skills in writing an email

1. Professional Emails
A Practical Guide
1. TY PES OF EMAI LS
2. PA RTS OF A N EMA IL
3. CONFIDENTIALI TY
4. TH E SUB JECT LINE
5. TH E G REETI NG
6. TH E OP ENI NG
7. THE B ODY
8. TH E CLOSING
9. TH E SI G NA TURE
1 0 . SA MPLE EMA I LS
11. REFERENCES
Compiled by Jaime Cabrera for the scholars of Albukhary International University

2. Reply promptly to serious
messages.
Reply promptly
to serious
messages. If you
need more than
24 hours to
collect
information or
make a
decision, send a
brief response
explaining the
delay.
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

3. Four Types of Email
1. No-Reply Email –You want to tell the receiver
something, either a compliment or information.
No reply is necessary.
2. Inquiry Email - You need something from the
receiver in a reply. Example: advice, or questions
answered. The reply is your desired outcome.
3. Open-Ended Email – to keep communication
lines open, for the purpose of some future result
or benefit.
4. Action Email – The goal is not the reply, but some
action on the part of the receiver. Examples: a
sales pitch, or asking for a website link exchange.
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

4. Parts of an Email
Parts
of an
email
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

5. Parts of an Email
Confidentiality
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

6. Confidentiality
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Your e-mails are not private. Avoid sending
confidential, proprietary, sensitive,
personal, potentially embarrassing, or
classified information via e-mail.
When sending the same email to several
people, via CCs or BCCs, remember that
their addresses are visible in the CC box.
Use the blind copy (BCC) or mail merge
function to protect the privacy of your
contacts.

7. Parts of an Email
Subject
Line
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

8. The Subject Line
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
The subject line is the first thing the target
receivers see when sorting through their in-
boxes.
Always write a subject line that is informative,
direct, and states the main issue in the email.
Keep it short; long subjects lines don’t show
well in the browser windows, or are ignored.
Use sentence case, not all caps.
When replying, change the subject line when
the topic changes.

9. Parts of an Email
Greeting
(Salutation)
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

10. The Greeting (Salutation)
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Always open your email with a greeting.
For formal or business e-mails, use the
surname, not the first name:
Dear Mrs. Cowabunga,
Dear Sir,
If you’re contacting a company, not an
individual, you may write
To Whom It May Concern:
Gentlemen:

11. Parts of an Email
Opening
Sentence
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

12. The Opening
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Begin with a line of thanks. Find any way to
thank target receivers. This will put them at
ease, and it will make you appear more
courteous.
For example, if someone asked a question,
you can begin with:
 Thank you for contacting Tanza Company.
If someone replied to your email, you can
begin with:
 Thank you for your prompt reply.

13. State your purpose
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
State your purpose in the opening
sentence.
I am writing to enquire about …
I am writing in reference to …
Don’t write a long introduction, don’t
tell a story. Skip the niceties.
People just want to know what you
want, so state that, in the first sentence.

14. Parts of an Email
Information
in
Detail
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

15. The Body
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Be brief but polite. Tell them exactly
what you want, in as short an email as
possible.
If your message runs longer than two or
three short paragraphs, reduce the
message or provide an attachment.
Remember to say "please" and "thank
you." And mean it.

16. Write about one thing
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
If possible, don’t overwhelm the target
receiver.
If you write about multiple things, with
multiple requests, it is likely that:
your email won’t be read or acted on
the receiver will only do one of those
things
Stick to one subject, with one request. Once
that’s done, you can send a second one.

17. Use “If … then” statements
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
To avoid back-and-forth exchange, and save
time, anticipate the possible responses.
Give a desired action for each possible
response.
For example, instead of asking if they’ve
received a response, waiting for a reply, and
then replying to that reply, try and do it all in
one email:
 Did you receive a response from Mr. Xena?
If so, please email the report to me by
Tuesday. If not, please follow up and let me
know the response today.

