E-MAIL TIPS

Subject Line–Be clear and concise. Use to inform rather than just to identify the topic. You increase the odds that people will pay attention. Begin your communication right from the beginning in the subject line.

Careful-Imagine that every email is brought to you on the witness stand in court. Also, you never know where an email will be forwarded. Often, an email is the first impression that a person forms of you. Never hit “send” in anger.

Proofread – Read your e-mail before sending to guard against missed words, poor grammar, misleading messages, misspellings, and unprofessional communication. Take your time and proofread carefully. Remember, an email is not a text message. Use complete words and sentences, and proper punctuation.

Concise- Rule of thumb, never longer than one screen page. If a communication needs to be longer, create a separate document and attach it to the email.

Bullets– They may help organize your message, but use full sentences to better convey your message/meaning as appropriate.

Signature - Use the signature feature on e-mail.

Emphasis - Avoid too many caps, bolding and underlining. It can be annoying and make the receiver feel that you are “shouting” at them.

Limit the CC’s – Could lead to frustration by the person receiving the emails. Everyone gets many e-mails a day without also getting ones that are not important to them.

Urgent (“cry wolf”) - People will begin ignoring you if the word “urgent”, similar language orthe exclamation point (“High Importance”) is over used.

Limit Use of “Reply to All” – Take the time to think who really needs to reply.

Use Out-of-Office/Auto-Reply Features- If away for more than a day, set up the system to tell the sender that you are away and when you’ll be back or when you’ll check e-mail. That way they know you aren’t ignoring them. If you are not a full time employee, you should identify your working hours in an Auto-Reply feature.

Avoid Sarcasm-People cannot read what you are thinking. It’s a poor attempt at humor.

E-mail is for “Yes” - If you’re going to say “no,” consider picking up the phone or go to see the person.

Always determine …

What is the message? Who needs to receive it? What method of communication will I use?

Consider that …

Your words represent 10% of your message, your voice represents 40% and non-verbal cues 50% of the way your communication is interpreted by the receiver. So, e-mail may not be the best method.