Effective Email Writing

Effective Email Effective Email WritingWriting

Limani Bhavik N.

MCA

DCS (HNGU) , Patan.

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LayoutLayoutWhat is E-mail ?How to Make an Effective E-Mail.Few common e-mail habits that cause

Problems.Structure of E-Mail..

I. Addressing.II. Subjects.III. Message Text.IV. Attachments.V. Signature.

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What is E-Mail ?What is E-Mail ?

Text-based mail sent via the computer from one person to another

A Push Technology It is One-to-Many and almost Free

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How to Make an Effective How to Make an Effective E-mail E-mail

Selecting Your Audience Correctly Using Distribution Lists Composing Your Messages

Make the heading meaningful Keep each message short and clear. Start each message by stating its purpose/context

Few common e-mail habits Few common e-mail habits that cause Problems…that cause Problems…

Changing the topic without changing the subject.

Including multiple subjects Misaddressed recipients Displaying addresses of recipients who are

strangers to each other Replying vs. forwarding

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Structure of E-MailStructure of E-Mail

Addressing Subject Message Text Attachments Signature

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1. Addressing1. Addressing

It’s the address of the recipient. Use BCC to protect Email addresses unless everyone

knows each other. Maintain address book.

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The To: lineThe To: line

The To line and the Subject line are integrated.

Each individual on the To line is responsible for taking the action (or part of an action) outlined on the Subject line and the message relates directly to them.

The Cc: lineThe Cc: line

No action or response is expected of individuals on the Cc line. The recipient needs only to read or file the message.

The individuals whose work is indirectly affected by the communication should be included on the Cc line.

Bcc: lineBcc: line

Use Bcc field sparingly.

In general, it's best not to use the Bcc line to slyly escalate matters. There is always a chance that the individual on the Bcc line could hit "Reply All" and unintentionally reveal that the matter was escalated.

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2. Subject2. Subject

Precise headline for the message Makes easier to handle of e-MAIL Avoid sending e-mail with No subject

Ineffective subject linesIneffective subject lines

Subject Date&Time

Hi 9:17 am

questions 10:11 am

Meeting 12:44 pm

One more thing........... 3:02 pm

Some thoughts 4:21pm

Effective subject linesEffective subject lines

Subject Date&Time

Party planning meeting rescheduled for 3pm 9:17 am

Help: I can’t find the draft for the Smith Paper 10:11 am

Reminder: peer-review articles due tomorrow (3/30)

12:44 pm

Questions about Sociology 210 project 3:02 pm

Congratulations to Jennifer for winning Nobel Prize

4:21pm

Subject Date

Re: Question about Smith paper (was: please help with this!)

10:11 am

Change subject lines when Change subject lines when necessarynecessary

Subject Date

Re: Re: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: Reminder: Deadline for Spring Semester Is Jan. 15]]

9:17 am

Remove extra email prefixesRemove extra email prefixes

3. Message Text3. Message Text

Keep the message focused and readable Keep it short Brevity and clarity Use paragraphs Break into paragraphs; skip lines between Avoid fancy typefaces

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Message Text ( cont. )Message Text ( cont. )

Use * * to highlight text if you must Write in standard professional English with

Capitalization and correct spelling Quote back using contexts Identify yourself clearly to cold contacts.

Hello, I am…The reason I am writing…Hello, so-in-so suggested I contact you…

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Poor Email ContentPoor Email Content

Jon,Hey, I was just thinking about the meeting we had about the new workshop you were planning for next week about resume-writing. I think that we may have forgotten to include all of the students who might benefit from this workshop. There are several groups of students at the School of Public Health that were not on your list. Of course you may have added them to you list since our last meeting. Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the students from the Epidemiology program were on our list of included students. She also wanted a list of all of the included departments from the School of Public Health. Can you send me a list of all of the included student groups? I can then send the relevant information on to Sara because she needs this information by tomorrow.Thanks,Rachell

Better Email ContentBetter Email Content

Jon,

Can you send me a list of the students included in the resume-writing workshop by tomorrow?

We may have forgotten to include all of the students who might benefit from this workshop. There are several groups of students at the School of Public Health that were not on your list. Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the students from the Epidemiology program were on our list. I will send her that information tomorrow after I get the list from you.

Thanks,Rachell

4. Attachments4. Attachments Cut and paste relevant parts of attachment into text of

Email.

Use URL links instead.

Upload attachments to website and cite URL.

Compress large attachments and send attachments only when they are absolutely necessary.

Have a good virus scanner in place. People will not be very happy with mails full of viruses.

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5. E-mail Signature5. E-mail Signature Use an appropriate signature Brief (4-5 lines) Informative

I. provide all contact information

Professional

I. do not include pictures, quotes, animations.

II. Whenever a piece of contact information changes, make sure your signature updated accordingly.

Before Sending…Before Sending… Improper spelling, grammar and punctuation

give a bad impression, and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text.

Read the email through the eyes of the recipient before you send it.

RepliesReplies Answer swiftly.

Each e-mail should be replied to within at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day.

If the email is complicated, send an email saying that you have received it and that you will get back to them. This will put the people’s mind at rest and usually they will then be very patient!

RepliesReplies Respond only to messages that require one.

When replying make sure that you are adding value to the conversation, truly moving it forward.

   While replying to an e-mail message with an

attachment, which is to accompany your reply, you must forward the message instead of using the "Reply" or "Reply All" button. Otherwise, the attachment is not included with the message.

Discussion

Questions and Comments?

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