a
telephone call to someone in America or the UK, you will definitely have to keep in mind
the time differences before dialing. In the case of an email, you can just send your mail
across and they will access it at a convenient time.

In case you need to pass on the message that you have received to some other person, all
you need to do is click on the “forward” option which shows up on every email window,
type in the email address of the person you want to forward it to (you could write a brief
note as to why you are forwarding it) and hit “send”. There is no hassle of making a copy
of the letter, and then mailing it out to the other person as would be the case of regular
letters.

Email also provides you the facility to send documents, pictures, complex diagrams, and
voice files as attachments. Sending and receiving attachments is very easy. To send an
attachment, you use the “attach” option. You can choose the document or picture that you
want to send, click on the attach option and then send it to the recipient. You can send
several documents at the same time depending on the capacity of your and the receiver’s
mail box.

Email can also be associated with other office systems such as task management lists,
calendars, and document management systems. These help to set up meetings, accept
invitations to meetings etc.

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Glossary

Accelerate: To start to happen more quickly

Hassle: problem; something that is annoying because it is difficult or unpleasant to do

Impact: the effect that a person, event, or situation has on someone or something

Option: choice

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 1

1. Why do we say that the world is now a global village?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________

2. List 4 things that make email popular and powerful.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________

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 1.3 HOW IS THE EMAIL MESSAGE SENT ACROSS THE WORLD?

This diagram shows how an email message is sent across the world via the internet.

Recipient

Server 2 Recipients mail

Router
Five

Router
Four

Router
Three

Router
Two

Sender
Sender’s Email 3.Server Router
One

The process explained

· You as the “sender” prepare a message on your computer.

· Then you enter the intended recipient’s email address and click send.
· Your message is sent to a server connected to the internet.
· The server sends your message to a router.
· The message travels from router to router until it reaches the correct one.
· Routers are connected by cables and telephone lines
· If a router is busy or is not working, your message will be sent through another

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 router
· A router sends your message to the server connected to the recipient’s computer
· The server reads the message and passes your message to the recipient

Email is the most popular facility available through the internet. Relatively cheap to use,
messages can be sent anywhere in the world at the cost of no more than a local telephone
call. Email is a quick and efficient method of communication.

Email helps us to establish and maintain business relationships with branches, clients,
suppliers, etc., apart from being able to use it for personal communication.

1.4 EMAILS IN BUSINESS

The main difference between personal and business email is the format and language that
we use. Just as we differentiate between letters written to a friend from those written for
business purposes, we need to differentiate between personal and business email.

You need to take care when you write an email for business purposes, as your email
message is an official document. To be efficient with email, you need to write well.

Write the way you speak. The present trend in business email writing is the “you” and
“I” method, where the message has a conversational tone. Of course, this does not allow
for sloppiness though you can dispense with heavy formal phraseology. A personal touch
is what you need to put into your emails. Avoid outdated, pompous and bombastic
language.

Do not say – “It has been brought to my attention……..”

Instead say – “I came to know about……”

1.5 WRITING AN EFFECTIVE BUSINESS EMAIL

Learn to compose and email quickly. Some tips on how to compose email quickly:

· Decide the main points on paper or in your mind.

· Arrange them in order, putting the most important point first and the others in
decreasing order of importance.

· Write your message by turning each point into a simple, clear sentence or a
paragraph.

· Revise and check if you have repeated yourself. Avoid wordiness. For example –
“Reply back” – once you mention “reply” obviously the other person will send
back a mail to you. There is no need to say “back”, it is redundant. Check for
logical sequence of your thoughts, clarity and tone of your language.

· Check the length of your message, if it is too long then please do not send it out as
an email. Emails are meant to be brief. If what you need to say is lengthy, then
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 send it as a separate document in the form of an attachment.

