Dos and Don'ts of E-mailing:
A Speak Strong Approach to E-mail Mastery

           

The world is full of examples of bad emails, and my client’s qualified. She said she had sent the corrections, but I couldn’t find them. There was no attachment. I scrolled down past her long signature code, and saw the original copy. It took me three days and five email exchanges to locate the changes buried miles down the copy. Email is for convenience. It shouldn’t be this hard to find the information you need. That’s why you need the dos and don’ts of e-mailing to make your emails effective.

Here are some e-mailing don’ts:   
    
• Don’t make your reader search for information.       
• Don’t write long paragraphs.       
• Don’t make your reader guess what you want from them.      
• Don’t make your reader search for your contact info.       
• Don’t make your reader guess what you are referring to.       
• Don’t send your email without proofreading it first.      
• Don’t fire off a response without reflection, especially if you’re emotionally invested.       
• Don’t forward jokes and articles indiscriminately.       
• Don’t type your message in all caps.       
• Don’t keep the same subject line when changing the topic in a reply.       
• Don’t use email when things get emotional.

Here are some e-mailing dos:
      
• Do use the subject line to indicate contents and desired actions.      
• Do place important information where the reader can find it immediately.      
• Do write short paragraphs.       
• Do determine that every pronoun (he, it etc) has a referent.       
• For longer messages, do open with an overview of the contents.      
• Do separate different ideas with paragraphs, or send in separate emails.      
• Do use headers, bullets and other formatting to separate ideas.      
• Do use a signature file with contact information.       
• Do summarize your message with action steps.      
• Do review your email before hitting send.      
 • Do pick up the phone when things get confusing or emotional and talk directly.

Here are some sample Power Phrases to use in your emails:

• Here’s an overview of this message.      
• The purpose of this email is…       
• Please respond by (action)…       
• Please contact me at…

Examples of Bad Emails Are Everywhere I confess, I don’t have to look farther than my own sent box for examples of bad emails. There are those which assume my reader can read my mind. There are those which have nothing to do with the subject line, because the topic changed long ago. There even are a few alerts that turned out to be false. But the more you and I follow the dos and don’ts of e-mailing, the more efficient we’ll become. Email will truly be a resource of convenience.

For immediate help with your communication challenges, order the book PowerPhrases! now, and we'll email you a link to a free PDF of the book within hours. PowerPhrases! has a special chapter on how to write emails.


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Meryl Runion and Speak Strong (SpeakStrong) provides Power Phrases (PowerPhrases) and other tools to help you improve communication skills at work and at home.

She is the author of the books PowerPhrases!, How to Use PowerPhrases, Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors, and How to Say It: Performance Reviews. She can be reached at 719-684-2633 or by email: