Writing Effective Emails

By
Dr. Leena Shrivastav
Associate Professor

9308030895, leena.shrivastav@rediffmail.com
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of session participants would be able to write effective
emails by focussing on following aspects:
• What is Email
• When to use Email
• Parts of Email
• Email writing as a process
• Structure of emails
• Writing emails: language focus
 Introduction to Email
 Email is an important business communication tool. Email allows you
to communicate with people and transfer files from one place to
another rapidly. You can communicate with people from all over the
world with the press of the Send button.

 Despite how easy it is to access and use email, there are some
important points you should be aware of when using it. The following
sections will take you through email procedures and protocols.
 Use Email

• To expedite the communication

• For brief and simple responses
– can be read and immediately discarded
• To relieve the burden of playing telephone
tag
 Parts of an Email
 To : enter the exact email address of your recipient (remember:
name@provider.domain)
 For multiple recipients, separate each address with a comma
 CC : carbon copy
 BCC : BLIND carbon copy – is anonymous
 Subject : the topic of your email – very important
 Body : the message of your email
 Attachments : the paperclip symbol - files or photos
 Greeting: Opening & Closing
Opinion: Divided
Some say “Hi, Steve,” is too informal.
Some say “To whom it may concern” is stilted.
For external communication, use same greeting as in letter
For internal communication, some use Names

 Consensus
Match greeting in tone
Formal: Sincerely, Best regards, Cordially
Informal: Thanks; All the best,
Talk to you later
Use a sig line that gives your name, title, and contact information
Omit a P.S.
(if the email is longer than a screen,
a postscript could be missed)
 Anatomy of email: SUBJECT
 Your subject can answer any of readers’
four key questions:
1. What’s this about?
2. Why should I read this?
3. What’s in this for me?
4. What am I being asked to do?
 Lead with the main idea
Browsers may not display more than first 25-35 characters
 Create single-subject messages

 Keep track of threads

Subject: New Year’s Party Plans
 Anatomy of email: Body
 Before you type anything into a new message, have explicit answers for two
questions:
1. Why am I writing this?
2. What exactly do I want the result
of this message to be?
 Write so emails are easy to read
 Make paragraphs 7-8 lines
 Insert a blank line between paragraphs
 Use headlines, bullets, and numbers
 AVOID ALL CAPS; THAT’S SHOUTING
 If a message is longer than 3 screens,
send an attachment
 Email fonts
Typing in all capitals in electronic communications means
(A) Nothing special--typing in all caps is normal.
(B) You are shouting.
(C) It’s OK to forward this message to others.
(D) This message is very important.

Typing in all capitals in electronic communications means

(B) You are shouting.
Typing in all capitals in online communications is
the equivalent of SHOUTING! Only type in all caps
if you really mean to shout.
 Content and organization

• Your document will be most successful if it

matches the reader’s expectations.
• Three common expectations:
– Get to the point
– Be as simple as possible
– Use passive and active voice appropriately
 Review of Mails
 Before you hit Send, review and delete

 Negative comments about management

 Criticisms of staff or performance issues
 Bonuses or salary issues
 Product or liability issues
 Gossip
 Humor or other ambiguities
 Content

Your Goal: to include enough

information to keep the reader’s
interest but not so much information that
you waste the reader’s time and
obscure your main point.
Short communication: The inverted triangle
• Present your conclusions or major idea first,
followed by the reasons or support.
• Example:
Dr. Suess would like to reschedule the meeting
he has scheduled with Dr. Spock. He is
proposing that they now meet on Wednesday,
April 15. While the original meeting was
planned for Monday, April 13, Dr. Suess has an
out of town appointment on that day. We
appreciate your patience and flexibility.
 Longer messages

• Use an “elevator” summary at the start of the email so

that the organization will be easy to follow.
– Example: “We have had difficulty getting grades posted in a
timely manner. Therefore, I am suggesting that…”

• Present your reasons first and your conclusions after.

 Longer messages
• Even when using this plan, be sure to state your main point up
front.
– Example: You did such a good job of explaining the merits of our new
Tuition Assistance Program that I have tentatively decided to apply for the
program myself. To keep my options open, then, I must ask you to select
someone else to serve on the program committee. . .

• If you require a response from your reader, make sure you ask for
one at the start of your email.
 Longer communications

• One idea per paragraph

• Table of contents or headings

• Hard copy availability

Check list

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 Analysis the Example

 The previous email has problems with

the beginning. They are:
1.too much unnecessary information
2.the important information comes at
the end.

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Compare this to: Why is this better?

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 Compare this to: Why is this better?

 It tells the reader the purpose of the email in the first

sentence.
 There is no unnecessary information.
 It is short, concise and to the point.

