Improve Your Email Writing

Recap
1© Aptech Training Ltd. FZE
Recap
In the previous lesson you learnt to:
• Talk about personal qualities
• Identify collocations in a text
• Pitch an idea for a start up
For Aptech Centre Use Only

Emailing

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:
• Understand four key points when writing an email
• Identify formal, informal and neutral emailing language
• Practise writing an email
Learning Objectives

Types of Business Correspondence
There are 2 main types of business correspondence.
Can you think what they are? When do we use each one?
• ________________________________________
• ________________________________________

Types of Business Correspondence
There are 2 main types of business correspondence.
Answers
• ________________________________________
• ________________________________________
How much correspondence do you have to write at work?
How much do you receive?
Are your emails formal, informal or both?
Letters – formal correspondence
Emails – less formal/neutral/informal correspondence

Formal and Informal Mails
• Nowadays, emailing is the most common way of
communicating.
• The email itself is not perceived as being very formal so
we often write a cover email and then attach the letter
(document ) to it.
• However, any email can be made more formal by the use
of more formal language.

Exercise
Which of the different kinds of business correspondence would you choose for the
following?
1. Applying for a job Cover e-mail and attachments (cover letter
and C.V or an application form)
2. Booking a conference room at a hotel
3. Telling colleagues to attend a meeting
4. Booking a room at a hotel
5. Ordering stationery
6. Telling colleagues about a new member of
staff
7. Complaining an item was damaged when
deliveredFor Aptech Centre Use Only

Exercise
Which of the different kinds of business correspondence would you choose for the
following?
8. Thanking a customer
9. Sending out a meeting agenda
10. Sending out a meeting minutes
11. Resigning
12. Asking a colleague if they want lunch
13. Questioning if an order has been sent
14. Apologising to an important business
contact

Exercise
Answers
1. Applying for a job
cover e-mail and attachments (cover letter
and C.V or an application form)
2. Booking a conference room at a hotel email
3. Telling colleagues to attend a meeting email and agenda attachment
4. Booking a room at a hotel email
5. Ordering stationery email and order form attachment
6. Telling colleagues about a new member of
staff
email
7. Complaining an item was damaged when
delivered
email

Exercise
Answers
8. Thanking a customer email
9. Sending out a meeting agenda email and agenda attachment
10. Sending out a meeting minutes email and meeting minutes attachment
11. Resigning
cover email and letter of resignation
attachment
12. Asking a colleague if they want lunch email
13. Questioning if an order has been sent email
14. Apologising to an important business
contact
email

Emailing
Do’s and Don’ts of Emailing
You need to care about the reputation you are building with every communication you make.
The following four points will help you stay respectful and professional.
1. Use the subject line carefully
2. Be brief… but write a clear email
3. Re-read
4. Look at the style

1. Use the subject line carefully
• Be smart with subject line
• People use the subject line to prioritise their emails
• It helps to decide if the email should be read now – later – or not at all
• Subject line should carry the information the receiver needs to know
• It helps to understand the content of the email

1. Which of the following are better subject lines? Why?
2. What is wrong with the following?
Today 1.15 meeting Meeting today at 1.15 with sales team
Hi from James Hello from James Tennant at ETA
Stationery order
Hi, can you let me know what time the meeting
is in the Williams building this afternoon

1. Answers
2. Answers
Today 1.15 meeting Meeting today at 1.15 with sales team
Hi from James Hello from James Tennant at ETA
Stationery order
Hi, can you let me know what time the meeting
is in the Williams building this afternoon
(Too short with not enough information
from whom? Is this an order, an
enquiry about an order, a delivery?)
(Too long. This should be in the message box.)

2. Be Brief… but write a clear email
• Keep your email messages short
• Keep your email meaningful and clear
• Decide what the important information is

1. Compare the following and choose the one you think is best.
a. When can we make a decision?
b. At what point in time will we have the necessary information to make an informed
decision about whether or not to purchase the new office space?
c. When can we make a decision on purchasing the new office space?
2. Why do you think it is important to be brief in emails?

1. Answers
c. When can we make a decision on purchasing the new office space?
2. Answers
It saves time for the recipient. Some people get hundreds of emails per day. These people
don’t have time to read unnecessary text in an email. It saves time for the writer. People
don’t have time to write lengthy emails all day. If you are not brief, your message could be
lost. People scan emails instead of reading them. If you hide important messages in
paragraphs full of meaningless communication, your message might be lost.

3. Re-Read
• Re-read your email for:
poor grammar, spelling mistakes and the use of the wrong words.
For example, Spell check doesn’t always correct the wrong work…
I mean word. See?
• Re-read your email from the other person’s point of view. What do they know/not know?
• Have you given them all the information they need?
• Do they know all of the acronyms/initialisms or abbreviations you have used?