Glossary

Clarity: the quality of being clear and easy to understand

Dispense with: to stop using

Format: to organize and arrange the words on a page or document

Redundant: more than is needed, especially extra words which mean the same thing

Sequence: the order in which things, thoughts, paragraphs should be arranged

Sloppiness: careless; not done carefully

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 2

1. What style of writing is accepted in business email these days?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

2. List at least 5 essential things that you need to do to compose an email quickly.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________

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1.6 MORE ABOUT EMAIL WRITING

Once you receive an email, check if you need to reply. Reply only if you have to. If you
are in the “Cc” list then the message is only for your information. The sender does not
expect you to take any action. There is no need to reply to such messages.

When you receive a mail that asks for information, it is better to deal with one question at
a time. It is easier for you and the reader.

One important thing that you need to remember about maintaining your mailbox is to
organize it regularly. This is because your mail box will have a specific capacity and too
many emails can overload it resulting in new mails bouncing back to the senders.

How can you do that?

Periodically, check your mail box, reply to those necessary, delete all junk mail, and store
all important mail in folders. You can create folders in your mail box. These are like
your regular files. Just the way you file letters in different files with clear labels, you can
create folders and store important messages in those.

Email messages can easily be maintained as records and be stored in respective folders to
be pulled up for later reference if needed.

Tips for creating folders:

Describe your messages

Plan your system

Select names for your folders for your convenience, like – “urgent” “important”
“new project” “reading material” “reference” etc.

Spend some time organizing your messages – transfer the necessary ones into
their respective folders and delete all those that are no longer needed

Evaluate your folder system – is it easy to decide where a message belongs? Can
you find a message when you need it? If not, rearrange your folders for easy
management

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 Maintaining your folder system is very personal – each one has his/her own way
of arranging things; so check what works for you. The secret of the game is “easy
access”.

Having spoken about keeping some messages, let us check to see what kind of messages
can be kept and what can be deleted.

Messages that you can keep:

· Business records – messages used for transactions

· Legal records – messages that may be needed for evidence in case of legal
proceedings

· Personnel records – messages on policy matters such as adopted work practices

Messages that you can delete:

· Announcements, appointments (once they are kept)

· Working notes, drafts and temporary working documents as finally you will retain
the finished document. However, if you need some of these to justify work done
by you, please retain them.

· Reading material that is no longer needed

· Messages which you have been copied on

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Glossary

Respective: relating to each of the people or things that you have just talked about

Personnel: people who work for an organization

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 3

1. If you receive an email with your name in the “Cc” list, what are you expected to do?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2. How does creating folders help you?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

3. Mention at least two types of messages that you can keep and two types that you can
delete.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

1.7 EMAIL WRITING IN DETAIL

Email is popular because it is written, quick, time-zone friendly and inexpensive.

We need to care with the structure, layout, language and tone of an email.
The impression you give in any written message is conveyed in many different ways.
LANGUAGE STRUCTURE

WRITTEN MESSAGE

TONE LAYOUT

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STRUCTURE

Before starting out a message, think what your aim is.

Is it:
To alert a manager to a problem?
To request details and information?
To notify someone about a meeting?
To persuade a manager to increase your budget?
Structure your message accordingly

· Most important information at the top

· Continue with further details
· Split into paragraphs for easy reading
· Use a logical structure
· Include all the necessary details
· Lead up to the response or action required

Layout

The layout of an email is simpler than a formal letter.

We need not bother about typing out the “from” address or date. These are generated
automatically.

What you need to be careful about is the “To” email address. You need to make sure that
you type it in correctly as some of them may contain a period, or a hyphen or an
underscore as part of the address. Missing out on any of these could result in your mail
bouncing back.

It is important however in business email to start with a proper opening salutation,

followed by the body of the letter, and an appropriate closing salutation.

