Mullinix, Tammy

LS521 SP02

Elective Email Tips

Helpful Email Tips

1. Don’t leave that subject line blank! Always write a meaningful subject line. This is a courtesy reader who may get 60 to 100 emails a day. A subject might keep your email from being deleted or get your message read faster.

2. Be careful with what you type. Don’t try to be sarcastic or witty. Your message may read as rude or nasty instead of how you intended.

3. Don’t use all capital letters! Capital letters are viewed as ‘shouting’. How would you feel if someone were standing in front of you shouting at you every time they spoke? It is the same with email.

4. Be careful what you write! When you write an email, there could be a permanent record of this communication. Don’t write about something or someone that you don’t want everyone to know. It could come back to haunt you in the long run.

5. Use ‘expressions’ symbols like J or ; ) or L in order to express feelings or reactions. These symbols set the tone of your email and shows how your feel about the conversation or your mood for the day just like hearing your hum-drum or excited voice.

6. Don’t forward chain letters or hoaxes. Although some may seem true or heart-rending (my daughter is missing) or really funny, these things just clog up the internet like getting 50 or 60 pieces of advertisements in your ‘snail mail’ box. What is even worse are the letters claiming harm or death to the people who do not forward them.

7. Don’t just forward emails that need sending on. Cut and paste. There is nothing more annoying than receiving three pages of records on who has received that two line message before you.

8. Always use the spell check feature. This only takes a few seconds and makes for much easier reading for whomever you are sending to.

9. Don’t open email attachments from people you do not know! These attachments could often contain a computer virus that could totally destroy your hard drive.

10. Don’t open attachments from emails of people you know that contain subject lines which don’t make sense. In some cases, this could mean that your friend may have opened a virus attachment that emails itself to everyone in a person’s address book. When these viruses attack, they often fill the subject line with anonymously common sounding subject lines.

11. Never send a really long email! Sometimes long emails can get confusing. Depending on varying email formats, what may seem easy to read on your computer screen may wrap around oddly on another browser. Try to keep it under one page.