Some professionals get scores of emails a day.
Follow these email etiquette tips in order to give your recipients the
information they need, so they’ll act on your message.
12 Dec 2000 — original version submitted by Jessica Bauer (UWEC student)
20 Dec 2012 — last modified by Dennis G. Jerz
- Write a meaningful subject line.
- Keep the message focused.
- Avoid attachments.
- Identify yourself clearly.
- Be kind — don’t flame.
- Proofread.
- Don’t assume privacy.
- Distinguish between formal and informal situations.
- Respond Promptly.
- Show Respect and Restraint.
1. Write a meaningful subject line.
People who get a lot of email
scan the subject line
in order to decide whether to open, forward, file, or trash a message.
If your subject line is vague — or even worse, if it’s blank — you have
missed your first opportunity to inform or persuade your reader.
Remember — your message is not the only one in your recipient’s mailbox.
Before you hit “send,” take a moment to write a subject line that
accurately describes the content.
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Subject: [Blank] |
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If you don’t put a subject line on your email, you are sending the
message that your name in the “From” line is all your recipient should
need in order to make it a top priority. That could come across as
arrogant, or at the very least, thoughtless. Take advantage of the
opportunity to get your recipient thinking about your message even
before opening it. |
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Subject: “Important! Read Immediately!!“ |
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What is important to you may not be important to your reader. Rather
than brashly announcing that the secret contents of your message are
important, write an informative headline that actually communicates at
least the core of what you feel is so important: “Emergency: All Cars in
the Lower Lot Will Be Towed in 1 Hour.” |
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Subject: “Quick question.“ |
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If the question is quick, why not just ask it in the subject line? This subject line is hardly useful. |
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Subject: “Follow-up about Friday“ |
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Fractionally better — provided that the recipient remembers why a follow-up was necessary. |
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Subject: “That file you requested.“ |
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If you’re confident your recipient will recognize your email
address, and really is expecting a file from you, then this would be
fine. But keep in mind that many email providers get scads of
virus-laden spam with vague titles like this. The more specific you are,
the more likely your recipient’s spam-blocker will let your message
through. |
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Subject: “10 confirmed for Friday… will we need a larger room?“ |
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Upon reading this revised, informative subject line, the recipient
immediately starts thinking about the size of the room, not about
whether it will be worth it to open the email. |
2. Keep the message focused.
Often recipients only read partway through a long message, hit
“reply” as soon as they have something to contribute, and forget to keep
reading. This is part of human nature.
If your email contains
multiple messages that are only loosely related, in order to avoid the risk that your reader will reply only to the first item that grabs his or her fancy, you could
number your points to
ensure they are all read (adding an introductory line that states how
many parts there are to the message). If the points are substantial
enough,
split them up into separate messages so your recipient can delete, respond, file, or forward each item individually.
Keep your message readable.
- Use standard capitalization and spelling, especiallywhen your message asks your recipient to do work for you.
- If you are a teenager, writing a quick gushing “thx 4 ur help 2day ur gr8″ may make a busy professional smile at your gratitude.
- But there comes a time when the sweetness of the gesture isn’t enough. u want ur prof r ur boss 2 think u cant spl? LOL ;-)
- Skip lines between paragraphs.
- Avoid fancy typefaces. Don’t depend upon bold font
or large size to add nuances. Your recipient’s email reader may not have
all the features that yours does. In a pinch, use asterisks to show
*emphasis*.
- Use standard capitalization. All-caps comes across
as shouting, and no caps invokes the image of a lazy teenager.
Regardless of your intention, people will respond accordingly.
3. Avoid attachments.
Rather than attaching a file that your reader will have to download
and open in a separate program, you will probably get faster results if
you just copy-paste the most important part of the document into the
body of your message.
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To: All 1000 EmployeesFrom: Eager EdgarSubject: A helpful book everyone should read
——–
Hello, everyone. I’ve attached a PDF that I think you’ll all find very
useful. This is the third time I sent it the file — the version I sent
yesterday had a typo on page 207, so I’ve sent the whole thing again.