From: (automatically generated)

Date & Time: (automatically generated)
To: (you need to fill in the email address of the person you are writing to)
Cc: (you need to fill in the email address of the person you are sending a copy to, only for the
purpose of information and not because you want them to take any action)
Bcc: (you need to fill in the email address of the person to whom you are sending a copy but do
not want the others to know about it)
Subject: (you need to mention the subject of your message here)

(Greeting or opening salutation)

Dear Ms. Krishnan,
Body of the email

Closing Salutation
Thank you/Regards/Cheers (as is appropriate)

Signature

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Opening salutation or greeting

It is important to begin your message with a greeting. If you are writing to someone for
the first time, you could use an appropriate title like Mr., or Ms., followed by the person’s
last name. You are not to use the title if you are addressing them by their first name. For
example, if you are writing to Kavita Krishnan, you will address her as Ms. Krishnan of
just Kavita depending on your relationship with the person.

The way you begin your email messages depends on various facts:

· Your relationship with the recipient

· How frequently you communicate with the recipient

· How many recipients there are

· The status of the recipient – you will definitely address the CEO of your company
very differently from how you would address your colleagues

· Your company’s preferred style

Salutations can sometimes be tricky across cultures where the family name is first and
sometimes last. For example, here in India, especially South India last names used are
usually the first names of their fathers or husbands in the case of women, and father’s in
the case of men.

For example, Kavita Krishnan conveys that “Kavita” is the first name of the lady and
“Krishnan” could either be her father’s or husband’s name.
“Janardhan Chakrapani” would convey that “Chakrapani” is Janardhan’s father’s name.

In Japan, last names are sometimes mentioned first and first names last. For example, if
he mentions his name as “Sekigucci Tomohiro” his first name is “Tomohiro” and last
name is “Sekigucci” – we learn with experience to distinguish this.

Business is conducted less formally these days. So using first names is widely accepted
once the initial formalities are dispensed with.

Tip: When a recipient replies to you, take a good look at the way he or she signs off at
the end of the message. If the recipient has addressed you by your first name and has
signed off as “Katie Long”, then next time you write you may begin with “Dear Katie”.

If you are writing to a group of people, you can say ‘Dear’ plus the group name:

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 · Dear Marketing Executives

· Dear Supervisors

· Dear Team Leaders

· Dear All (if addressing many from different groups)

If you are writing to someone whom you have now been communicating for a long time
and have come to know well, you can use ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ instead of ‘Dear’.

Hello Mathew,
Hi Sally,

Note: Avoid greetings like ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Good Afternoon’ as they don’t make
sense in an email especially when you are communicating across time zones.

Body of the message

The message should be written in clear, simple and grammatically correct sentences. In
other words, ensure that your messages are written the “ABC” way:

Accurate
Brief
Clear

Accurate: your message should be factually correct in every detail. Make sure to check
and double check dates, time, names and numbers. Make sure that the reader is aware of
all the facts and that nothing is omitted.

Avoid: My flight arrives at 2.45.

Write instead: My flight, number SK 156, arrives at 14:45 on Tuesday 11 November.

Brief: Keep your messages to the point.

Avoid: This is for your information that your order number JK1204 will be
dispatched to you on 14 June and you will receive it before or on 24 June.

Write instead:
Your order number JK1204 will be dispatched on 14 June.
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You will receive it before or on 24 June.

Clear: Use everyday language. Avoid fancy and elaborate phrases, use simple and plain
language.

For example, ‘start’ is a good replacement for ‘commence’ and so on.

Avoid long-winded sentences that are crammed together. Arrange your thoughts into
paragraphs using line spaces between them to differentiate them.

Begin with the most important part of you message and continue with the other parts of it
using a logical flow. Do not jump from one point to another in a vague manner.

Closing Salutation

Do not abruptly end your message. Take time to key in niceties like “Thank you” or
“Regards” as is appropriate.

You can then sign off with your name. If you are writing to someone for the first time it
is advisable to key in your designation and telephone or mobile phone number below
your name.

In business organizations, you can generate an automatic signature which usually has
your name, your designation, your company name, address, telephone number and the
email address of the company.

