Basic information about how to write an email and etiquette

1. EMAIL ETIQUETTE
Ajay Kumar
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
DIT UNIVERSITY, Dehradun INDIA
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2. Email : A 2 decades old now
■ Sending emails is become very
common communication
among B2B, B2C, C2B, C2C
■ Email is an unique identity to
every individual.
■ Email can be created free of
cost or by paying some
amount.
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3. Email : All begins here(To, CC and BCC)
■ To:for individual or set of individual
■ Who is required to act on the
email.
■CC(carbon copy): for those who kept
in the loop but are not required to act on it.
■BCC (Blind Carbon copy): for
sending the same email to people whose
identities you don’t intend to disclose to the
people in theTo and CC field.
E.g.
If A wants B to delegate a job to C, B will write an
email to C and ccA. However, if A doesn’t want C
to know that A is part of this development, B will
bccA.
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4. Email: Subject Line
■ Subject is the dodgiest part of composing an email
■ It decides whether the receiver will junk your email, read it later, open it instantly.
■ Keep the subject direct and noticeable.
■ Don’t write spam-worthy subject like “open-me”, “read-it”, “Hi”
■ Good subject may be “urgent meeting at 3 pm”, “Attn: Quarterly result”, “Notice: New rules for
attendance”.
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5. Email : Subject Line slip-ups to avoid (Cont…)
■ Don’t write everything in caps, it’s rude
■ Avoid punctuation too.
■ Case selection like “UrJeNt MeETiNgAt
3Pm” are best left for love mails.
■ While in the body, there is still a scope to
hit one or two typos;
in the subject line, there is no room for it.
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6. Email: Body of the copy
■ Make a courteous opening and closing
■ Since you are not God; It does not hurt to be warm.
■ Don’t just jump to the purpose of email directly.
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7. Email: Spell the name correctly
■ Never use Mr/Mrs/Ms with first name
■ (e.g. Jon Snow)Address him Mr. Snow ; not Mr. Jon
■ If not sure about gender of the receiver, politely ask if you would like them to be
addressed as Mr/Mrs/Ms.
■ There are lots of gender neutral and confusing names in this world.
e.g. Kim – Male gender in Korea (a very popular name)
- Female gender in USA
Shawn - a popular name for ladies as well as gents
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8. Email: Don’t beat around the bush
■ Emails are not meant to read like a novel Fifty shades of grey, So keep it short and
simple.
■ The body should
– Clearly explain what you want from the receiver
– Should be free from spelling and grammatical mistakes
– Have proper spacing between the lines
– Have the right tone ( read the email aloud before sending, it really works)
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9. Email : closing the mail
■ It’s important to properly close an email
e.g.
‘Warm Regards’
‘Thank you for your time’
‘Sincerely yours’
‘Looking forward to hearing from you’
■ Be aware of closure using to whom;
There is no point sending a stinker to a sub-ordinate with a
‘Sincerely yours’
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10. Email: Include proper Signature
■ Technically your signature should mention everything that’s written on your visiting
card, so when in doubt, go by this thumb rule.
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11. Email: Sending an Email
■ Don’t send the email as soon as you are done typing.
■ Take your time, check the email for errors or incomplete information and then send it.
■ Never write an email if you are angry or not experiencing the right set of emotions.
e.g. “Get Lost” – as a reply to Boss’s stinker but not to be told anyways
■ Even an hour later, you feel your Boss is a jerk, feel free to write whatever you want to.
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12. Email: Points to be remembered
■ You can take two hours to reply to an email that has been sent from the same time zone.
■ Don’t reply an email in the midnight. It makes you like a fool.
■ If you are sending a heavy attachment, zip it. Don’t annoy someone by blocking their inbox.
■ Don’t ‘reply all’ if you don’t want to communicate with everyone else in the mail.
■ Acknowledge the email. Don’t be silent on it. ‘Noted’, ‘will do the needful’ are some of the easiest
ways to acknowledge.
■ Keep humor out of the email; you don’t know how it will be perceived.
■ Don’t use slangs in the email.
■ Lastly create a email ID that don’t sound like cooldhoni@abc.com, dude_its_me@xyz.com,
lipstick_wali@abc.com,
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13. References
■ Times of India,Teck talk, “Email Etiquette”,July 26, 2015 SUNDAY, kumar.saurav2@timesgroup.com
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Reach me
Ajay Kumar
Email: kumarajay7th@gmail.com
Call me: +91-9557 562400