A Guide to Writing Better Emails
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Apr 9, 2008

Emails have made communication between individuals easier, and removed geographical restrictions. With everything getting digitized, (say) receiving important files, documents, office communiques, etc. -it's got easier and quicker. Nowadays, you can simply send an email with the concerned document attached, and the recipient will receive it almost instantaneously.

There are no accepted rules to follow while creating emails, but as they continue to find diverse uses for official purposes, this set of etiquettes can help you create a better impression on the recipient (very important for official purposes), and avoid unnecessary difficulties. Most of these points are pretty obvious, but you would be surprised at the number of times the same mistakes are repeated.

Let's take a quick look at how to create better emails:

* Have a good subject-line: The subject-line is probably the most important part of the email. With users getting a number of emails on a daily basis, including spams that manage to sneak through protective layers, you must ensure that the recipient doesn't fail to see your mail. The subject-line should be short and informative, giving a brief idea of the subject of the mail.

* Mind your language: The problem with emails is, people tend to feel that it is acceptable to use informal language in them. Well, it's all right as long as it s for unofficial purposes, but while sending mails to clients, customers, or business partners, avoid informal usage at all costs. It does not mean you have to be rigidly formal. Be precise and to the point, but at the same time maintain the necessary professional decorum. The rule is - recognize whether the situation calls for formal or informal language, and write accordingly.

* Avoid sending heavy files: An advantage of emails is it allows you to send documents in many formats as attachments. However, most users don't tend to realize that sending too heavy attachments slows down network speeds. There are certain web-based applications allowing you to send large files. However, these require the application to be downloaded and installed at both ends (i.e. the sender and the receiver).

* Take time to go through the mail: Once the email is sent, there is nothing that you can do on that. To avoid the embarrassing situations, always check what you have written, before sending it. Avoid writing an email when you are in a flustered state of mind (this is especially important when you are sending mails to customers or business partners), as you are more likely to make mistakes.

*Using BCC and 'signature' option: While sending mails to multiple recipients, you can use the BCC option instead of the CC option, to prevent the recipients from knowing who else has received the mail. In the Blank Carbon Copy (BCC) option the name of the recipients are not disclosed.

Use the 'signature' option to create a personalized digital signature to sign your forwarded or created mails. This will make it look neater and more professional. It will also save time spent in typing out your name and contact details, for each and every mail you send.


Related links:

A Few Tips on Effective Email Management