18. Keep it professional
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Don’t use jokes, emotions, or emoticons.
Do not send inflammatory or emotionally charged
comments via e-mail.
Don't use abbreviations or acronyms such as PLZ,
ROFLOL (rolling on the floor laughing out loud),
or WUWT (what's up with that).
Avoid exclamation points, ellipses, question marks,
bold, italics, underlines, or multi-colored font.
It is considered very rude to use CAPITAL
LETTERS LIKE THIS BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT
YOU ARE SHOUTING.

19. Parts of an Email
Closing
Sentence
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

20. Professional Closing
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
How do you properly end an email? A simple
question, yet so many people are not sure
about what is proper email etiquette.
In the business world, ending an email
professionally is just as important as
perfecting the rest of the message.
If you do it sloppily, you might lose some
precious business opportunities.
Avoid this by following a few basic rules of
professional email conduct.

21. The Closing Remarks
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Courtesy is always important, no matter how short
the email is. Before you end your email:
 Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
 Thank you for your consideration.
Include an accurate follow-up statement:
 I will send you additional information.
 I look forward to receiving your input.
 If you have questions or concerns, do let me
know.
 I look forward to hearing from you.
If a response is required, specify what, when.

22. The Closing
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Use a professional closing:
 Best regards,
 Sincerely,
 Thank you,
For more casual emails:
 Best wishes,
 Cheers,
For more formal emails:
 Yours Sincerely,
 Yours Faithfully,

23. Parts of an Email
Email
Signature
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

24. The Email Signature
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
A professional signature makes it easy to contact you.
Your email account can automatically add these data to
the bottom of the email:
 full professional name
 job title
 business phone/fax numbers
 business street address
 business website, if any
 a legal disclaimer if required by your company.
Depending on policy, you may also want to include a link
to the company's website or social media pages.

25. How to create a signature
Click the gear icon in the upper right, then
select Settings.
Enter your new signature text in the box at the
bottom of the page next to the Signature option.
Click Save Changes.
Signatures are separated from the rest of your
message by two dashes.
To see a signature in Gmail, click the Show
trimmed content button at the bottom of the
message.
From: http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=8395 10/4/2012

26. Your Signature
From: http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=8395 10/4/2012
Different signatures for different addresses
 If you send mail "from" multiple addresses in Gmail,
you can set a different signature for each address in
the General tab of your settings.
 Choose the second radio button in the "Signature:"
section.
 Use the drop-down menu to choose the appropriate
address and set the signature you want.
Editing your signature
 If you're editing your signature and only have an
option to create a plain text signature, this is due to
the settings.
 Click Compose to create a new message, then
click the Rich formatting option in the message.
 Once this change is made, you'll be able to
create a rich text signature.

27. Parts of an Email
Attachments
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

28. Attachments
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
If there are any attachments, mention
them in the email so that the receiver
knows to look for and open the files.
Appropriately name the attachments so
that the receiver knows what each
document is just by reading the file
name.

29. Review
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
CLARITY: Once you’ve written an email,
take a few seconds to read over it before
pressing the Send button. Read it as if you
were an outsider — how clear is it?
AMBIGUITY: Are there any ambiguous
statements that could be interpreted the
wrong way? If so, clarify.
LENGTH: As you review, see if you can
shorten the email, remove words or
sentences or even paragraphs.

30. Parts of an Email
Revise,
Check,
Review
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012

31. Check, and then check again
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Before you hit the send button
Edit and proofread. You may think
you're too busy to do the small stuff,
but your reader may think you're
careless, unqualified, or
unprofessional.
Review and spell-check your email
one more time to make sure it's truly
perfect.

32. Finally
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Reply promptly to serious messages.
If you need more than 24 hours to collect
information or make a decision, send a brief
note to explain the delay.
Some replies are delayed by
electronic transmission. Explain the
delay.
Some messages arrive at the end of the last
working day of the week. Check emails just
before you leave.