Since some of you noted that the large file size makes it a bit awkward,
I’ve also attached each chapter as a separate document. Let me know
what you think!Attachments:
- Big Honking File.pdf (356MB)
- BHF Cover.pdf (25MB)
- BHF Chapter 1.pdf (35MB)
- BHF Chapter 2.pdf (27MB)
- [... ]
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Okay, raise your hands… how many of us would delete the above
message immediately, without looking at *any* of those attachments? |
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To: Bessie ProfessionalFrom: Morris PonsybilSubject: Email tips — a subject for an office workshop?
——–
Bessie, I came across a book that has lots of tips on streamlining
professional communications. Has anyone volunteered to present at the
office workshop next month? Let me know if you’d like me to run a little
seminar (2o minutes?) on using email effectively.Below, I’ll paste the
table of contents from the book. Let me know if you want me send you the
whole thing as a PDF.
Table of Contents
- Write a meaningful subject line.
- Keep the message focused and readable.
- Avoid attachments.
- [...]
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Email works best when you just copy and paste the most relevant text into the body of the email. Try to reduce the number of steps your recipient will need to take in order to act on your message. |
If your recipient actually needs to view the full file in order to
edit or archive it, then of course sending an attachment is appropriate.
If it’s the message that matters, recognize that attachments
- consume bandwidth (do you want your recipient to ignore your request so as to avoid paying for a mobile download?)
- can carry viruses
- don’t always translate correctly for people who read their email on portable devices.
4. Identify yourself clearly.
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To: Professor Blinderson
From: FuZzYkItTy2000@hotmail.com
Subject: [Blank]
Yo goin 2 miss class whats the homework |
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Professor Blinderson will probably reply, “Please let me know your
name and which class you’re in, so that I can respond meaningfully. I
don’t recognize the address FuZzYkItTy2000@hotmail.com.”
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To: Professor Blinderson
From: m.ponsybil@gmail.com
Subject: EL227 Absence, Oct 10
This is Morris Ponsybil, from EL227 section 2.
This morning, I just found out that the curling team has advanced to the playoffs, so I’m going to be out of town on the 10th.
According to the syllabus, it looks like I will miss a paper workshop
and the discussion of Chapter 10. May I email you my Chapter 10
discussion questions before I leave town? And could I come to your
office hour at 2pm on the 12th, in order to catch up on anything I
missed? I’ve asked Cheryl Jones to take notes for me.
Thank you very much. I’ll see you in class tomorrow. |
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(If you are asking the other person to do you a favor, providing the
right information will give him or her a good reason to decide in your
favor. In this case, Morris Ponsybil shows his professor he cares enough
about the class to propose a solution to the problem his absence will
cause.) |
When contacting someone cold, always include your name, occupation,
and any other important identification information in the first few
sentences.
If you are following up on a face-to-face contact, you might appear
too timid if you assume your recipient doesn’t remember you; but you can
drop casual hints to jog their memory: “I enjoyed talking with you
about PDAs in the elevator the other day.”
Every fall, I get emails from “bad_boy2315@yahoo.com” or
“FuZzYkItTy2000@hotmail.com” who ask a question about “class” and don’t
sign their real names.
While formal phrases such as “Dear Professor Sneedlewood” and
“Sincerely Yours,” are unnecessary in email, when contacting someone
outside your own organization, you should write a signature line that
includes your full name and at least a link to a blog or online profile
page (something that does not require your recipient to log in first).
5. Be kind. Don’t flame.
Think before you click “Send.”
If you find yourself writing in anger, save a draft, go get a cup of
coffee, and imagine that tomorrow morning someone has taped your email
outside your door. Would your associates and friends be shocked by your
language or attitude?
Or would they be impressed by how you kept your cool, how you ignored
the bait when your correspondent stooped to personal attacks, and how
you carefully explained your position (or admitted your error, or asked
for a reconsideration, etc.).
Don’t pour gasoline on a fire without carefully weighing the
consequences. Will you have to work with this person for the rest of the
semester? Do you want a copy of your bitter screed to surface years
from now, when you want a letter of recommendation or you’re up for
promotion?
