E-Mail Tips and Suggestions

The following suggestions and tips are intended to help middle school students (ages 11-14) develop effective communication when using e-mail.

1. BE CAREFUL WHEN USING SARCASM. Email does not convey emotion as well as face-to-face conversations. It lacks vocal inflection and gestures. It is difficult to tell when someone is kidding or being serious.

2. USE THE SUBJECT LINE TO GIVE THE READER CONTEXT BEFORE HE/SHE OPENS THE EMAIL. The subject provided in the subject line should be brief and give the reader an idea of the contents of the message.

3. USE PLAIN TEXT. Some email reading software only understands plain text. Italics, bold, and different colors will show up with weird symbols if the software cannot handle your fancy formatting.

4. SEND ATTACHMENTS USING A COMMON FORMAT. When sending an email with an attachment, make sure the reader will be able to open it in a common program (word, excel, etc.).

5. USE SHORTER PARAGRAPHS. When using the scroll bar, it is harder to visually track long paragraphs. By breaking up the paragraphs, the document will be easier to read.

6. EMPHASIZE CERTAIN WORDS TO HELP CONVEY EMOTION. To emphasize a word, you should enclose it in asterisks. To indicate a stronger emphasis, use all capital letters and an exclamation point. Do not use all capitals too often though.

7. BE AWARE OF ASSUMPTIONS MADE ABOUT YOUR STATUS. If you have many misspellings, your subjects do not agree with your verbs, or you use the wrong word, people might assume that you are uneducated. Make sure to always proofread your emails.

8. BE CAREFUL WHEN USING GREETINGS. Do not use “Sir” or “Mr.” unless you are sure your correspondent is male. First names are usually okay to use as a greeting.

9. IDENTIFY YOURSELF. When you are emailing someone you do not know, be sure to give him or her some information about who you are. Include how you learned about your correspondent, what you want from them, who you are, and why your correspondent should pay attention to you.

10. INCLUDE PREVIOUS RELATED DOCUMENTS. When referring to a previous email, you should quote that document to provide context.