A Business Signature:

Leela Rangaswamy
Director HR
Kalyani Company International
# 605 M. G. Road
Bangalore – 560 002
Phone: 41507431
Mobile: 98860 97234
http://www.kalyanint.com.in

The “subject line” is very important in an email. What you write in the subject ensures
that the attention of the reader is captured. It should not be vague or too long. Your aim
should be to write “SMART” subject lines.

Specific
Meaningful
Appropriate
Relevant
Thoughtful

SPECIFIC – Avoid vague subject lines like “Enquiry” or “Information” – Be more

specific. For example, if you are sending out an invite for a seminar on email etiquette
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then say so specifically – “Seminar - Email Etiquette on 28 November 2008”.

MEANINGFUL – Make sure your subject line is explicit and meaningful. For example,
sending a message to Technical Support with the heading “Help Needed” is as good as
having no heading. Instead write something like – “Help needed to scan a document”.

APPROPRIATE – Keep your subject line concise and to the point. Do not write your
entire mail in the subject line.

RELEVANT – Hit the nail on the head so that the reader is completely clear about what
you have written.

THOUGHTFUL – Spare a thought for your readers – be clear.

Note: Write the subject after you have composed the email so that you are able to
summarize the content more precisely in the subject line.

Language

The way business is conducted has changed over the years. Writing styles have also
changed tremendously. The aim in modern business communication is to write in a
friendly, polite style using plain and simple language as if you are having a conversation.

1. The old fashioned style

Respected Sir,

We are in receipt of your letter dated 26 April, received by the undersigned today.

We are extremely happy to note the contents. We thank you profusely for having deemed
it important to invite us to the opening ceremony of your new office.

We consider it our privilege to accept your kind invitation. We will surely be there to
grace the occasion.

We understand that your new office is now situated in an esteemed locality of the city. It
would be a great pleasure for us to do business with you at this wonderful location.

We thank you once again and reconfirm our presence on the occasion.

Best wishes and kind regards,

Yours faithfully,

Shivaram Gupta

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 1. The present ‘direct’ conversational style

Dear Arvind,

Thank you for your invitation. It is great to hear that your new office is at Embassy Golf
Links.

We will be there on the 2nd of May by 6 pm.

Best wishes & Regards,

Shivaram Gupta

In the first letter, language used is very old fashioned. It is very long and painful to read.
It is so formal that the person who is writing the letter is referred to as ‘undersigned’.

The second letter is suited to present day business language. It is simple, direct yet polite
and uses a conversational tone.

Always put yourself in the other person’s position when deciding on the best way to write
your message.

· How will they feel when they read your message?

· Will the purpose come across clearly or are misunderstandings possible?

· Would you like to receive a message like the one you are sending?

Once you empathize with the reader, your email will automatically be written with
appropriate language and tone.

When you are talking to a person face to face or on the telephone, it is a lot easier as your
facial expression, your gestures, or your tone of voice help to communicate better.
However, in an email written words are all you have, so language is very important.

Modern business writing involves writing clearly to avoid confusion. A well written
message will make a good impression on the reader and enhance business relationships.
When your messages are accurate, brief and clear you can expect the required response;
your message will be effective and achieve the desired results.

Avoid:
I am writing to inform you that unfortunately I am unable to accept your invitation for the
meeting as I will be out of town. Had I been in town, I would surely have loved to come.

Write instead:
Thank you for your invitation. As I am not in town on 4 July, I cannot attend the
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meeting.

Avoid:
Should you require any further clarification please do not hesitate to contact the
undersigned.

Write instead:
Please call or mail me if you have any questions.

Tone

SIT DOWN!

Please take a seat.

Is there any difference in the way in which you have asked a person to sit down?
Definitely yes! In the first instance it appears that you are shouting an order. That is tone
understood when you write using all capital letters and just the instruction with out any
polite language.