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@!$% &*@!! &(*! |
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Go ahead… write it, revise it, liven it up with traditional Lebanese
curses, print it out, throw darts on it, and scribble on it with
crayon. Do whatever you need in order to get it out of your system. Just
don’t hit “Send” while you’re still angry. |
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From: Clair Haddad
To: Ann O. Ying
Subject: Re: Ongoing Problems with ProjectI’m not sure how to respond,
since last week you told Sue that you didn’t need any extra training, so
I cancelled Wednesday’s workshop. I can CC Sue in on this thread if you
like, since she’s the one who will have to approve the budget if we
reschedule it.
Meanwhile, I can loan you my copies of the manual, or we can look
into shifting the work to someone else. Let me know what you’d like me
to do next.
—Original Message –
From: Ann O. Ying
I tried all morning to get in touch with you. Couldn’t you find a few
minutes in between meetings to check your messages? I’m having a rough
time on this project, and I’m sorry if this is last-minute, but I’ve
never done this before and I think the least you could do is take some
time to explain it again.
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If your recipient has just lambasted you with an angry message,
rather than reply with a point-by-point rebuttal, you can always respond
with a brief note like this, which
- casually invokes the name of someone the angry correspondent is
likely to respect (in order to diffuse any personal antagonism that may
otherwise have developed) and
- refocuses the conversation on solutions (in this conversation, Ann
has already dug herself into a hole, and Clair has nothing to gain by
joining her there)
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6. Proofread.
If you are asking someone else to do work for you, take the time to
make your message look professional.
While your spell checker won’t catch every mistake, at the very least
it will catch a few typos. If you are sending a message that will be
read by someone higher up on the chain of command (a superior or
professor, for instance), or if you’re about to mass-mail dozens or
thousands of people, take an extra minute or two before you hit “send”.
Show a draft to a close associate, in order to see whether it actually
makes sense.
7. Don’t assume privacy.
Unless you are Donald Trump,
praise in public, and criticize in private. Don’t send anything over email that you wouldn’t want posted — with your name attached — in the break room.
Email is not secure. Just as random pedestrians
could easily reach into your mailbox and intercept the envelopes that
you send and receive through the post office, a curious hacker, a
malicious criminal, or the
FBI
can easily intercept your email. Your IT department has the ability to
read any and all email messages in your work account (and your company
can legally may
fire you if you write anything inappropriate).
8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations.
When you are writing to a friend or a close colleague, it is OK to
use “smilies” :-) , abbreviations (IIRC for “if I recall correctly”, LOL
for “laughing out loud,” etc.) and nonstandard punctuation and spelling
(like that found in instant messaging or chat rooms). These linguistic
shortcuts are generally signs of friendly intimacy, like sharing cold
pizza with a family friend. If you tried to share that same cold pizza
with a first date, or a visiting dignitary, you would give off the
impression that you did not really care about the meeting. By the same
token, don’t use informal language when your reader expects a more
formal approach. Always know the situation, and write accordingly.
9. Respond Promptly.
If you want to appear professional and courteous, make yourself
available to your online correspondents. Even if your reply is, “Sorry,
I’m too busy to help you now,” at least your correspondent won’t be
waiting in vain for your reply.
10. Show Respect and Restraint
Many a flame war has been started by someone who hit “reply all” instead of “reply.”
While most people know that email is not private, it is good form to
ask the sender before forwarding a personal message. If someone emails
you a request, it is perfectly acceptable to forward the request to a
person who can help — but forwarding a message in order to ridicule the
sender is tacky.
Use BCC instead of CC when sending sensitive information to large
groups. (For example, a professor sending a bulk message to students who
are in danger of failing, or an employer telling unsuccessful
applicants that a position is no longer open.) The name of everyone in
the CC list goes out with the message, but the names of people on the
BCC list (“blind carbon copy”) are hidden. Put your own name in the “To”
box if your mail editor doesn’t like the blank space.
Be tolerant of other people’s etiquette blunders. If you think you’ve
been insulted, quote the line back to your sender and add a neutral
comment such as, “I’m not sure how to interpret this… could you
elaborate?”
