Twenty Something Sense

Sounds exciting right? I’m sure you can hear some college professor going through the exciting details of how to structure a paper, but wait, did they ever tell you how to write an email? Interesting that our world revolves around email, yet I’ve never been taught how to write one.

I could say a million things about how to write an email, but what I’ll focus on here is the structure. Perhaps you have even noticed the structure of most of our blogs. We keep paragraphs short and to the point and using indented lists when we are making a point. This is exactly what you should do when writing an email. The goal of an email comes in 3 flavors; 1. Solicit information 2. Provide information 3. Both. To do this in the most efficient manner possible here are a few tips:

1. Short paragraphs – Long emails are rarely effective. What happens when you read through a long email? You either re-read it or you delete it. If you have to re-read an email, it is not effective. Focus on making your paragraphs bite-sized and directly to the point.
2. Abuse bullets and lists – I rarely write an email without bullets or lists in them. In 50% or more of your emails, you are probably asking a question. A great way to get into the habit of using bullets is to create a list of questions in bullet format. This makes your needs (questions) extremely clear to the reader and also allows you to reference and read the email that much easier.
3. Use links wherever possible – Much like we do with our blogs, use links instead of attaching documents. First this makes your emails smaller, but more importantly it makes your emails much more reusable. If someone wants to reference your email a week from now, but you have changed the document that is attached – what’s the point? If you provide a link to the document (where you can keep it up to date) – problem solved.
4. Use bold when necessary – I often times address an email to a specific person, but want to say thank you or ask a quick question to someone else on the email (CC’d). To do this, do something like: Joe – Thank you for this information – much appreciated. By simply making this bold, you’re adding structure and increasing the readability.
5. Be happy – The simplest things can turn an email from being a tough question to something that someone is glad to help you with. This could be a ‘smiley face’, an exclamation point or something else. Although its business, have fun and make the person you are conversing with smile – everyone will do better work.
6. Closing – I generally end my emails with something like “Please let me know if you need any additional information – I am here to help!” This is not only out of habit, but it is to truly let the other person know that the communication lines are open and that if they need something else, more clarification or more analysis – I am there to help.

Other tips are welcome as I am always trying to learn. What types of email structure do you use to make your emails more efficient?