2. Email: Today’s Primary Method of
Communication
Every modern job uses
email
The average U.S.
employee spends 1/4
the workday on email
The way you email can
make or break a career
3. Every Email Represents You and Your Company
Too many employees struggle to write a professional email—
something that reflects badly on companies
The way you write emails has a huge impact on your
professional reputation
Imagine that everything you write is on company letterhead
Take email seriously
4. Writing Professional Emails
Mind proper grammar
Cut out texting shortcuts,
slang, and emoticons
Choose the right salutation
and sign off
Never use ALL CAPS
Professional ≠ Super formal
6. 1. Start with a direct, clear subject line.
Subject lines determine whether or not your email will be
opened
Unprofessional or empty subject lines can be marked as
spam
Get straight to the point
Contextualize what’s in it for the recipient
7. 2. Be aware of who’s reading.
Mirror the formality and language of the other person
Use smalltalk only when desired by your recipient
Always contextualize content
It’s ok to follow up if you know your audience is busy
8. 3. Choose recipients carefully.
Don’ spam; only include vital recipients
CC the minimum number of people possible
The more people on an email chain, the less pressure to
respond
Don’t pile on
Don’t reply all unless all recipients need to know your response
Use BCC to keep emails private
9. 4. Make a good first impression.
Make email introductions
carefully
Briefly introduce yourself
Start every unexpected
email with a line of context
10. 5. Lead with the CTA.
Put the “ask” or action items first
Be explicit about what you want
Don’t leave vital information to the end or hidden in
the middle
State directly if there is a deadline or information is
just FYI
11. 6. Minimize attachments.
Only send the most
necessary attachments
Just 2 attachments or
fewer
Use logical names
Warn people before
sending large attachments
12. 7. Avoid overly emotional
responses.
Remember that emails
can’t be unsent
Never email angry
Minimize exclamation
points—even for
excitement
13. 8. Edit and proofread.
Even the shortest email
should be edited
Spellcheck and grammar
check
Typos may change your
meaning
Double check the recipients
(and add them last)
14. –Peter Post, director of the Emily Post Institute
“Every e-mail you send adds to, or detracts
from your reputation. If your e-mail is
scattered, disorganized, and filled with
mistakes, the recipient will be inclined to
think of you as a scattered, careless, and
disorganized businessperson. Other
people's opinions matter and in the
professional world, their perception of you
will be critical to your success.”
Editor's Notes
In our last section, we discussed the most important guidelines to apply to all written business communication. In this lesson, we focus solely on applying these lessons and more to emails. Not only do we look at general workplace email etiquette, but we also tackle the more difficult and ultimately more important problem of making business emails as effective as possible.
In today’s workplaces, few means of communication are as vital as email. Every modern job —and even most traditional jobs—depend on emails and other internet messaging systems. In fact, some jobs today relay almost exclusively on email to communicate. Almost no career can escape the responsibility of writing emails.
Emails have become an overwhelming responsibility for most employees today. In fact, according to a McKinsey Global Institute study, the average U.S. employee spends about a quarter of their workday reading, writing, responding to, and dealing with email.
It should come as no surprise then that the way you email can make or break a job offer. Many employers report having dismissed a viable candidate from the running for a position simply due to an unimpressive or unprofessional follow-up email—even if the role they were hiring for had no customer-facing or writing responsibilities. Being able to write an email well is vital to literally any career today.
Despite this reality, many employees struggle to write professional emails. This is a real problem, because it reflects badly on the company and the individual.
In fact, experts agree that the way you write emails has a huge impact on your professional reputation. Poor e-mail behavior and sloppy writing has the potential to sabotage your reputation both personally and professionally, while well-written professional emails can help you cultivate a strong reputation that will be respected. Professional email interactions have even been shown to smooth over problems in business relationships or to compensate for other less-than-stellar business communications
To ensure that you are representing yourself and your company well in email, imagine that everything you write is on company letterhead. Don’t think of email as a casual medium. Think of it as a realm as professional and legally binding as a printed and messengered letter—because it is. You emails have force in court just like anything else you write, and a poorly written email can do just as much damage as a badly written memo or official notice.
Just because email is online doesn’t mean it can be taken less seriously. Email is often the primary way you make an impression, and one that lasts.
Because email are such an integral part of building a reputation, you must always write professional emails in business. An email can never be totally erased, so you must carefully consider what an email says about you as an employee before sending. Even if you know the person well, professionalism is not an option, it is a must.
This means first and foremost that you must mind proper grammar. Using all lowercase letters and no punctuation may be fine in a text to a friend, but it is never ok in a business email. Spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and word choice matter. Nothing looks quite as unprofessional as misspelling a bunch of words or using the wrong form of “your”. Use full sentences and correct grammar.
To that end, also cut out texting shortcuts like using the number 4 and the lowercase letter u instead of the phrase “for you” and unprofessional slang. Even emoticons should be used sparingly, and only in very limited situations. If you wouldn't put a smiley face on your business correspondence, you shouldn't put it in an email message. It can make you look juvenile and unprofessional.