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 Activity1

 Rewrite the beginning of the following email. Remember to:

• put the most important information first
• take away any unnecessary information

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Activity1

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 Activity 2
 Read through the following sentences and drag
them into order from most important to least
important.
 Notice that the sentences are short and to the
point. There is no irrelevant information in them.

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Activity2

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Activity 2 - solution

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Getting started - 3 steps to writing easy emails
 Use the following model as a way to write good emails. Imagine you
start the email with 'I am writing to tell you...'. This will automatically
make you write the most important information next. Write your email,
then go through it and take out any unnecessary words, including the
beginning, 'I am writing to tell you'.
 Begin with 'I am writing to tell you...'
 Add your most important information.
 Edit - take out any unnecessary words.

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Getting started - 3 steps to writing easy emails -
Example

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 (II) Structure of emails- Subject lines
 When you send an email you want to make sure that it is opened, read
and acted upon. The subject line of each email message needs to
say precisely what the email is about.
 A good subject line should give the recipient an accurate idea of what
the message is about before it is opened.
 The subject line is often the only clue the recipient has when filing
messages into folders.
 If you are replying to a message but are changing the topic, it is a
good idea to change the subject line.
 In the following exercise read the email example and choose the correct
subject line.
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(II) Structure of emails- Subject lines cont

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(II) Structure of emails- Subject lines cont

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 Writing Email (III)

LANGUAGE FOCUS

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 (III) Language focus- Editing your email

 When editing your email, you need to think about three

things.
• Remove any unnecessary conjunctions (and, but, etc).
• Remove unnecessary words - words that do not add to
your main point(s)
• Remove unnecessary punctuation (eg, commas)

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(III) Language focus- Editing your email

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Activity 5 Edit the following email

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Activity 6 Edit the following email.

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 (III) Language focus- The right tone in emails
 When writing business emails a professional yet
conversational tone is the most effective.
 Imagine you are attending a function attended by your
colleagues and supervisors.
 In this situation you would need to be polite, positive and
friendly.
 At the same time you need to be professional.
 Also you need to consider who you are speaking to and
their position and level in the organisation.

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 (III) Language focus- The right tone in emails
 Email communication is similar but with an important
exception:
• your communication is electronically transmitted so it can
be passed on to anyone within or external to the
organization.
1.Make it polite & positive
2.Making requests

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 Make it polite & positive

 Everyone responds to a polite positive tone.

Criticism, rudeness or negativity will lead to
reader resistance. Email messages need to
show politeness and should be positive
whenever possible, otherwise they risk
sounding abrupt and possibly angry.

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 Making requests

 When making requests, it’s a good idea to

use a modal or conditional construction such
as 'Could you …' or 'Would you be able to...'

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Activity 3 Rewrite the following sentences in a more
positive and polite tone.

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Activity 4 Rewrite the following email in a more
polite tone.

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Comparing tone Which of the two emails below would
you prefer to receive?

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 Bad news emails
• Give the news first
• Avoid assigning blame
• Avoid ambiguity
• Offer a positive resolution at the email’s
conclusion
 Emailing a complaint
• Give the context, the history of the problem
• Give the history of your efforts to solve the
problem
• Tell the reader why he or she is involved
and what he or she needs to do to help
solve the problem
• Offer suggestions as to how the problem
might be solved
 Your obligation to your reader
• Do not send bad news or complaint emails at the end of
the day, especially at 4:59 on a Friday.
• Avoid venting. Strive for an “objective” tone.
• Determine as a department or unit what can be discussed
by email and what cannot.
 General guidelines
• Include appropriate salutation and closing
• Make excellent use of the subject line
• Limit each message (or paragraph) to one idea.
• Present information in the order in which it is
likely to be needed (e.g., give the nature and
purpose of an upcoming meeting before giving
the date, place, and time).
 General guidelines
• Explain and identify attachments
• Use jargon when appropriate
• Proofread carefully
• Use emoticons and abbreviations in
moderation
• Beware of caps lock
 Revise this email
To: personidon’tknowwell@ecu.edu
From: staffperson@notecu.edu
Subject: workshop

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU SENT YOUR EMAIL

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP THAT IS COMING UP. I
HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY WITH ALL OF THE EVENTS
ON CAMPUS. MATCH DAY WAS VERY BUSY FOR
OUR OFFICE, AND WE ARE PREPARING FOR
SEVERAL MEETINGS THAT ARE COMING UP SOON.
DR. DOLITTLE CAN BE SO HELPLESS AT TIMES;) I
AM SENDING A POWERPOINT ATTACHMENT. IT
SHOULD ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS. THE
WORKSHOP IS DEALING WITH WOMEN IN MEDICINE.
HAVE A NICE DAY.