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Writing good emails

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E-Mail Writing

What is Email Writing?

For most of us, email is the most common form of business communication, so it’s important to get it right. Although emails
aren’t usually as formal as letters, nevertheless they need to be professional in order to present a good image of both you
and your company.

Not being able to gauge the tone of the person reading the email, might sometimes create miscommunication. Even the
words which you choose might make you sound insensitive or rude- unintentionally.

IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE E-MAIL:

1. Subject Line

Be as specific and precise as possible. One word subjects such as “Hi,” “Question,” or “FYI” are not informative and don’t
give the reader an idea of how important your message is.

2. Greetings and Sign-offs

Don’t just start with your text, and don’t stop at the end without a polite signature. When in doubt, address someone more
formally to avoid offending them. Some common ways to address your reader are:

(adding a prefix like ‘Dear’, ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ before the name of the person)

Dear Professor Smith,

Hello Ms. McMahon,

Hi Mary Jane,

If you don’t know the name of the person you are addressing, or if the e-mail addresses a diverse group, try something
generic, yet polite:

To whom it may concern,

Dear members of the selection committee,

Hello everyone,

The closing is extremely important because it lets the reader know who is contacting them. Always sign off with your name
at the end of your e-mail.

If you don’t know the reader well, you might also consider including your title and the organization you belong to;

For example:

Mary Watkins

Senior Research Associate

Bain and Company

For closing, something brief but friendly, or perhaps just your name, will do for most correspondence:

Thank you,

Best wishes,
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See you tomorrow,

Regards,

For a very formal message, such as a job application, use the kind of closing that one might see in a business letter:

Sincerely

Respectfully yours,

3. Cc: and Bcc: (‘carbon copy’ and ‘blind carbon copy’)

Copying individuals on an e-mail is a good way to send your message to the main recipient while also sending someone
else a copy at the same time. This can be useful if you want to convey the same exact message to more than one person. Be
aware, however, that when you send a message to more than one address using the

Cc: field, both the original recipient and all the recipients of the carbon copies can see all the e-mail addresses in the To:
and Cc: fields. Each person who receives the message will be able to see the addresses of everyone else who received it.

Blind copying e-mails to a group of people can be useful when you don’t want everyone on the list to have each other’s e-
mail addresses. The only recipient address that will be visible to all recipients is the one in the To: field.

Format of email writing

A traditional business letter begins with the

date in the upper left corner, but there's no
need to include that in your email because
email programs handle that automatically
Heading In lieu of the company name, address and
correspondent under the date in a traditional
letter, email programs include fields for the
addressee, subject of the email, attachments
and additional addressees’

Make your subject line clear and concise,

indicating the intent of the message. Don't use
Subject abbreviations or words in all capital letters. For
example: Project Update

Open the body of your email with a standard

greeting, such as "Dear Mr. Smith:" if it's your
first email to the recipient or the recipient is at a
senior level.
Less formal greetings, such as using a
recipient's first name only, are fine in
subsequent emails if you have established a
good working relationship, but keep the tone
professional because all communication reflects
on the image of your company.
Body
Give line breaks between the salutation and
body, and between the body and closing
signature lines. Single space the paragraphs
and avoid embellishments, such as bold and
italics, unless it's absolutely necessary to
emphasize a point.
Use a traditional, easy-to-read font, such as
Times New Roman or Arial, and don't use a
colored font or HTML. The goal is to ensure that
your recipient has no trouble reading the email.

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Close your letter traditionally for formal

communications and with first-time recipients,
using a closing such as "Sincerely," "Kind
regards," or "Thank you."
Closing
If you have established good communication
with your recipient, follow-up emails closed
with less formal terms such as "Best," or
"Thanks," are often appropriate, but always

Sample:

Things to remember:
1. Use a meaningful subject.

2. Don’t beat around the bush, be straight-forward.

3. Use saved templates for answering commonly asked questions

4. Don’t use the capital case

5. Proofread it before sending

6. Don’t use abbreviations, slang and emoticons

7. Follow the standard format

8. Use short and simple sentences

What are Email Etiquettes?

Email etiquette refers to the principles of behavior that one should use when writing or answering email messages. Because
email is less personal than a phone or in-person conversation but quicker to send than a letter, it is possible for serious
breaches of manners to take place.

Some Email etiquettes to follow:

1. Include a clear, direct subject line.

2. Use a professional email address.

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3. Think twice before hitting "reply all."

4. Use professional salutations. (Dear Sir, Dear John)

5. Do not use exclamation marks.

6. Be cautious with humor.

7. Know that people from different cultures speak and write differently.

8. Always reply to your emails, even if it is a simple mail of yes or no.

9. Proofread every message.

10. Add the email address last.

11. Double-check that you’ve selected the correct recipient.

Useful phrases for business Emails and letters.

When we make a request:

[more formal] [less formal]

I would be grateful if Could you

you could … . possibly … ?

I would appreciate (it) if Could you

you could … . please … ?

When we agree to a request someone has made:

[more formal] [less formal]

I would be delighted I will be happy

to … . to … .

(delighted means very

happy)

When apologizing:

[more formal] [less formal]

Sorry for the

I apologies for the
delay in
delay in replying.
replying.

I/We apologies for the Sorry for the

inconvenience. inconvenience.

Sorry for any

I/We apologies for any
trouble
inconvenience caused.
caused.

Please accept our/my I/We are very

sincere apologies. sorry … .

When giving bad news:

[more formal] [less formal]

I/We regret that … . Unfortunately … .

I am sorry to
I/We regret to inform
have to tell you
you that … .
that … .

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I am afraid that I I am sorry to

must inform you have to tell you
of/that … . that … .

When complaining:

(The following phrases may be used as the opening line of the letter or email.)

[more formal] [less formal]

I wanted to
I/We wish to draw
inform you
your attention to … .
about … .

I would like to
I am writing to
complain about
complain about … .
….

I am writing to
express my
dissatisfaction with

Read the situation below. Write an effective email in response to the situation. Your email would be graded on how well you
have used the structure of an email. And how effectively were you able to put forward your point

Q1.
Your office organizes small ice breaking and performance events every 4rth saturday of the month . You have been working
in your office for 5 years and have been generally a shy person. However you were a theatre person in your college days.
Write an email to your hr to propose a mono act or mime you would like to do in the next “talent day”

This is a manual question, once the student submits the answers, evaluation will be done accordingly

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