Crafting a Clear E-mail Message

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Crafting a Clear E-mail message ne of the wonders of e-mail is that we’re able to communicate our thoughts, ideas, and

feelings across the world (often to multiple recipients) in just seconds. But while many

people have become comfortable with this new medium, few are actually as competent

as they could be.

In this article, you’ll learn tips for crafting an e-mail message that is clear and concise—regardless of

whether it’s being sent to a coworker, a customer, or a friend.

One way to ensure that your e-mail message is easily understood by the recipient is to give it a clear and

logical structure. By organizing your message into a beginning, a middle, and an end, you can save the

recipient time, energy, and frustration. This practice can also help you to organize your own thoughts.

In this article, you’ll learn how to structure your e-mail message into three parts:

Opening

Body

Closing

Opening A good opening serves as a brief synopsis of what’s to come and it lets the recipient know what, if

anything, he or she will be expected to do in response to the message. The opening of your e-mail

message should greet the recipient, state the purpose of the message, and set expectations. Following

are some examples:

Example 1

Hi Judy.

As promised, I’m forwarding you some information on hotels and transportation for the

conference in June. Once you’ve had a chance to review the options, please let me know

where you’ll be staying and whether or not you plan to rent a car.

Example 2

David,

Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding our rebate offer. I’ve attached a copy of the

rebate form for you to fill out and send back before the January 31 deadline.

O

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Body The body of your e-mail message contains the bulk of the information you want to communicate. It’s in

this part of the message that many people lose their reader’s attention. Why? Because all too often the

text is wordy, disorganized, dense, or otherwise confusing. To prevent this, follow these three

guidelines:

Use bullets instead of paragraphs when appropriate.

Use simple sentence structure and short paragraphs.

Eliminate redundancies or other excess information.

Following is a sample body of an e-mail message that has been written according to these guidelines.

Note how much easier it is to read than it would be if all the information were written into a dense

paragraph.

We expect about 3,000 runners plus some friends and family to attend the Apple Grove 5K

expo on Friday and Saturday!

Please note the following:

Expo hours are from 10:00 a.m. on Friday to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Set-up begins at 7:00 a.m. on Friday.

Exhibitors must dismantle their booths and remove their materials from the

expo room by 9:00 p.m. on Saturday.

© 2010 Impact Learning Systems International www.impactlearning.com 3

Closing

In the closing of an e-mail message, you end by offering any final thoughts or information and then

saying goodbye. A good closing is only two or three lines long. Following are two examples:

Example 1

If you have any more questions, please contact me via e-mail or phone. My direct

phone line is (539) 555-0925.

Regards,

Jane

Example 2

I hope this feedback is helpful to you.

Eloise

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