Writting Effective Emails

It may seem like an easy and simple task, but crafting a great email is an art. Here you can find some pieces of advice I would give to anyone struggling with writting effective emails.

Subject Lines are Important

You get a chance to caught the attention of the recipient when he reads your subjet, when the subject line is a tease or does not relate to the content of the email you risk losing the interlocutor attention.

Use Bullet Points and Highlight Call to Action

Bullet points make it much easier for the recipient to read the email quickly and effectively. It also helps the reader identify the main points of the email. If the recipient is expected to do something after receiving the email, highlight the call to action.

Keep it Short

No one has the time to read a 10-paragraph email, don’t sent it. If you have 10-paragraphs, or even four-paragraphs, then you’re likely including unrelated content.

Don’t Muddle Content

Stick to one content area per email. If you are sending a follow-up email to a colleague after a meeting, then it is unnecessary to add in something about a different client or information about the company picnic, etc.

When you muddle content, it makes it much harder for the recipient to find the email in a search.

Be Collegial

Always open your email with a pleasantry. I often craft my email, then go back and add in the “I hope you had a great vacation” or “Have a great weekend – enjoy the Fall weather.”

Watch Your Tone

The tone of an email is difficult to assess, but more often than not, the reader will assign a tone, even when one was not intended, so be careful not to craft the email with tone by watching the use of exclamation marks, using inflammatory words, etc.

Avoid Quotes That Could be Offensive to Others

More and more you see quotes at the bottom of emails. Some are benign inspirational quotes, such as “Be the best you can be every day,” these are fine; however, avoid quotes with religious meaning, quotes that could be viewed as excluding others, etc. could offend a co-worker, a client, or a vendor, which could result in the loss of productivity and business.

Always Proofread Your Emails

Sending out an email with typos or misspelled words makes you look bad. Take the extra minute to proofread the email.

Never send an email when angry of frustrated

If you need to write the email, do so in a word document, where it is impossible to hit the send button by accident.

Email Chains

Email chains can be effective, but sometimes it is more effective to pick up the telephone and have a conversation in five minutes versus four hours of back and forth emails. Also, be careful not to change content areas without changing the subject line.