33. JOB INTERVIEW - THANK YOU
JOB APPLICATION - COVER LET TER
REQUEST FOR AN UPDATE
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Sample Emails

34. Sample 1
Job
Interview
- Thank
you
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:
It was very nice to speak with you today about the sales
position at the ABC Organization. The job seems to be
an excellent match for my skills and interests. The self-
confident and aggressive characteristic requirements
you described needed for this position confirmed my
desire to work with you.
In addition to my experience, I will bring to the position
assertiveness and the skills to motivate others to work
cooperatively as a team.
I appreciate the time you took to interview me. I am
very interested in working for you and look forward to
hearing from you regarding this position.
Sincerely,
Your Complete Name
Your company address
Your work phone / fax numbers

35. Sample 2
Job
Application
- Cover
Letter
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Dear Hiring Manager,
I saw your job posting for a graphic designer in the ABC
site. I believe I can be an ideal match for the position
advertised.
I have extensive experience in the planning and design
of all graphic- related projects. In my position as
for Company, I was
part of several projects for website design, the company
intranet portal, product brochure design, print and media
advertisement as well as newsletters for our customer
subscribers.
Attached is my resume; these are some sample websites
that I
designed:
UR
L
UR
L
If you require further information, please let me know.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your

36. Sample 3
Request
for
Update
Hi Jane,
Can you lease update me on the status of the project
timelines?
Last week you mentioned that you were waiting for Sam to
send you the development timeline and that you were
working on communication and planning documents
(including timelines) for the project.
I am planning for the project in Asia Pacific and need these
dates to initiate discussion with the countries. The pilot will
be a topic of discussion on our weekly status calls next week.
Your assistance in getting this information as soon as
possible is appreciated.
Thanks,
Robert
10/4/2012
From: www.qgroupplc.com/category/writingemails

37. Know more at
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
Basic Explanations
http:www.englishtown.com/community/channels/article.aspx?articleName=184-email or
www.ehow.com/how_4995393_end-email-professionally.html
Good Explanations http:grammar.about.com/od/developingessays/a/profemails.htm;
home.comcast.net/~leparcell/email.html
Practical Explanations http:www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/do-your-emails-
suck-how-to-write-emails-that-get-results.html
Excellent Explanations (Detailed) http:thinksimplenow.com/productivity/15-tips-for-
writing-effective-email/
Excellent Explanations (With Examples) http:jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/e-text/email/
Concise Explanations 1 http:www.ehow.com/how_4679819_write-professional-
email.html
Concise Explanations 2 http:www.ehow.com/how_2159648_write-professional-
emails.html
Practical Explanations http:rarepattern.com/nodes/2008/01/email-etiquette-best-
practices-things-avoid
Not Required But Helpful http:www.techrepublic.com/article/10-e-mail-best-practices-
to-share-with-your-users/6161848

38. You might like these
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
8 E-mail Mistakes that Make You Look Bad http:www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/8-e-
mail-mistakes-that-make-you-look-bad.html
How to Know If Your Email Has Been Read http:www.ehow.com/how_5775094_email-
read.html
Why Emails Should be Short Instead of Nice http:gigaom.com/collaboration/why-emails-
should-be-short-instead-of-nice/
7 Rules for Communicating Clearly and Concisely http:gigaom.com/collaboration/7-rules-
for-communicating-clearly-and-concisely-in-email/
Five Things I Learned From 20 Years of Email http:gigaom.com/2012/08/19/five-things-
ive-learned-from-20-years-of-email/
Two More Killer Tips for Effective E-mail http:blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=4686
Don't Annoy Your Boss and Co-Workers with E-mailGaffes
http:blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=4262
Write More Efficient E-mails to Save Time and Frustration
http:blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=3204
Don't Bring Down Your Mail Server with ReplyAll
http:blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=4283
If you want to know more: CC, BCC, virus, spam, andphishing
http:www.techrepublic.com/article/10-e-mail-best-practices-to-share-with-your-users/6161848

39. THANK YOU
SHL1013 Professional English 10/4/2012
End of Presentation