We send dozens of emails every week and hope that they reach their intended target recipient while conveying the messaging we plan. A poorly written email might result in the intended message getting lost, or not read at all. Here are some tips to help you master the art of writing and composing a professional email.
1. Keep emails short
A professional email should be as brief as possible while still presenting its intended message. A casual reader will generally process a maximum of three sentences before needing to refer back to the email.
Take the time to go back over your email and make sure you have presented your point clearly. Check for any spelling and grammatical errors before sending. If possible, focus on sharing a single message per email.
2. Stay away from too many colors, fonts, and embedded graphics
There are many email programs that do not recognize certain fonts, different colors or text sizes. Keep these things as consistent as possible, particularly if the colors and fonts are embedded within the email.
This also holds true for photos and images embedded within email text. Certain programs may cause an altered company logo or prevent the logo from showing up at all, giving your email an unprofessional appearance. Use other methods to draw attention to points you want to emphasize.
3. Make use of bold, bullet points and italics
Using numbered lists and bullet points will help the recipient quickly locate key parts of the email. You can also separate information while drawing the reader’s attention by emphasizing words using bold or italics.
However, the overuse of bold or italics can be jarring and may ‘throw’ the reader’s eye off. Try bolding only the three or four most important words in the email, such as a request for an interview, please find my resume attached.
4. Avoid using all CAPS, or all lower-case
We’ve all heard this before, and yet it continues to be a common mistake. Using all caps for even ONE single word in a sentence can be off-putting and make your reader feel like you are ANGRY or upset about something.
Using all lower case can be just as bad, presenting your writing style as sloppy and lazy. Employ correct grammar – a capital letter at the beginnings of sentences, for people’s names and for proper nouns – and use correct punctuation. Also, avoid excessive exclamation marks!
5. Email is company property
Unless it’s being sent from your personal computer, email is company property. A good rule of thumb is to never email anything that you wouldn’t want the CEO of your company to see.
The email communication policies of many companies allows emails to be retrieved, examined, and used in court if needed to prove a point. You can use encryption devices if you want to make emails more secure. A good list of these products can be found at this Wikipedia page called ‘encryption devices’.
6. Make use of good, clear subject fields
Nobody likes to receive a ton of emails with no clear subject. “From Laura” or “hi” are titles that force the recipient to blindly open your email. We need to provide easy communication in today’s busy world. This means using clear, effective and to-the-point headings such as “one quick question about today’s invoice, not urgent”.
If you forward the email, remember to change the subject heading. “Got the invoice code, need Client X’s phone number” might be your next heading.
7. Remember the value of face-to-face
Email is a great tool but it is not always the best way to communicate. A phone call or personal visit can often prove very valuable, because fostering effective working relationships is such an important part of business. Working relationships are difficult to develop through a purely digital format.
When emailing someone in your office, go and talk to them if you can. And a phone call can often be the most effective way to solve a big problem or answer a series of questions without the need to reply to multiple emails.
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