Word choice has a huge impact on the level of your perceived competance, so every word counts, especially right at the beginning of an email. Choose your salutation or greeting carefully. Too casual greetings like “Hey ya’ll” or “what’s up?” make you look unprofessional. Too formal greetings like “Dear Sir Jon” can feel stuffy. Generally, “hello” or “hi” are good choices. The same goes for the sign off. “Best” and “Kind regards” are good examples. Make sure to follow it up with your name and a brief signature block with your contact information.
Never use all capital letters in an email. Tone doesn’t carry well in this medium and it can seem like you are yelling. Even if you are angry enough to yell, it’s not professional. If you wouldn’t scream at your boss in person, don’t “scream” with all caps in an email.
Finally, keep in mind that professional doesn’t always have to mean super formal language. It’s beneficial to use plain language and to get straight to the point. Just do so while adhering to proper grammar and punctuation.
Beyond simply writing correctly, there are eight simple rules for professional emails that you should follow in order to draft business emails that will make a good impression on anyone reading them.
First, start with a clear direct subject line. Your email’s subject line largely determines whether or not your message will be opened and read, so it must clearly convey value and purpose. Otherwise, it may get ignored entirely, or at least put off to be read at a much later date.
Even more importantly, the wrong subject line can make it so that your recipient never even sees you message. Typos, all caps or all lowercase words or otherwise unprofessional subject lines can be marked as spam, never to be seen by the intended recipient. The same is also true if you simply leave the subject empty. Even if the email client doesn’t mark such messages as spam, you recipient may ignore a message that looks like spam, especially if this is your first contact.
Instead, get straight to the point in your subject line. Try to give as much of the core information in your message in about 25-50 characters in the subject line. Don’t waste extra characters for a long message. That can go in the body of the email. Simply state enough that your recipient knows generally what to expect when they open your email.
Remember, too, that the average person gets hundreds of emails every day. If you want yours to stand out, you have to contextualize your message with a benefit or at least point of importance for the other person. If you are asking something only for yourself, they are likely to prioritize opening other emails that seem more pressing. You need to make sure that yours stands out with what’s in it for the recipient.
Next, always be aware of the audience. You need to mirror the level of formality and style of language of the other person. Some people prefer casual, conversational emails. Other people like a level of formality and respect of hierarchy. Others still prefer emails that get straight to the point with no fluff. Respect this and let your prospect determine your presentation. If you are not sure what your recipient expects or you do not know them well enough to determine this, always err on the side of formality and getting straight to the point.
Generally, you should keep smalltalk and personal questions to a minimum in emails, but this will depend on your recipient. Some people like to develop a personal rapport, especially if you only email occasionally. Still, remember that this is only necessary if you know that it is what is desired by the person you’re emailing. Otherwise, a perfunctory, “I hope you’re doing well” should cover it.
In terms of content, you must contextualize your message to the specific audience. For example, if you email your assistant, your boss, and your client about the same meeting, the information included will be very different. While they all will need to know details like date, time, and location, your assistant is probably the only person who will need to know what exactly is on the agenda so they can prepare it, while the others just need the key points. Your boss, on the other hand, is likely to be the only one who will need an update on how close you are to closing a deal. Just because the basics are the same doesn't mean that everything will be.
Finally, remember that your audience is likely busy and will sometimes need encouragement to respond. It’s ok to follow up. Just be aware of who you are emailing in order to know when a reasonable time to be back in touch may be. Never email more than three times about the same issue, and if you don’t get a response after the first or second follow-up, it’s better to call or visit in person anyways.
Next choose the recipients of your email carefully. You don’t want to spam people with a message. Only include those people who absolutely must know about your message should be included.
That means CC’ing the minimum number of people possible each time you draft an email. If there are two clear groups that need to get your email, send the email to them separately. You can cut and paste the text, but limit the number of people CC’d.
This is especially important if you want responses, because the more people on an email chain, the less pressure and responsibility there is to respond. You will not get the information you need, and likely have to send individual emails out anyways.
Sometimes this is a good thing, however. If you are on an email chain and everyone seems to agree, there is no reason to be the 12th person to say “Thanks! Looks good!” Don’t pile on. If you feel that you opinion has been put out there, it should be good enough unless you know you are particularly expected to respond—and even then it may be best to reply just straight to the sender, not to the group.
Along these same lines, don’t reply all to an email unless everyone needs to know the response. A private message to the original sender may be best in some cases. Think twice before a reply all that will clog a large number of inboxes.
Finally, use BCC judiciously. If you are emailing a group at work and everyone already has everyone else’s emails (or may need them), it’s ok to just use CC. If you are emailing a large group and not everyone knows each other, Use BCC to keep everyone’s emails private. Simply send the email to yourself and then BCC the group. This also minimizes any potential problems from replying all.
