Tips for Writing Effective E-mail

In this time of high speed internet access, e-mail, and Instant Messenger, we tend to ignore some of the rules of communication. This list of tips for writing effective e-mail will help high school students write appropriate e-mail messages for contacting colleges or future employers.

- Be specific with your subject and message. Do not assume that the recipient will understand what you are talking about if you are vague. Avoid using pronouns in the first few sentences to reduce ambiguity.

- When referring to specific previous e-mails, quote the pertinent information using > to mark the beginning of each line of quoted text. For example:

>Did you see the movie last night? Was

>it any good or not? Should I see it too?

Quote enough of the e-mail to allow the recipient to understand what is being discussed but omit irrelevant information.

- Keep paragraphs short (a few lines each). Many people have difficulty reading extensive text on a computer monitor and will benefit from more frequent breaks in the block of text. Scroll bars also often make longer paragraphs difficult to follow

- When including a hyperlink in the body of the paragraph, be sure to include the http:// and enclose the web address in <>. If a web address is broken onto two lines, some e-mail software will not recognize the second half of the URL as a part of the hyperlink. By enclosing the URL in <>, you make it clear to the software what is to be included in the link.

- Avoid text effects such as bold or italics. Some e-mail software will not recognize the <i></i> or <b></b> commands that give text those effects. Text will appear as:

That was <i>great!</i> He is <b>such</b> a good singer.

- Be aware of what attachments you send through e-mail. Not all computers can open Word Documents or a JPEG file. When sending text documents, it is generally best to send the attachment as a rich text format document which can be opened more universally.

- Keep in mind that e-mail is generally conversational and does not necessarily need to follow appropriate grammar rules. However, when writing to important individuals who will judge you on your e-mails (an employer or college) it is probably best to use correct spelling and grammatical rules.

- It is improper e-mail etiquette to type in all capital letters. This gives the impression that you are shouting. Capital letters may be used to emphasize a single word or phrase while all lower case letters may suggest secrecy or mumbling.

- Your e-mail address will say a lot about you. If you have an e-mail such as gingersnap@aol.com, that may not be appropriate to use when contacting employers or colleges. Having one e-mail for friends and a separate one for important contacts such as janesmith@gmail.com will give you a more respectable feel when corresponding.

- Tone is everything in an e-mail. Generally tone should be informal and conversational. However, if you do not want the person to respond to you, then writing more formally may accomplish that. Big words in an e-mail are pretentious, but they can also be tools for showing status or importance.

- When e-mailing someone who may be unfamiliar with you, be sure to identify yourself including name, what relation that person has to you or how you learned of that person, and why the addressee should pay attention to you.