Writing & Organising English Emails

WRITING IN ENGLISHWHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

THE EVOLUTION OF

WRITTEN ENGLISH

GEOFFREY CHAUCER 1342 - 1400

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye,

CANTERBURY TALES - PROLOGUE

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 1562 - 1616

“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a thousand times, and now how abhorr'd in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it.”

Hamlet Act 5, scene 1

WINSTON CHURCHILL 1874 - 1965

EMAIL IS AN EVOLUTION OF THE BUSINESS LETTER

But less formal and simpler.

OVER THE LAST 10 YEARSEMAIL HAS GOT SHORTER AND MORE INFORMAL

Dear Chris, !

Thank you for your email. !

In answer to your points raised in your email I can confirm that we can go ahead with the project, but I think we will need the authority of our Singapore office before we can begin the project.

2001

Hi Chris, !

To answer your questions: !• Yes, we can go ahead with the programme. • We need authority from Singapore before rolling

out the new plan.

2014

Dear Fred, !Do you have time in the next two weeks for an update meeting?  !My trip to visit my family this Christmas is booked and I shall be flying on the 19th December returning on the 2 January, so it would be nice to meet with you before I go.  !Thursday this week around 3:30pm would be good, or next Monday (16th) anytime after 2pm.  !Look forward to hearing from you !Andy

Thursday looks good !

Fred

THE PERFECT RESPONSE

HOURS TO REPLY

0

20

40

60

80

LETTER EMAIL

72 HOURS

24 HOURS

PREPARATION

QUESTION: DO YOU REALLY NEED TO SEND AN EMAIL?

Would a telephone call be better and faster?

NOBODY READS LONG EMAILS

When was the last time you read a 2000 word newspaper article?

USE “WHAT + WHY”

What do you want. Why do you want it.

USE “WHAT + WHY” Dear Pedro, !

Could you send me a copy of the management report for the last LUP? !

We would like to begin using the same strategy as you guys did in the Philippines.

LAYOUT

LOSE THE STRUCTURE GET TO THE POINT

• USE PARAGRAPHS FOR EACH POINT

• USE BULLET POINTS FOR EMAILS WITH A LOT OF POINTS.

• PUT A SPACE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS.

“Mr Jobs, I humbly ask why Apple is so wonderfully attentive to the needs of students, whether it be with the latest, greatest invention or the company’s helpful customer service line, and yet, ironically, the media relations department fails to answer any of my questions which are, as I have repeatedly told them, essential to my academic performance.”

STUDENT’S EMAIL TO STEVE JOBS

“Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry.”

LANGUAGE

“DEAR” v “Hi”

IF YOU KNOW THE RECEIVER WELL - “Hi” !IF YOU DON’T - “Dear”

ADVERBSWHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN:

URGENT VERY URGENT

This is urgent.

This is very urgent.

how much faster will you reply to “very urgent”?

REMOVE ADVERBS.

really much very

WHEN WRITING IN ENGLISH STOP THINKING IN KOREAN

The languages are so different. Korean is a very polite language. English is not.

고객님께In English this would be considered impolite

Dear Customer,

I AM NOT A CUSTOMER. I AM A PERSON !USE THE PERSON’S NAME

REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONDear CEO Mr Swain, !

I hope you are well and that you keeping warm in this cold weather. !

I was wondering if you might possibly have time to send me a copy of the AP Sales Breakdown Report for 2012? We need this AP Sales Breakdown Report for 2012 to help us put together our P of A for 2014. !

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Regards !

JiWon Park

REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONDear CEO Mr Swain !

I hope you are well and that you keeping warm in this cold weather. !

I was wondering if you might possibly have time to send me a copy of the AP Sales Breakdown Report for 2012? We need this AP Sales Breakdown Report for 2012 to help us put together our P of A for 2014. !

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Regards !

JiWon Park

This is “flowery” language

REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONDear CEO Mr Swain !

I hope you are well and that you keeping warm in this cold weather. !

I was wondering if you might possibly have time to send me a copy of the AP Sales Breakdown Report for 2012? We need this AP Sales Breakdown Report for 2012 to help us put together our P of A for 2014. !

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Regards !

JiWon Park

This is just waffle

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Dear Mr Swain, !

Could you send me a copy of the AP Sales Breakdown Report for 2012? !

Regards !

JiWon Park

REPLY TO A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Dear Seve, !

Please find attached a copy of the clinical trial results you requested.

REPLY TO A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Dear Seve, !

I have attached a copy of the clinical trial results you asked for.