Also, make a good first email impression. A big part of this is making email introductions carefully. Never assume that someone will automatically be ok if you give out their email address. If you are making an introduction, ask both parties first. If you have been introduced by a third party, give context of who introduced you and why.
Even if you’ve been introduced or met before, if you are uncertain whether the recipient recognizes your e-mail address or name, include a simple reminder of who you are in relation to the person you are reaching out to. It helps them feel more comfortable. Remember, though, a formal and extensive biography of yourself is not necessary. Simply cover who, what, when, where, and why.
Finally, start any unexpected email with a line of context, whether you are emailing for the first or hundredth time. This is a simple way to make a good “first” impression over and over.
Next, lead with a CTA. This means putting your desired “ask” or action items right upfront so that the recipient knows what you need and can act on it.
Be explicit about what you want. Include all necessary details and nothing more, so that the person doesn’t need to follow up ad nauseum. If there are too many details to list them all, it may be better to call instead— or at least write them out in an attachment.
Because email is so common and we all want to deal with it as quickly and efficiently as possible, it’s vital to put the most important information right upfront where you know it won’t be missed. Don’t leave vital information to the end or hidden in the middle, otherwise someone skimming what you wrote may miss it.
Make sure that any deadline for response or action is stated obviously and clearly—maybe even in the subject line. On the other hand, if information is just being sent as an FYI for their information, say so as well. That ensures they don’t have to waste time trying to figure out what you need them to do.
Minimize attachments. No one wants to get a bunch of files to sort through without context. Only send the most necessary attachments, and always say what it is you have attached and why.
Unless you are sending over already expected information, never send more than two attachments in a single email. It makes searching for them later challenging and can be overwhelming to understand what they are.
Similarly, name the files logically, so a single glance at the attachment name makes it obvious what they will be getting.
Also, give people a warning before sending a particularly large attachment, especially one they aren’t waiting for specifically. Sending unannounced large attachments can clog the receiver's inbox and cause other important e-mails to bounce. If you are sending something that is over 500KB, ask if its ok and for a convenient time first. A great alternative nowadays is to instead send a link to a shared server, such as via Dropbox, Google Docs, or an internal server.
Also, be careful to avoid overly emotional responses to emails. It’s far too easy to send of a quick one-line emotional response, but you may find that you regret it later. Emails can’t be unsent so you risk doing something that can damage the relationship, your professional reputation, or even your career.
Never email angry. Emails are so quick and sometimes informal, so we are often tempted to say something disparaging or tell someone off in the heat of the moment, but this is unprofessional. Workplace correspondence lasts forever and it can have real fallout. Wait until you are calmed down, and then send a less emotional email.
Also, minimize your use of exclamation marks. Don’t use more than one or two per email—and definitely not more than one at the end of a sentence. They can seem unprofessional, especially in expressing anger. Even using exclamation marks for excitement can make you seem immature or unprofessional. Use them sparingly. A quick Thanks! with an exclamation mark at the end of an email can be nice. A bunch of them makes you seem too excited.
Finally, edit your emails. Editing is a vital part of any written business communication, but it especially bears repeating, because far too many people don’t edit and proofread their emails before sending. This leads to poorly written emails that can make you look bad. Even the very shortest email should be edited. Otherwise, you may embarrass yourself. After all, we’ve all sent at least one email we regret at some point—and usually it could have been prevented by a little proofreading.
Spellcheck and grammar check every email. Don’t just let autocorrect do it for you. We’ve all seen the funny results that can happen when people do, but some of these are less funny in a professional setting.
After all, typos can change your meaning unintentionally. This can have disastrous consequences, as it is a written record and thus considered legally binding.
Finally, double check your recipients before sending. There’s nothing worse than accidentally sending the wrong person an email. Make sure you have their name right both inside the email and in the To: field. It goes a long way in helping you avoid embarrassment. To be even safer, don’t actually add the recipient in your email client until you’ve edited and checked that the email is ready to go. This ensures that you don’t accidentally send an email before is is ready to go or before you’ve attached the attachment. This final rule allows you to double check that you’ve followed all the others before sending, and therefore is perhaps the most important to follow—yet sadly people often neglect this final step, to their own detriment.
As Peter Post, director of the Emily Post Institute of famed etiquette experts, reminds us, “Every e-mail you send adds to, or detracts from your reputation. If your e-mail is scattered, disorganized, and filled with mistakes, the recipient will be inclined to think of you as a scattered, careless, and disorganized businessperson. Other people's opinions matter and in the professional world, their perception of you will be critical to your success.” Make sure that your emails reflect well on you by following these eight rules. Never forget, a business email is still an official business communication and should be accorded the proper respect as such.
Thanks for watching. Now that you know how to write proper business emails, you can communicate more effectively every time you send one—which is likely often. Of course, other written business communications must be more formal and are scrutinized more carefully. These official communications must be flawless or you put your professional reputation on the line. Our next video talks about how to improve written reports and other formal business documents, so make sure to watch.