(Note: In email etiquette it is understood as equivalent to shouting and is considered rude

when you write using all capital letters)

If you do write ‘please take a seat’ it sounds polite and courteous. Remember an email is
very close to a telephone call and all the niceties that you would practice on telephone
when you make a business call are to be considered while writing a business email.
For business writing, analyze these four important factors and adopt an appropriate tone:

• Your status

• The status of the recipient

• Your relationship with the recipient

• The content of the message

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Very often the tone of your message can improve by adopting a positive attitude.

Negative
I read your report and you have
Confused me totally.Come and see me
And explain what you mean.
Report to work exactly at 8 in the
morning.
This model is very popular but it only does
20 km to the liter.
If you do not submit your form before the
2nd of September, we will not accept it.
We cannot send it to you by this week.
We cannot it deliver it on Saturday as we
don’t work on Saturdays.
Positive
I have a few questions about the report.
Could we meet so that we can discuss them ?
We start work at 8 at morning. Please be
there on time.
This model is very popular and it does not
about 20 km to the liter.
Please submit your form before the 2nd of
September so that we can register your name.
We can send it to you next week.
We will be able to deliver it on Monday as
we work Monday through Friday.

Avoid irritating expressions like “it is your fault” “you should have known better” “you
failed to..” “you cannot expect” use positive expressions instead.

Glossary

Appropriate: suitable for a particular person or situation

Concise: giving a lot of information clearly in a few words

Crammed: completely full, over crowded

Etiquette: set of rules or customs that control accepted behavior in particular social
groups or social situations

Equivalent: equal in amount, value, importance, or meaning

Niceties: quality of being nice

Precisely: exactly

Recipient: someone who receives something

Relevant: related to what is being talked about

Salutation: a greeting in words or action

Vague: not clear

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CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 4

1. Why are emails popular?

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______________________________________________________________

2. What are the factors that convey the impression you can make while writing a
message?
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________

1. How would you structure your messages effectively?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

4. Ram Desai is the CEO of MMN Solutions. How would you address him in an email
that you are writing for the first time?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

5. You are a team leader. You want your team members Shoba, Shahid and Abhishek to
attend a meeting to discuss how the project is progressing. Shoba is the senior most
member in your team. You need to keep your seniors, Pandurangarao and Srinivasan
informed about this meeting. While writing an email to all five of them, whom will you
address in the “To” list and whom will you address in the “Cc” list?

“To”____________________________________________________________________
___________
“Cc”____________________________________________________________________
______

6. Explain briefly what is meant by “ABC” in relation to email writing.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________

7. Is it appropriate to write “Thank you” at the end of every mail that you write? Is there
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any other option that you could use as closing salutation?
_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

8. Explain what is meant by a SMART subject line?

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________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

9. What kind of language is suitable for present day business writing?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

10. While on the telephone, variations in “tone” are easy to follow. In writing, how can
you show tone variation?
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________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

11. Rewrite these negative sentences in a positive way.

a. I cannot take your call now, I am in a meeting.

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
b. You should not do it this way. Can’t you find a better way to do it?

________________________________________________________________
_____________________
c. We close our office at 6 pm. So don’t come after 6 pm and complain.

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
d. Unless you tell me what exactly you want, how do you expect me know what to
send you?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

e. I don’t know anything about this. I just came into work now. The other fellow
must have registered your complaint.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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1.8 WHAT CAN GO WRONG IN WRITTEN COMMUNICATION?

I am sure all of us have received poorly written communication. Have you received any
such communication which failed in any of these areas?

Your sex is changed The writer uses long sentences

to Mr. instead of Ms. and long paragraphs that look
rushed and uninviting

The purpose of the

message is not
clearly stated The message is full
of jargon and slang.