THE CHASEWHAT TO DO WHEN SOMEONE IGNORES YOUR REQUEST

THE CHASE

CALL THEM

I refer to my email dated 6 December. I note I have not received a reply. !

This matter is urgent and I would appreciate it if you could let me have the information as soon as possible.

THE FORMAL CHASE

I wonder if you have had time to find the information I asked for last week. !

This is urgently needed and I would be grateful if you could let me have it as soon as possible.

THE INFORMAL CHASE

PREPOSITIONS / ARTICLES

I SHALL BE AVAILABLE FOR A CONFERENCE CALL ON MONDAY AT 1:30PM

I HAVE ATTACHED A COPY OF THE SALES REPORT FOR LUP and Delta

EDITING

REPLACE THESE WORDS:

THEREFORE with SO THUS with SO HOWEVER with BUT IN ORDER TO with TO

AVOID BUSINESS JARGON

MSR / MR POA FTEs CRM DATA CFSS SAM

?

IF IT IS POSSIBLE TO CUT A WORD OUT, THEN CUT IT OUT

I wonder if you could send me a copy of the report.

you

v

“IF YOU HAVE AN IMPORTANT POINT TO MAKE, DON'T TRY TO BE SUBTLE OR CLEVER. USE A PILE DRIVER. HIT THE POINT ONCE. THEN COME BACK AND HIT IT AGAIN. THEN HIT IT A THIRD TIME - A TREMENDOUS WHACK.” !

WINSTON CHURCHILL

BEFORE HITTING SEND - CHECK YOUR EMAIL !!!

SIMPLIFYING

THE AVERAGE OFFICE WORKER RECEIVES

40

EMAILS PER DAY

THAT WORKS OUT AT

1 HOUR 30 MINS

Spent just looking at your mail each day

THAT’S WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUR EMAIL SHORT

Think about the person

you are writing to!

Dear Fred,

Just a reminder with regards to the sales meeting in Dublin, Ireland on the 5 January 2014, which is coming up. We have not yet received your confirmation with regards to you attending to the meeting.

Please, note that the hotel needs to be booked by 31 December 2013 so, please, make your booking ASAP. To assist you, I have copied below the e-mail sent by the hotel last week with all the instructions for the booking.

Thank you in advance for your kind attention.

BAD

Dear Fred,

Are you coming to the sales meeting meeting on 5 January? If so please let me know asap! If you want a discounted room you need to reserve by 31 December (see enclosed information).

Hope to see you there!

GOOD

FIRST EMAIL - 84 WORDS SECOND EMAIL - 37 WORDS

LESS IS MORE!

SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY

MANAGING YOUR EMAIL

INBOX ZEROWHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

How many of you have this?

INBOX ZERODO DELETE DEFER DELEGATE

less than 2 mins - DO IT NOW

If it has no purpose - DELETE IT

If it will take more time - DEFER IT

If someone else can do it better

For information materials, place then in a REFERENCE FOLDER

GMAIL, APPLE MAIL & OUTLOOK HAVE EXCELLENT SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY

You don’t need to have a lot folders in your email programme.

CHECKING IS NOT DOING

USE GMAIL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTSIT CAN SAVE YOU HOURS

“C” = Write new email “R” = Reply to an email “Y” = Delete “f” = Forward

BE AN EMAIL NINJA

learn the keyboard shortcuts

AUTO REPLYNEVER PUT ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION IN AN AUTO REPLY

that’s how spammers and hackers get your personal information

AUTO REPLY

Thank you for your email. I am away from the office and will return on Monday, December 16. If your message requires a reply, I will respond when I return. For immediate needs, please contact:

[NAME OF COLLEAGUE] [COLLEAGUE’s EMAIL ADDRESS]

Dear Mike, !

Thank you for the copy of the new Recruitment Policy. !

Regards

PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT

Dear Steve, !

Thank you for sending me a copy of the management accounts. They will be very useful. !

Regards

OF YOUR EMAIL WRITING IS FROM

THE SAME 10 RESPONSES

80%

CREATE A FOLDER IN EMAIL CALLED “TEMPLATES” SAVE ANY EMAILS YOU SEND REGULARLY TO THAT FOLDER.

TEMPLATES SAVE YOU HOURS

better still, use an application like Textexpander

WRAP UP

THINK ENGLISH NOT KOREAN WHEN WRITING IN ENGLISH

KEEP IT SHORT

SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY

WRAP UP

MANAGE YOU EMAIL - KEEP IT UP TO DATE

ADOPT THE INBOX ZERO METHOD

LEARN THE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

CONTACT ME

carl@fandcorp.com

www.fandcorp.com