Writing a proper email makes all the difference when it comes to how you present yourself and how you come across to others. Whether in the workplace or as part of your daily communications, drafting the perfect email is necessary when corresponding with others.
In today’s digital age, knowing how to communicate over email is more important than ever since it’s the number one means people use to stay connected. On average, approximately 376.4 billion emails have been sent every day just this year. Many also say that they prefer using email as their primary form of communication for business and in general.
There are several rules that are essential to follow when writing emails. These key tips will help you improve your email writing and communication skills so that you can remain professional and make sure that your message is clear and easy for your recipient to understand.
If you want to learn more about the important rules you should follow when writing emails, check out these five tips below.
1. Introduce Yourself Properly
Like with any form of communication, introducing yourself clearly is important to include. That way, the recipient knows right off the bat who the email is coming from.
When doing an introduction, it’s always important to start with a friendly greeting that shows respect and professionalism. If you want to remain formal, you can use greetings like “Hello,” or “Hi there,” along with including the person’s name. You can then follow your introductory line with a cordial phrase such as “I hope all is well,” or “I hope you are doing well.” These phrases also show that you’re being respectful of the other person’s time.
If it’s your first time reaching out to this person, these greetings are ideal since you are still at the beginning stages of building a professional relationship with them. If the person is someone you’ve already communicated with, you can also add a brief ending line, such as “Thank you for your response,” to show your appreciation for them taking the time to read and reply to your email.
Even if the person is someone you’re already familiar with, it’s still essential to maintain your professionalism, especially in a formal setting. And these introductory greetings will allow you to make a positive first impression and leave your interactions on a good note, since it’s easier for messages to become misinterpreted when you’re not speaking with the other person face-to-face.
2. Write a Clear Subject Line
It’s easy for emails to become buried in your inbox. Likewise, when you’re the one sending emails to others, it’s easy for your messages to get lost in their inbox as well. That’s why it’s important to draft emails with a clear subject line that relates to your message.
Though you may want to write an attention-grabbing headline like “PLEASE READ” or “ATTENTION” in capitalized letters, these subject lines can actually overwhelm your recipient. Instead, there are ways you can write an appropriate subject line that still gets your recipient’s attention, and aligns with your email’s topic.
It’s also best to include subject line starters like ‘Re:,’ short for ‘regarding,’ ‘Follow-Up,’ or ‘Update,’ which comes before your subject line. These starter phrases are also helpful to use because they keep your subject line’s word count to a minimum, so any words or letters don’t get cut off.
When writing the rest of your subject line, you also want to make sure it directly relates to what your email is about. For instance, if you’re sending a business proposal or memo to a colleague, you can write a subject line like “Quick Follow Up on Tuesday’s Business Proposal,: or “Re: Business Memo Update.” These subject lines are both succinct and give a brief overview of your email so that your recipient quickly understands what it’s about.
If you have an existing email thread with the other person, you can also update the subject line. This works in cases when the contents and topic of the email change from what it was initially about. Before deciding to make any changes, you can go through the thread’s previous and most recent messages to see if it makes sense to do so.
3. Keep it Brief and Professional
When writing emails, it’s easy to get caught up in wanting to share every idea that comes to mind. Since emails are generally used to condense information in an easily readable format, it’s important to keep them short and to the point. By doing this, you also won’t overwhelm your recipient or encounter any miscommunications.
Based on your email’s topic, you want to make sure you give a brief yet detailed summary that relates to your message without being repetitive. For example, if you need to message a colleague or business partner about reviewing an internal correspondence from a prior meeting, you can say something such as:
Hi (Recipient’s Name),
I hope you are doing well.
I wanted to check in with a quick reminder to please review the business presentation that was shown during Monday’s meeting and make note of any feedback you have. Please reply with your revisions at your earliest convenience.
Thank you.
