How is it spelled? email Email eMail EMail e-mail E-mail e-Mail
E-Mail
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How is it spelled? Gregg, Microsoft, and AP: e-mail Wired:
email Email Experience Council: email is standard
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What makes email different?
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Difference: No nonverbal cues No nonverbal cues, which account
for ___________ percent of message
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Nonverbal cues No nonverbal cues, which account for 65 - 93
percent of a message Only words and :-)
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Difference: Tone No nonverbal cues Tone becomes crucial In
Germany and Britain, 23 percent and 14 percent respectively [of
respondents to a Daily Mail survey] admitted confrontations with
colleagues because of e-mail misunderstandings.
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Criticisms are harsher Messages meant to express mild
displeasure can come across as tirades. Louise Dobson, Avoiding
Email Catastrophes (2006)
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Tone: Example One To: Female employees From: H. Honcho Re:
Dress code Date: 1 July 2006 Clients will be visiting next week.
Halter tops and jeans will not make the right impression. Its time
you started dressing for the office instead of the beach. Leave
your flip-flops at home!
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Tone: Example Two To: All staff From: H. Honcho Re: Reminder
about what to wear to work Date: 1 July 2006 During the summer, our
dress code is business casual. We think business casual means
clothes that feel comfortable and look professional. MenWomen khaki
pants casual pants and skirts leather shoes leather or fabric
shoes
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Tips: Tone Avoid terseness, which can be misinterpreted Use
face-to-face communication if issue is sensitive Read your emails
aloud, looking for ambiguity
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Difference: Humor Humor is riskier
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Humor: Riskier and Misunderstood Nearly a quarter of employees
have suffered problems with colleagues or clients because their use
of humour in an email has not been understood or appreciated,
according to a survey. Robert Jacques, Email Jokes Backfire for UK
Workers (2004)
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Tips: Humor If in doubt, dont send it. Chevron was forced to
pay $2.2 million to settle a harassment case based in part on
emails with such subjects as Why beer is better than women. Reread
for ambiguities. Signal the joke. One emoticon or per email is
plenty.
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Difference: Levels of formality Most people view email as more
formal than a phone call less formal than a letter
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Spelling still counts Sloppiness is one of seven deadly e-mail
sins Bad grammar, misspelling and disconnected arguments gave 81
percent of the survey sample "negative feelings" towards the
senders. 41 percent of senior managers said badly worded e- mails
implied laziness and even disrespect. CNN.com
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Level of Formality When in doubt, err on the side of formality.
Usually the problem is that we treat [e-mail] too much like a phone
call and not enough like a letter. OConner and Kellerman
(2002)
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Difference: Level of Formality Questions to which answers are
evolving: Do I need a subject line? Should I email a thank-you note
after a job interview? Should I communicate bad news via
email?
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Difference: Electronic Hit Send and its gone Hit Reply All and
your career may be gone Deleted emails live on Messages can be
forwarded without your knowledge or consent
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Tip: What not to do One of the officers convicted of beating
Rodney King sent this email: Oops. I havent beaten anyone so bad in
a long time. A transcript of the message was used at his
trial.
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Tip: Electronic Colonel David Russells rule: Never say anything
in an electronic message that you wouldn't want appearing, and
attributed to you, in tomorrow mornings front-page headline in the
New York Times.
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Tip: Electronic Instant Many expect a phone call to alert them
to an email labeled Urgent. Allow a reasonable time (two days week)
for a response. Respond before senders have to follow up or
business is delayed.
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When would you use email? To send confidential salary
information To address a personal hygiene issue To get an immediate
reply To settle a conflict between two team members To request a
manual for the new phone system To recap a conversation about a
pending order To set up a meeting next month To keep people updated
on a projects status
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When would you use email? To send confidential salary
information To address a personal hygiene issue To get an immediate
reply To settle a conflict between two team members To request a
manual for the new phone system To recap a conversation about a
pending order To set up a meeting next month To keep people updated
on a projects status
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Difference: Wheres audience? People who wouldn't dream of
burping at the end of dinner post offensive messages to
international forums. Middle managers inadvertently send romantic
email messages to the company-wide email alias. People at computer
terminals forget that there are real live people on the other end
of the wire. Virginia Shea, Netiquette (1994)
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Nettiquette Typing in all capitals in electronic communications
means (A) Nothing special--typing in all caps is normal. (B) You
are shouting. (C) Its OK to forward this message to others. (D)
This message is very important.
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Three manners mavens: Shea 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.
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Tip: Use BCC wisely To keep addresses private, put your own
address in the To: line and paste your mailing list in the cc: line
BCCs within an organization can create distrust
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Tip: Leave address blank If youre furious and must answer an
email right away, leave the address line blank. If you hit Send
before youve had a chance to cool down, the email wont go
through.
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Anatomy of email: From Would you open mail from
Vampyra@Goths_R_Us.netVampyra@Goths_R_Us.net
[email protected]@hotmail.com Dunno
[email protected]
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Anatomy of email: From E-mail recipients put more weight on who
the e-mail is from than any other item when choosing which e-mails
to open which to delete which to complain about Chris Baggot,
ExactTarget
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Anatomy of an email: Subject Your subject can answer any of
readers four key questions: 1. Whats this about? 2. Why should I
read this? 3. Whats in this for me? 4. What am I being asked to
do?
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More Tips: Subject Double-check the address line before
sending. Insulted by a general email from the boss, an employee
sent an angry comment to a colleague (she thought): Does she think
were stupid? The reply (from her boss): Yes, I do.
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Anatomy of an 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? 43 Folders (2005)
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Anatomy of email: Body 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; THATS SHOUTING If a
message is longer than 3 screens, send an attachment
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Anatomy of email: Body Subject: Noise level in the break rooms
How can we satisfy everyone? Many of you have told me about the
growing tension you feel around using the break rooms. Some of you
use them to work and socialize; others need a quiet place to work.
Your ideas are welcome What do you think we can do about this?
Should we designate one room as a lounge and another as a quiet
area? D. Dumaine, Write to the Top
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Question: Do I need a greeting? Consensus: Yes. Otherwise, you
can seem brusque or unfriendly.
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Question: Which greeting? 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 Bob:
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Question: Which closing? 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)
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Suggested resources Available at
http://word-crafter.net/email.htmlhttp://word-crafter.net/email.html
Articles Best practices for email marketing Grammar help Test your
netiquette
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Assignment Cell Phone Etiquette In a group of 4, create a list
of at least 10 cell phone etiquette rules Decide which environment
youd like to develop these rules for (ex. School, public place,
waiting rooms, car, etc.) Your rules can involve anything that a
person does on a cell phone such as texting, talking, etc. Be
creative tell us what you really think What annoys you about cell
phones? Email my your list using the nettique rules in this
PowerPoint Pick a speaker from your group to present your
rules