The tone is sharp, critical,

The response required is patronizing or intimidating
not clearly stated

Vital details are omitted and

The message is all you have to send another
jumbled with no message or make a call to
thought given to clarify
structure or clarity

Why do these problems arise? One reason is because you are not there in person to put
your message across with body language, gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice and
your personality. All you have is words. If you follow these guidelines you could avoid
these errors.

Come straight to the point – do not long winded sentences filled with jargon or slang.

When composing an email, remember your sentences are to be

Short and Simple.

Say what you have to say in the quickest possible way, while retaining courtesy of
course.

Avoid Use Instead

We would like to ask you to Please
Visualize See
Assist Help
Purchase Buy
Utilize Use

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Obtain Get
Sufficient Enough
In view of the fact that As
Conduct and investigation Investigate
Succeed in making Make
Please be informed that the meeting will be The meeting will be held on Monday the
held on Monday the 24 April 2008. 24 April 2008

Keep to the present trend of using direct language. Avoid using unnecessary words
and expressions.

Some words and expressions that you can safely throw out of your writing style:

Absolutely

Actually

All things being equal

As a matter of fact

At the end of the day

At this moment in time

Basically

currently

Each and every one

In due course of time

In other words

In the end

In the final analysis

In this connection

Last but not the least

The fact of the matter is………….

For all intents and purposes……………..

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I would like to advise you ……….

Thank you in anticipation.

Much obliged for your co-operation…….

My humble request to you is that ……………..

I would like to bring to your attention……………….

I would like to take this opportunity to………

I have the pleasure in enclosing herewith……………….

Thank you for your kind attention.

Write as you would speak

Ask yourself how you would say something if you were face to face with your recipient.

Imagine speaking this way – “With reference to your last sentence, what I would like to
do here, is add my point, which is, that we should consider changing the date for the
meeting as most of us are unavailable on that particular day.”

Sounds ridiculous and funny, doesn’t it?

What would you say instead? You would just say, “Most of us are out of town on the
15th. Could we please change the date to the 16th ? “

Choose your words carefully to achieve the right tone

Avoid sounding abrupt, rude and impolite.

See how these sentences can be improved in tone.

The wrong tone The right tone

We cannot do anything about your
problem. Try calling someone else.
If you buy such cheap models, this is what
will happen. Spend more money and buy a
better model.
We deal only with debit cards. The credit
card department would be better able to
help you. Please call them.
Problems of this type are less common with
the advanced models.

Empathize with your reader

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Put yourself in your reader’s place and check if your email is like one that you would like
to receive.

Ask yourself these questions before sending your mail –

· Will the reader find my message clear and well written?

· Will they be confused, annoyed or feel that you have wasted their time?

· Is the language you have used easy to understand?

· Have you written confidently and positively?

· Have you maintained the right balance between being friendly yet courteous?

· Have you written anything insensitive or distasteful that you might later regret
writing?

Once you are satisfied that your email is as good as the one you would like to receive,
you can now safely send it.

Use active and not passive voice

Sentences in the active voice make it seem more lively and interesting.

The party arrangements were taken care of by Deepak.

Deepak took care of the party arrangements.
Your package was received by us today.
We received the package today.
The meeting went on well and was enjoyed by all present.
We enjoyed the meeting and it went on well.

Just before you hit the “send” button, check to see:

· Is the email address correct?

· Is it easy to read?

· Is my meaning quite clear?

· Is the content hurtful or offensive?

· Is the tone appropriate?

· Is the message right for an email?

· Would a phone call be better?

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Then go right ahead and send your message confidently.

Differences between regular mails (now termed snail mail) and email.

EMAIL SNAIL MAIL

An email can be edited with a swift flick of
the mouse. It may be forwarded to as
many people as you like (at the same time)
and kept in your electronic filing cabinet
for as long as you like.
Email messages arrive in seconds.
To send letters you need pre-printed
stationery, envelopes, a franking machine
and/or stamps. Your letter may be drafted,
redrafted, finalized and then signed. It may
be photocopied and filed for later reference
or passed on to someone else.
Postal mail is slow. Locally it may take a
day or two, internationally it could take
weeks.

