Online Office ServicesHOW TO: EMAIL EFFECTIVELY

To do what you do best, let me do the rest

Introduction

Email is part of everyday life in the office. Some people write them well, others not so.

The following slides contain a start to finish guide on how to write your emails so that they are effective and really get your message across.

There are lots of mistakes made with email – this guide will help you avoid them plus it contains a few secret ‘tips’ that you will find useful to master

An email message needs to be clear, to the point and not too long - don’t ramble!

Like a story – your email should have a beginning, middle and end…

For this presentation I am using examples from Outlook – most email formats are very similar so this guide would also be appropriate to Gmail or other variations

The Basic Email Screen

To: The email address of the person/people you are writing to

Cc: ‘carbon copy’ for people who may need to know about

the content of your email

Subject: A brief, but to the point, heading for your email

Writing area – the main body of your email

Bcc: ‘blind carbon copy’ – more about this later

Start with the Subject

Yes, really! It might seem a strange place to begin but the subject line is where

you need to start.

The subject is the title of your email and is the line that appears in an email

preview pane. If it doesn’t catch the readers interest the email will not be

opened and read but will, most likely, be deleted

Be clear. State the subject of the email

Keep it briefUse facts –

dates or times, for example

Writing an Effective Email

– The Beginning

An email should have a beginning, middle and an end – like a story – but

first you need to ‘open’ the email with a greeting

Consider who will be the recipient for this email and open it appropriately

– follow the accepted etiquette for your workplace

It is generally accepted that email is less formal than say, a letter

You may be addressing the email to a number of people – the next slide

gives some suggestions for opening the email to one or more recipients

Addressing the Individual

Dear Mr Bloggs

Dear Joe Joe

Hi JoeGood

morning Joe

Hello Joe

Formal – if you don’t

know the person

Slightly less formal but

still polite!

Friendly InformalCasual

Fine if you know them

well

Addressing a Group

Often I’ve seen group emails addressed simply to ‘All’. At worst, it is

abrupt, otherwise it is impersonal so consider one of the following

examples:

Dear Colleagues

To all co-workers in the Laundry Dept

Good afternoon Plant

2 Managers

To Joe, Fred & Jane

Introduce the Subject

Using one or two short sentences, introduce the subject of the email

You should be expanding on (and not repeating!) what you have written in the

subject line

Please do not say; “I am emailing you” or “I am writing to you” – that is stating the

obvious and a waste of words. Think about one of the following examples:

I would like to thank you for …

Following today’s meeting, please find below a summary of the main points

This is a reminder that the cut-off date for expenses claims is …

Get to the Point

Know what you want to say

Be logical

A logical flow makes the email easier to read

Don’t jump from one issue to another then back again

Keep sentences short and to the point

A lengthy email won’t be read properly nor therefore, understood fully

Don’t ramble – if there is a lot to say, call first and back it up with an email containing the facts

If you have specific points to make, use a bullet point list

If you are giving instructions, use a numbered list

Lists are easier to read and absorb –especially if your reader is busy

This is the ‘middle’ part of your story – the detail

Close the Email

Okay, we’ve written the beginning and middle of our story – now we need to write

the ending

Whether your email is giving or requesting information, you may want

acknowledgement from the recipient that they have received and understood your

message – you can request this in your closing paragraph but you can also attach a

‘read receipt’

Click the ‘options’ tab

Click ‘request a read

receipt’ box

You will receive an automatic

notification when the email has

been opened

Close the Email

If you have asked for information, it is best practice to give the recipient a

deadline by which they should supply the details you have requested

In closing the email you may want to re-cap on the main points or simply

add something similar to:

I trust you find this acceptable but please call if …

If you have any questions, please contact me

I look forward to receiving your response by …

Signing Off

You may already have set up an automatic email signature. However,

how you sign off your email should reflect the level of formality

For example, if you have started with ‘Mr Bloggs’ the correct sign off would

be ‘Yours sincerely’ otherwise, less formal versions are fine

RegardsKind

regards

Best wishes

Speak to you soon

Cheers

Always make sure you

include your contact

details: name and

phone number. Include

your address if your

recipient will need to

post something to you

Finally

Now you must proof read your email, check the spelling and grammar

If you’ve noticed, we haven’t yet added any email addresses in our ‘To:’

box. There is a very good reason for leaving this until last.

You can put the email addresses in first but if you accidentally hit send

before you have written and checked everything – well, it can be

embarrassing! Not to mention unprofessional.

By adding the names last, you are also less likely to send the email to the

wrong people – it happens!

The End - Thank you for reading

At the start, in Slide 3, I highlighted the ‘Bcc’ box and said I would return to

it later. I have a really useful tip for using this.

If you are sending the email to more than one individual but don’t want

everyone to know who the other recipients are – try this:

1.From your ‘options’ tab

2. Click the ‘Bcc’ option.

3.This opens the ‘Bcc’ box

Add your recipients’

names here

Add your name here,

then press ‘send’.

Only you will be able

to see the names in

the ‘Bcc’ box – not

your recipients!