Introduction to Business

Writing: Effective Business

Emails

How is it spelled?

email
Email
eMail
EMail
e-mail
E-mail
e-Mail
E-Mail

Before writing the

email
Make a plan!
Think about the purpose of the email
Think about the person who will read the email and
how you want him or her to react
Make an outline or list of the main points and details
you want to include in the email
Double check any facts, dates, times, or other specific
details that will be included in the email

Things to consider when doing

business correspondence

Who are you writing to and what is

your relationship with the person?
If the person you are writing to is in a higher position than you,
your email should use more formal language than if the
person is someone in the same level position than you.
If you have never met the person receiving your email
before, you should use formal language in the first email
to him or her.
Once you have sent the first email and received a reply, you
can choose to continue using formal language or choose to
use less formal language in future emails.

What is the situation?

Think about the reason you are sending the email
and decide if formal or informal language is better.
If you are requesting a service or asking a favor, you should
use formal language.
If you are making a complaint, you should use strong words
to express your dissatisfaction or problem but you must be
polite.
If you are introducing yourself, you should use formal
language but you can use words or phrases that let your
personality show through as well.
If you are writing a customer relation letter, you should use
formal language.

What do you want to

accomplish?
Think about the reason for writing the email and
what you want the person who receives the
email to do with it.
If you want the receiver to do something for you, make it
clear. Tell the receiver exactly what action you want done.
Tell the receiver if no action needs to be taken.
If you want the receiver to respond by a certain date, write
the response date.
If you are negotiating or rearranging a meeting, write your
demands or available times clearly.

Some things to remember when

writing business emails

Get right to the point

Dont use unnecessary words and phrases that
distract from the main idea of the email or may
confuse the reader
The person reading your email does not have a lot of time to
read your email so you must make it as direct as possible.
Make the reason for writing the email clear at the beginning
and only add details that are directly related to the topic of the
email.

Use simple sentences

Avoiding difficult or complex sentence structures will help
you avoid grammar mistakes.
Simple sentences will make the email easier for your
reader to understand, especially if the person reading the
email is not a native English speaker.

Pay attention to word choice

Remember that writing, is a form of indirect

communication. Unlike having a conversation with
someone, you do not have a chance to clarify
yourself by restating your ideas or use nonverbal
cues to make your meaning clear. You have to make
sure your reader understands what you want to say
and gets the right message the first time.

Think about how the email might be perceived by the

reader. Are there any words or phrases that may make the
tone seem angry, flippant, or disrespectful?

Avoid trying to make a joke or say something funny in an

email. Sometimes what you think is funny might be
misunderstood by the reader and create a bad relationship.

Use words that are specifically related to the topic but define
any words or phrases that you think the reader might not be
familiar with, especially words that are specific to a certain
type of job, field of study, or product.

The subject of the

email
Always write the subject of the email on the
subject line
Remember that business people often receive hundreds of
emails every day. If you dont write the subject in the subject
line the person receiving the email might think it is SPAM or
junk email and delete the message. If the subject isnt clear
they might delete the email as well, so make sure the subject
is direct-dont use too many words.

The four Parts of a business

email
The Opening

Tells the reader why you are writing

The Focus

Tells the details about the topic

The Action

Tells what you want to happen and gives a

time frame

The Closing Thank the reader and mention future

communication

Typing in all capitals in electronic communications means

Nothing special--typing in all caps is

normal.
(A) You are shouting.
(B) Its OK to forward this message to
others.
(C) This message is very important.

Basic Email Format

The receivers
email address
Carbon copy
Blind carbon
copy
Email subject

wednesdaysensei@hotmail.com
joeshmou@youknow.net
July 5 meeting time change

Type your email message in the text box, then click

send and it will be sent to the receivers you have
indicated in the to, Cc, and Bcc areas.

Meeting request: Informal

From:BobAnderson<anderson@randunix>
Date:21Dec8411:40:12PST(Fri)
To:randvax!anderson,randvax!gillogly,
randvax!norm
Subject:meeting...
weneedtosetupameetingbet.jimyou
andicanyouarange?

i'mfreenextwed.thks.

Meeting agenda: Formal

Subject:MEETINGONFY86PLANNING,2PM
12/28/84,CONFERENCEROOM1
TherewillbeameetingoftheFY86
planningtaskforceinConferenceRoom1
onDecember28,1984at2pm.TheAgenda
forthemeetingis:

TopicPresenterTime

StrategicBusinessPlanJohnFowles30min.
BudgetForecastforFY86SueMartin15"
NewProductAnnouncementsPeterWilson20"
ActionItemsfor1stQtrFY86JaneAdamson25"

Tip: Spelling still counts

This is an actual email.
Purposal
Icanbeatalmostanyonesprice
andalmostpromiseyousuccess
andifIdontreachit,
wewontchargeyouafterthe
timewesaywecanachieveit
untilwedo.

CC & BCC
The CC and BCC fields when sending email
work similarly. CC stands for carbon copy,
while BCC stands for blind carbon copy.
While these terms may have been
immediately obvious when email was
invented, theyre antiquated today.
CC and BCC are both ways of sending copies
of an email to additional people. However, you
can also send copies of an email to additional
people by specifying multiple addresses in the
To field.

CC
The abbreviation CC comes from carbon copy.
By placing a sheet of carbon paper between two
pieces of paper, the pressure from writing on the
first piece of paper will push the ink from the
carbon paper down onto the second piece of
paper, producing an additional copy of the
document. Like a physical carbon copy, a CC is a
way of sending additional copies of an email to
other people. Some people refer to CC as
courtesy copy, which better describes what a
CC actually is. CC is often used as a verb, as in I
CCd him on the email.

CC vs. BCC
When you CC people on an email, the CC list is visible to all
other recipients. For example, if you CC bob@example.com
and jake@example.com on an email, Bob will know that Jake
also received the email, while Jake will know that Bob also
received the email.
BCC stands for blind carbon copy. Unlike with CC, no one
can see the list of recipients on the BCC list. For example, if
you have bob@example.com and jake@example.com in the
BCC list, Bob wont know that Jake received the email, and
Jake wont know that Bob received the email.
Someone on the BCC list can see everything else, including
the CC list and the contents of the email. However, the BCC
list is secret no one can see this list. (If a person is on the
BCC list, theyll see only their own email on the BCC list.)