Your email address need not change
wherever you move.
If an email message is wrongly addressed,
and if the wrong address does not exist, it
should bounce back within a few minutes,
allowing you to check and readdress.
When you move you must inform all
correspondents of your new address.
If an envelope is wrongly addressed, it
could take weeks before the envelope is
returned to you or may be not returned at
all.

Glossary

Intimidate: to intentionally frighten someone, especially so that they will do what you
want
Intimidating: to make someone feel intimidated
Omitted: to not include something
Patronizing: to speak or behave towards someone as if you were better than them
Vital: important; necessary

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 5

1. List 5 things that you can do to write effectively.

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1.9 LET US SUMMARISE

In this unit we have learnt:

· That emails are a popular way of communication these days and how they are
useful in business

· That effective emails can be composed to be successful in business

· That there is an accepted style of writing business emails

· That it is advisable to create and manage folders

· That Language to be used in business email is clear, concise and appropriate

· That an email should be structured properly

· That a right tone should be used in a message

· That an email should look presentable (layout)

· That negative sentences should be changed into positive ones to avoid sounding
rude

· Some guidelines to avoid errors in written communication

1.10 SUGGESTED READING

1. Easy Email by Joan Tunstall

2. Effective Email Communication by Shirley Taylor

1.11 ANSWERS

check your progress 1

1. The world is said to be a global village because advanced technology has made
distances seem shorter. We are able to travel faster. You can connect immediately to a
person at a distant place by using telephones. Email and Live Chat channels help to
connect within seconds to any corner of the world.

2. Emails are quick, time-zone friendly, and not expensive. We can also send
documents, pictures, complex diagrams and voice files in an email.

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check your progress 2

1. “Write as you speak” – in other words a conversational style is acceptable in

business emails these days.

2. a. Decide the main points

b. Arrange them in order – the most important point coming first with the
others following in logical order.

c. Write each point as a complete sentence or paragraph

d. Check clarity and tone

e. Revise and check for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

check your progress 3

1. I am expected to only make a note of the information. I am not expected to take

any action.

2. A mailbox usually has a certain capacity. Creating folders helps to organize the
mailbox, store necessary emails and delete the unnecessary ones to free the space
in the mailbox.
3. Keep – Business and legal records
Delete – Mails about appointments you have already kept and messages
which you have been copied on.

check your progress 4

1. Emails are popular because they are quick, written, can be documented, time-zone
friendly and inexpensive.

2. Structure, Layout, Language and Tone

3. To structure your email efficiently decide to whom and why you are writing.
Then write the most important point first and continue with further details.
Separate your message into paragraphs with a logical flow and lead up to the
response required.

4. Dear Mr. Desai,

5. To: Shobha, Shahid, and Abhishek

Cc: Pandurangarao and Srinivasan

6. Messages should be written accurately, briefly and clearly.

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 7. “Thank you” cannot be used always. It is to be used only when necessary; for
example, if you have asked for some information or some action to be taken. You
can otherwise use “Regards” or “Cheers”.

8. Specific; Meaningful; Appropriate; Relevant and Thoughtful.

9. In present day business writing simple, direct, conversational yet polite and
courteous language is suitable.

10. In writing, tone variation can be conveyed by choosing words that are positive
and polite.

11. a. Could I call you back later? I am in a meeting now.

b. Could you try doing it in another way? Probably, that would be a better
approach.

c. We work from 9 am to 6 pm. Could you come anytime between 9am and 6
pm please?
d. Could you give me the details, please? We can then send it to you.

e. Please give me five minutes to check the details and get back to you.

check your progress 5

1. To write effectively:

· Use short and simple sentences that are grammatically correct.

· Avoid using jargon, slang, sms language and short forms.

· Use polite conversational language.

· Use a positive tone in your message.

· Write your sentences in active voice.

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