Copyright 2013 by Arthur Fricke Tips for Writing Professional Email ENGL 3365

Copyright 2013 by Arthur Fricke

Tips for WritingProfessional Email

ENGL 3365


UNDERSTAND the risksof mixing personal with workplace

This slideshow talks about workplace email, not personal email sent from a separate email server. Do whatever you like in personal email sent from a non-workplace server, but DO NOT USE YOUR WORKPLACE EMAIL FOR PERSONAL MESSAGES:

In a 2010 survey, the American Management Association found that 70% of companies surveyed (small, medium, and large) monitored employee internet use of all kinds.

In a 2010 study, Proofproint (a private email monitoring firm) found that “one in five large U.S. companies fired an employee for violating email policies in the past year.”

In the same study, Proofpoint found that “more than one in three large U.S. companies employ actual people to read and analyze employee email.”


Some BASIC organization tipsremember the example from last class?

State the CLEAR goal of the email in the first paragraph ANY report must have a clear statement of purpose Important workplace emails are informal REPORTS ! “This email will ____ so you can ____.” SAY IT !!!!!!

Use SHORT (like 1-6 sentence) paragraphs People want to SKIM emails to pick out key info Your job is to HELP the audience skim for key info

Have a CLEAR summary sentence or SHORT paragraph that restates the goal and any “action items”

You’re trying to help the audience DO something or at least convince them of something – SAY this very clearly !!!!


Now, some other BASIC tips

The rest of this slideshow will cover: What kinds of email addresses to use Signature blocks & priority flags Subject lines Greetings and goodbyes What titles to use for greetings What paragraph length to use What formatting to use Some final organization reminders


Use a professional address

NOT good:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Better:

[email protected]@[email protected]

MUCH better:

[email protected]*

*use an address that will be informative or easy to remember


Use a professional SIGNATURE

There is usually a feature for adding signature blocks to your outgoing emails automatically. Make sure this signature has your name, number, and email address for business contacts.

A professional signature contains all of the info on your business card and NOTHING more. Be conservative.

A practically useful signature helps the audience keep track of things – for example, emails are often printed and filed as hardcopies.


A nice boring example:

=========================

Art Fricke, PhD

Texas Tech English Dept.

Mail Stop MS3091

Lubbock, TX 79409

806/785-4910

http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/fricke

=========================

When you join an organization, see if there is a standard email signature.

Copy what other people do.

Be conservative.

A sig block for your job search


======================

Art Fricke, senior undergrad

NCSU Chemical Engineering

4522 Pittipat Lane, Apt. #212

Raleigh, NC 24890

(404) 555-5555

http://artfricke.wordpress.com

======================


Professional signatures DO NOT include:

Inspirational quotations (why?)

“A life with love will have some thorns, but a life without love will have no roses.”

“May the Force be with you.”


Subject lines

Heavy email users get LOTS of emails a day:“In 2010, the typical corporate user sends and receives about 110 messages daily. Roughly 18% of emails received is spam, comprising both actual spam and ‘graymail’ (i.e. unwanted newsletters, alerts, etc.).” –Radicati Group tech marketing survey, 2010

“2.5 working weeks (100 hours) are devoted to irrelevant emails by middle managers [at fortune 1000 companies]” –Grossman Group tech research firm, 2012

Have a descriptive subject line that HELPS the audience to stay organized and save time.

NEVER leave a blank subject line! DO NOT just hit “reply” to an old message and not change the “re:”!


Subject line length

You want the whole subject line to show up in the audience’s email browser.

Keep in mind that some people have small screens, get email on netbooks or by phone, etc.

Try to make the subject line SHORT yet still descriptive and informative.

A helpful subject line INTRODUCES THE SOP by answering “What can this email DO for me?”


Subject line lengthsome examples

Really Vague to Very Helpful:

“Class”

“About last class”

“Missed last class”

“Missed class 2/11, reason & makeup plan”

“Missed class 2/11, reason & makeup plan, eng3365-001, Jones”


for all emails in THIS course:

1. Make certain the “re:” line has a description that balances short with VERY clear

2. Make certain the “re:” line clearly shows your last name

3. Make certain the “re:” line clearly shows your COURSE and SECTION number

HOW do these things help me do my job more easily?


Give greetings and goodbyes

Emails begin with a salutation:“Dear Dr. Dre,”“Dr. Dre,”“Dear Ms. Gibson,”“Dear Human Resources,”“Dear Exxon,”

Emails end with a signature block:“Best wishes,”“Thank you,”“Sincerely,”

Emails are like electronic LETTERS. You wouldn’t send a business letter without a clear salutation and signature, so DO NOT omit these things from professional emails.


Be CAREFUL about wording(can’t go wrong with bland)

Probably not the best greeting/salutation choices:

“Hey Party Person,”“Pardner,”

“Praise Him,”“Fight the Power,”

You can never go badly wrong by being TOO bland and formal in a professional email or letter.


First name or title?

If you have never met the person, use Mr. or Ms. (DO NOT use Mrs./Miss) or title (Dr., etc).

If you have met the person, and they have invited you to call them by their first name, go ahead and do so.

If you think they might not remember that invitation (it was late at a party or a long time ago), then revert to a formal greeting.


Exception to the Rule . . .

If you have been exchanging emails with the person all day, it’s okay to skip the greeting and salutation as if you’re having one long conversation.

DO NOT, however, consider this an invitation to become familiar and informal. Just skip the greetings/salutations for efficiency.


Email body

DO NOT use emoticons, graphics, backgrounds, or excessive punctuation.

Remember that professional emails are just electronic business letters – use THE SAME restraint you’d use in a business letter.

No triple exclamation points!!! No SCREAMING FULL CAPS IN BODY SENTENCES. no lack of caps. No exclamation point ending! Every! Sentence!


Use SHORT paragraphs

Don’t use long paragraphs. Anything more than six or seven sentences is way too long for an email.

Put CLEAR LINE BREAKS between paragraphs.

Audiences want to skim emails, so help them do this.

Also, remember that they may be viewing the email in a much smaller window than you are.


Use SIMPLE plain text formatting

Don’t use fancy html format text just because you can. Some audiences won’t have the same fancy email program that you have.

Auto formatted text can show up as computer code gobledygook on other people’s email browsers.

You can get the same practical results using only the simplest text formatting, so keep things simple by using only non-HTML formatting.


Use SIMPLE plain text formatting

Instead of HTML:

bold or italics

bullets

automatic numbering

tabs and auto paragraph breaks

Use PLAIN TEXT:

ALL CAPS for headings

- a simple hyphen

- to begin list items

1. regular typed numbering

a full space break between ¶s (just hit “enter” twice)


just another reminderso you really get THIS POINT

DO NOT use complicated automatic formatting (like underlining, italics, bold text, auto bullets, tabs and margins, icons and pictures) in the body of a professional email.

You can make ANY email very easy to scan quickly and easily and add emphasis by using ONLY non-

html keyboard tricks.


Include aCALL-TO-ACTION

Make it VERY explicit what you want the reader to do and give them all the info that they will need to act.

If the reader needs to send you back another email asking what to do next or requesting more info, then

your original message was not clear and whatever you were asking for is MUCH less likely to happen.

Want to see this in action?

Just look at the first email I sent to y’all!

I (obviously) try to follow all of the tips, tricks, advice, and guidelines that I talk about in class.


Documents

Copyright 2013 by Arthur Fricke Tips for Writing Professional Email ENGL 3365