When did emails become the bane of existence for most adults? I remember how excited I was when I opened my first email account—I was in a study abroad program. This cool new email thing allowed me to quickly connect to my friends still back at my home college. Years later, most of us groan when we see our inbox filled to the brim with new emails. Microsoft Outlook has tips for weeding out email, including automatically deleting certain messages. Emails have become the foot soldiers in the war against work-life balance, with many of us having to answer emails from supervisors, clients, or the eager colleague after hours or on the weekend. Wall Street Journal last month published an article about how Sunday night is the new Monday morning thanks to this electronic form of communication. How can we get a better handle on this complicated tool? Follow eight easy steps to learn how to write effective emails.
First Step: Think before typing
As I mentioned in the previous blog post, as a writer—and almost all working adults are writers—you compete for the reader’s attention. Every day your competition gets stronger, from other emails, to apps, phone calls, meetings, texting, and so forth, getting folks to click open your email and actually read let alone reply is becoming an almost Herculean task. So, take five minutes to think about the purpose and audience of your email. Consider what action you want the reader to take, as most emails request a response from the reader. How much context do you need to provide the audience?
Second Step: Identifying the audience
After you’ve taken the five minutes to think about the purpose and audience of your email, delve more into the audience. Perhaps your office has a specific protocol on who gets cced or bcced. Some firms require the ‘to line’ to be ranked by seniority. Assuming you’re following the norms of your office, decide who really needs to read your email. Who needs to be cced? Be careful with bccing folks. By all means bccing is your friend if you’re emailing a large group and want to avoid a reply allpocalypse, also known as an email storm. If passive aggressiveness is motivating your bccing choices, then I urge you to consider a different approach.
Third Step: Craft a crisp subject line
A clear and concise title for your email will help you grab the attention of your reader, especially given that most of us scan our inbox list to decide what can be deleted. I recommend being direct as possible, depending on your office culture. Start with a bold single word to alert the reader to the goal of your note and help him or her decide quickly if your email is worth opening.
- For example, if I’m asking folks from a different department or colleagues to do something, I would be clear with what I needed. “REQUEST: Help setting up new IT account.”
- As a supervisor, I might be even more direct, “ACTION: Setting up new IT account for Susan.” Most employees are going to open an email entitled “ACTION” from the boss.
- I would draft an invitation to budget meeting something like “INVITATION: Budget meeting for Talent Team on Mon at 2pm in main conference room.
- Be sure your emails titles act as a filter. If you work in a large company and are sending emails to entire groups, then help your recipients decide if they should read your note. For example, “ATTN: Engineers attending outside conferences this year, new reimbursement policy.”
Fourth Step: Greetings and Introduction
You may think it’s silly or out of date, but I recommend starting your email with a simple greeting, such as “Good morning.” Why? Because as the writer of the email, you’re usually asking the reader to do something. Why not start off with a bit of politeness?
If you are emailing somebody for the first time, introduce yourself. “My name is Susan. I’m the new marketing director.” Acknowledge if somebody else gave you the recipient’s email address. “My name is Bob. Tim gave me your name.”
Fifth Step: State the Purpose of your email
Get to the point quickly. I don’t want to have to read through two paragraphs of background to find out that you need me to change the format of my supply requests. Remember, you’re competing for the reader’s attention. I should learn within the first three sentences why you’re emailing me.
Sixth Step: Provide appropriate background and detail
Now you can explain the background and context of your email. If you’re inviting folks to attend a brown bag on the new performance evaluation system, spend no more than two paragraphs highlighting what topics will be discussed and perhaps a brief background on the benefits of the new program. Always remember that your reader is busy. He or she doesn’t need a treatise.
Seventh Step: Flag important details
Embrace the power of bold, underline, and italics. These options are a great way to help your reader quickly scan your email. My rule of thumb is that all dates, time, and locations of events should be in bold. I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve vaguely recalled a meeting or brown bag I was supposed to attend. I’ve had to scramble to pull up the original email and scan the note for the pertinent information. If you want people to cc your colleagues on a note, italicize that request.
Eighth Step: Your conclusion
Let’s keep this short and sweet. I often end my emails with “Please contact if you have any questions or concerns.” I like to keep the closing straightforward with a “Thank you.” Some office cultures may prefer a more formal closing with a signature block stating your job title.
Want to Learn More?
Please email me at nextchaptercoachllc@gmail.com to learn more about my approach to improving your writing and career choices.