33.a. Doesn't email mean easy mail?

 

Laura was sobbing bitterly. Just now, she had been scolded by her boss. She had, carelessly, sent Robert Brown’s mail to John Schneider, another competitor. By the time, she noticed it, the damage had been done.

How can we avoid such blunders? Just read on.

Once upon a time, the letters were hand-delivered by the postman. Depending upon the distance and connectivity, they used to take days, weeks and even months to reach the destination.

They were replaced by electronic mail called e-mails because the emails took just a few seconds to reach their destination, even if thousands of miles away.

So, where is the problem? Like in the example given above, we may commit mistakes resulting in havocs, at times, in this communication. We forget that poorly drafted/ sent email can spoil the impression of the sender just because of a few missed/ wrong/ wrongly placed/ misspelt words.

Famous author Trevor Carss has said this about e-mails, “If it doesn't feel right to receive what you're sending, don't send it.” That is true. Make it a golden rule. Always weigh your written words.

Points to take care: Just keep these points in mind while crafting and sending your e-mail.

Every e-mail is divided into three parts-

·       Address

·       Subject

·       Text

Address- Be very clear about even a single dot, hyphen, space, capital/small letters creeping in or missing, while writing the e-mail address. The address should be accurate. I faced the heat because of overlooking such a small mistake because of which my urgent e-mail returned undelivered.

cc: If the same mail has to be sent to many people, separate their names by commas.

bcc: Sometimes, we have to send mails to many people but we don’t want addressee “A” to know that it is also being sent to the addressee “B”. In such a case, we have to click on bcc at the end of the address bar. The next address line opens up in which the correct e-mail address of “B” is to be written.   

Subject- Subject line is, probably, more important than the text area. The person reads the text only after reading the subject line. It is like reading the headlines in the newspapers before going into the details of the news item. The subject must convey sufficient hint of the text. It should not be too short. Subject like Bills cannot suffice. It will be easily understood, if the person writes “Payment of bill no. 123 dated 02.03.2020”. Even if the person is too busy to read the text, he or she can forward it to the correct person just after reading the subject.

Text: Be precise and to the point. Don’t go into the unnecessary details. The text should be relevant and connect to one particular subject. Send different mails for separate matters. Avoid mixing the issues.

Just like letters, every e-mail is either formal or informal and the text needs to be structured accordingly. However, barring the choice of formal or informal words of greetings and manner of writing, basics remain the same.

Formal Text: Let’s talk about the formal e-mail texts first. The text can be split into the following areas-

Greeting: In the formal text, the salutation has to be either “Dear Mr.____” or “Dear Ms.____” or “Dear Sir/ Madam”. It can be followed by “Greetings of the day” or “Good Morning” “Good Day” or “Good Evening”.

Thanks: If the e-mail is in response to our mail or telephonic conversation or personal meeting, then he/ she should be thanked accordingly for showing the promptness or courtesy or nice favourable response or warmth.  This step can be left in case of an introductory mail.

Purpose: One should come to the purpose in a straightforward manner without much ado. If it is the first communication, proper reference must be given. If it is regarding employment or some business purpose, a reference to the source of information is required. It can be “I am writing in reference to….” If it is through some commonly known person, his or her name should be mentioned. After that, the purpose should be stated in small and easy sentences.

Closing: Just before ending the mail, the addressee should be thanked for his or her patient reading or cooperation. A formal sentence like “I look forward to hearing from you” is always welcome. In the end, phrases like “Best regards” or “Warm regards” or “Sincerely” should be used before the sender’s name.

Informal Text: As mentioned before, the only difference is in the words used for greeting and salutation. You can be more informal in the choice of words, such as “Hi____, how do you do?” The endings can have the words like “Cheers” or “Enjoy your day” or “Bye for now”.

Takeaways

E-mail can become easy mail if we adhere to its golden rules. We must differentiate between the formal and informal mails. While writing the email, we must question ourselves, “Is it good enough to be sent?” Then and only then, we will value others’ time and write the perfect ones. In the next part, get 8 useful tips.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business-insights-ideas/resources/improve-e-mail-writing-skills

https://englishlive.ef.com/blog/career-english/write-perfect-professional-e-mail-english-5-steps/

 

 #PerfectEMails #WritingPerfectEMails #WritingPerfectEMailsForAllOccasions

The author hopes the article to benefit all the readers. What do you think about it? Please post your comments in the comments box on the blog. You can also mail me: vermarajesh55@gmail.com.