Hi Paul,
Just wanted to drop you a quick email to say it was great meeting you at the conference last week. I would
very much like you to consider working on the development of the new website for the Electric Trans
Authority with me. After our discussion I think your design skills would be valuable to the team on this
project.
As we discussed, you will need to send your C.V and portfolio with a cover letter to Mr T.M Moore (The Head
of Development). I have told him that you will be writing to him. His email is: T.M.Moore@ETA.com.
Please just email me or call if you need any further information,
Regards,
James
James Tennant
Team Manager
Design and Development
ETA
J.Tennant@ETA.com
0750238734589
Hi paul
Just wanted to drop you a quick email to say it was great meeting you at the conference last work. I would
very much like you to working on the project with me. Can you send the usual things to
T.M.Moore@ETA.com?
hope to see you soon
regards
James
James Tennant
Team Manager
Design and Development
ETA
J.Tennant@ETA.com
0750238734589
Email 2
Email 1

With your partner decide:
a. Which email is better?
b. What grammatical errors can you find?
c. Could you improve both?

Answers
1. Email 1
2. Hi paul
just wanted to drop you a quick email to say it was great meeting you at the
conference last work. I would very much like you to working on the project with
me. can you send the usual things to T.M.Moore@ETA.com?
hope to see you soon
regards
3. Email 1 is good as it is. Email two needs the grammar corrected and this line to
be expanded - can you send the usual things to T.M.Moore@ETA.com?For Aptech Centre Use Only

4. Look at the style
• The style of your email can be informal, neutral or formal
• There is a set language used in emailing, which means certain words
or expressions are used again and again
• It is important to remember and understand in what kind of correspondence we
would use them

• Look at the language in Box 2 and decide if it would be used in a formal, neutral
or informal email Some of the language should never be used and should be
scored through (what’s up).
• Some examples have been done to help you.

Formal Neutral Informal
Opening greeting
Dear Sir or Madam Dear Steve Hi Steve
Opening line
Thank you for your
interest in our
company.
Thanks for your
email yesterday.
Closing line
I look forward to
hearing from you
soon.
Closing greeting
Regards
Name at end
A

Writing Skills
Writing Exercise
• Get into small groups of two or three.
• Thinking about points 1-4 in 6.2.1 as well as your own knowledge of
emails, discuss what is good, what is not good and how you could you
make this email better.
• Together rewrite the email.

Writing Skills
Writing Exercise
To: Human Resources Departmental Team
From: Human Resources Manager
Subject: Minutes from last Thursday’s meeting regarding new regulations regarding visa
restrictions on overseas workers seeking employment in the UK.
Due to the fact that there were a lot of people at the meeting who requested that I send the
minutes from last Thursday’s meeting, I have attached a document of the minutes. As you all
know, the topic of the meeting was an overview of the new visa regulations to comply with the
new regulations being brought in by the current conservative government. Also, to remind you of
what we discussed last Thursday, we will have a follow-up meeting this Thursday at 2:00 PM and
will continue discussing issues on how these regulations affect the company and our hiring of
overseas personnel. As always, the meeting will be held in Conference Room A. I would ask that
you please be punctual to the meeting as some people recently have been arriving late.
Tom SmithsonFor Aptech Centre Use Only

Writing Skills
Writing Exercise
To: Human Resources Departmental Team
From: Human Resources Manager
Subject: Minutes from last Thursday’s meeting Re: new visa restrictions regulations.
Please find attached the meeting’s minutes. We will have a follow-up meeting this Thursday at
2:00 PM in Conference Room A and continue our discussion on:
• how these regulations affect the company
• our hiring of overseas personnel
Please be punctual.
Best regards,
Tom Smithson
Answers

Test Your Knowledge
1 Use the ___________ line carefully
2 Be _________… but write a clear email
3 Re-__________
4 Look at the __________
1. Fill in the gaps to complete four points about emailing.

Test Your Knowledge
1 Use the subject line carefully
2 Be brief… but write a clear email
3 Re-read
4 Look at the style
1. Answers

Test Your Knowledge
Information
1 The style of your email can be informal, ___________or formal.
2
There is __________ language used in emailing, which means certain
words or expressions are used ____________________.
3
It is important to remember and understand in what ____________ of
correspondence we would use them.
2. Complete the gaps in this information about emails.

Test Your Knowledge
2. Answers
Information
1 The style of your email can be informal, neutral or formal.
2
There is set language used in emailing, which means certain words or
expressions are used again and again.
3
It is important to remember and understand in what kind of
correspondence we would use them.

In a Nutshell…
In this lesson you learnt to:
• Understand four key points when writing an email
• Identify formal, informal and neutral emailing language
• Practise writing an email

Improve Your Email Writing

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