Matthew C. Winner

June 10, 2006

E-Mail

Mr. Winner’s 4^th Grade Guide to:

Communicating Effectively Via Email

Before you write or respond in email, make sure you know how to say what you need to say. Here are a few pointers to help you be more efficient, clear, and effective when emailing.

Be Subject-Specific

Quote and Respond

Separate Your Links

Shorter Lines

Smaller Paragraphs

Keep It Short

Emphasis With Asterisks

All Caps and Exclamations

Break Out the Smileys

Know Your Audience

Step 1: Be Subject-Specific

This means keeping your subject brief, but specific. Summarize the main point of your email, but don’t worry about writing in a complete sentence. The subject should be a brief phrase that communicates the main idea of your email to the receiver.

(Why: If the person you’re emailing receives a lot of emails or if you are in need of information or a response, your email may be overlooked if your point is not addressed specifically. A specific subject will help the receiver understand the intent of your email before opening it and will communicate the urgency of your email.)

Step 2: Quote and Respond

When responding to a question via email, quote the person’s question before responding to it. You may also choose to restate the question in your response.

(Why: Simply sending a reply of “yes” or “no” may leave the receiver confused as to what you’re answering. By restating the question, you are clarifying what question you are answering and being specific to the original email. This will greatly cut down on confusion and is a great way of keeping track of whether or not you answered what the person was asking in his or her email.)

Step 3: Separate Your Links

If you plan on including a URL to a website with your email, separate the link from the text and make sure there is at least one space before and after the URL.

(Why: If the website address is not separated from other text within the email, it is possible for the receiver to mistake the full web address –accidentally mistaking where the address ends or whether or not it ends in a period, etc. This may result in the user thinking you sent a faulty link or not visiting your site at all.)

Step 4: Shorter Lines

Try to keep sentences short and avoid long run-ons or lists separated by commas. If possible, keep sentences within 20 words.

(Why: On some email programs, text does not wrap the same way as it may appear on your email account. This would result in text running off the page and may mean the receiver of your email misinterprets the text to mean that you simply forgot to finish typing your sentence. )

Step 5: Smaller paragraphs

If possible, keep paragraphs shorter. I suggest making paragraphs no linger than 3-5 sentences.

(Why: In email, users scroll down the page to read text. If a paragraph is too long, it’s possible the user can lose his or her place in the paragraph. By keeping the paragraph shorter, it will be easier for the user to track his or her place in the text.)

Step 6: Keep It Short

When composing an email, keep the text as short as necessary. Do not include useless information or result in text that is too wordy while avoiding the point of the email. if they want more information they can ask for it

(Why: Often, emails are sent when requesting information or providing answers to questions. Therefore, keep responses concise and to the point. If your respondent wants more information, he or she will ask for it.)

Step 7: Emphasis With Asterisks

In order to emphasize a word or group of words in an email, place asterisks before and after the word(s) such as “I love mint chocolate chip ice cream!”

(Why: In conversations, emotion is conveyed through the pitch of a person’s voice or “how” something is said. This is a drawback when communicating via email, but using asterisks are one creative way to get around it. )

Step 8: All Caps and Exclamations

In order to show strong emphasis of a word or group of words in an email, type the word(s) using all capital letters (aka “all caps”) and add exclamation marks to the end of the sentence such as “There is NO WAY you’re going to convince ME to go on the haunted hayride!!!!!”

(Why: Again, it is very difficult to communicate emotion via email. However, users should not that it is considered inappropriate to overuse the use of all caps and exclamations. Users should avoid typing entire texts in all caps or including more than a few exclamation marks in a row.)

Step 9: Break Out the Smileys

Another way to show emotion in an email is by following a sentence with a Smiley (a combination of punctuation marks that create a representation of an emotion). Such as :-) (happy), :-( (sad), :o) (funny)

(Why: Because it is impossible to hear someone’s voice when reading email and because people can say the same words in so many different ways, using Smileys can be a creative way to communicate how you feel via email.)

Step 10: Know Your Audience

On top of all of these steps, it is important for you to know your audience, meaning that you communicate in a language which suites your audience. lacommunicate in a language that suites the party you’re corresponding with ,,, as you can tell, they way you type matters almost as much as what you type… grammar, spelling, punctuation

(Why: When communicating with your friends, it isn’t necessary to write in complete sentences or, necessarily, to check your grammar or spelling. However, when speaking with an adult, be it a teacher, parent, or other professional, it is important to use your best writing. Otherwise, the idea you are expressing may not be communicated effectively or accurately.)