Best,
(Your Name)
This email is clear, polite, and encourages the person on the other end to take action without being pushy. It also shows that you’re respectful of their time by prompting them to respond at a time that works best for them.
When drafting your emails, you also want to make sure you write them in a way that’s easy to understand. Depending on the length, you can divide your emails line by line or by every two to three lines so it’s not written as one long paragraph. It’s also helpful to incorporate bold and italicized text for words or phrases that you want the reader to focus on.
Similar to using a respectful greeting, it’s also important to include an ending phrase like “Best,” or “Best Regards,” to wish them well, and conclude with your name underneath.
4. Use Error-Free Language
Before sending your email, you need to make sure it’s error-free. By going over what you wrote, you’ll feel more confident in how you communicate and be able to reply to your recipient easily.
When you’re done writing, you can read your email out loud a few times to see if it makes sense. If you find yourself stumbling over words or phrases that don’t fit the context of your email, you can swap them out for similar terms that are more aligned. It’s also important to check that your recipient’s name is spelled correctly, as well as for any additional spelling errors that you may have missed the first time around. You can check for these errors by writing your email in a Word Document or Google Docs and using its spellcheck features. You can also use platforms like Grammarly to check for any spelling or sentence structure errors.
If you’re including attachments or links in your email, you want to make sure they’re labeled correctly. If you’re including a link, you can use your email program’s hyperlink feature to highlight words or phrases and link to the URL you want your recipient to view. When attaching files, it’s key to give them a title that aligns with the document’s content. For instance, if your attachment is related to an outstanding invoice, you can title it as “Invoice No.3 – Payment Request” or “Outstanding Invoice Request,” so that your recipient knows what the attachment is in relation to before downloading it.
5. Wait to Follow-Up
After sending your email, it’s easy to become impatient when waiting for a response. If you don’t hear back right away, it’s common to overthink about the worst-case scenario as to why your recipient didn’t reply, such as thinking that they didn’t like something you wrote.
Despite wanting to follow up right away, it’s still important to adhere to a proper timeline so you don’t bombard your recipient and still give them time to respond. If you send your email during the week, it’s best to wait at least two to three days before following up. If you send an email on a Friday, wait three to four days from the following Monday before getting back in touch, since most people don’t check their emails during the weekend and usually use Mondays to prepare all their tasks for the week.
To craft a quick yet professional follow-up message, you can use the following template:
Hi (Recipient’s Name),
I hope you had a good weekend.
I wanted to follow up on my previous email regarding (include one to two sentences that summarize your last email). Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your time.
Best Regards,
(Your Name)
In this example, your email remains clear and concise while reiterating the importance of the message you previously sent.
Additional Email Etiquette Tips
Now that you know and can apply the above rules to your future emails, here are some additional tips you can keep in mind as well:
1. Use Bold, Italicized, and Capitalized Text Sparingly
Use bold, italicized, or capitalized text only when highlighting important details. That way, your recipient can still focus on specific words or phrases without it overpowering your entire email. Before sending, review the text you’ve bolded, italicized, or capitalized to see if it’s the best fit for your email or scale back where necessary.
2. CC vs BCC
For sending the same email to multiple people, such as in the workplace, using the CC and BCC functions is common. However, there’s a difference in how and when you should use it. You can use CC when your recipient and any other individuals know that they’ll be included in your email thread. If they’re unaware, you should communicate this to them separately beforehand, since using CC shows everyone’s email address who’s included in the exchange. For added privacy and to avoid a flurry of incoming emails from whoever’s included in the correspondence, it’s best to use BCC.
3. Don’t Hit Send After Hours
To remain professional, you should also avoid sending emails after standard business hours unless absolutely necessary, or your recipient is expecting a message from you. Even if your email is urgent or you feel the need to send it out, it’s best to wait until the next business day between 9 am and 5 pm, or after the weekend. This shows that you respect the other person’s time and aren’t pressuring them to respond at a time they’re unable to reply.
Table of content
Share
