1. DO NOT TYPE AN EMAIL IN ALL CAPS UNLESS YOU ARE ANGRY OR TERRIBLY EXCITED. All caps means you are yelling, which can cause serious miscommunication. Consider the difference in these two email statements:

As I said, the papers are due on Thursday.

or

"AS I SAID, THE PAPERS ARE DUE ON THURSDAY.

I've known more than one person who had people thinking they were mad at them because of caps lock.

2. Along those same lines, don't use too many exclamation points!!!!! Use them sparingly!!! They, like caps, create the sense of yelling and excitement!!! And you can't possibly be excited about everything you say!! Can you??!!? (The exception to this rule would be when communicating with friends or relatives about a matter of excitement like, "I got an 'A' in English!!!" Still, you don't want many exclamations in an average email and certainly not in a formal one.)

3. Use a greeting and a closing in all formal emails, especially when you're asking for something. Consider the difference:

Dear Mrs. Sheffler,

May I please have an extension on the project that is due tomorrow? I left my Latin book at school and cannot complete it.

Thank you,
Forgetful Fred

or

May I please have an extension on the project that is due tomorrow? I left my Latin book at school and cannot complete it.

The second example can come across as rude. It may seem as though you're forgetting the person you are asking and are too focused on what you want. Always do people the courtesy of a greeting and a closing unless you are replying to a close friend or family member with whom you've established a pattern of informal emails.

4. Say it all at once. Think of what you want to say and take your time sending email. It is rude to send four or five emails with a few thoughts in each when it could have all been said in one. We all have too much email in our in-boxes, and it can be difficult to attend to that many rapid messages. If you send too many, people may start to ignore your messages. So, try to avoid the, "Oh yeah! And....," "Oh yeah! And..." if possible. (P. S. I'm guilty of this one myself.)

5. Know how long to wait. Don't send an email to someone and then send another in twenty minutes asking if he/she got it yet. To avoid this, there are a few things you can do:

a. Know your audience. Who are you emailing? Is it your mom who checks her email once every two days or your best buddy who checks it once every two hours? That should tell you how long to wait for a reply.

b. Request a reply. Let the person know if it is an urgent email and request that he/she reply when they get it with a line like, "Thank you for your help in this matter. I will await your reply before moving forward."

c. Set a deadline such as, "I will check my email tonight at 8:00 pm. If I haven't heard back from you by then, I'll have to make the reservations assuming you aren't going to join us."

6. Use a concise, pertinent subject. As I said, many people have full in-boxes, so if you can tell them exactly what you want in the subject, you'll be more likely to get a response than if you don't. Do not leave the subject blank or use a cryptic subject (unless you're trying to be funny with friends.) I would be much more likely to reply to a message with the subject, "Need Turnitin.com Help" than "(No Subject)" or "This is McKenzie." Your subject does not have to be a complete sentence--only the essential information is necessary. A good subject lets the person know what you need and indicates how urgent the reply will be.

7. Do not :) use smileys in a formal :D email. Smileys :-P are great : -> for personal :-} emails to :-* family and friends, but :-) try to avoid them in messages :-( to teachers, co-workers, or ;-p other acquaintances. : -{ It can be distracting and isn't really appropriate.

8. Similar to the smileys rule, do not use abbreviations in formal email. Abbreviations can cloud what you're saying, especially for people who don't know "instant-messaging" lingo. It is almost like another language. In addition, it is too informal. You wouldn't write "What's up?" in a letter applying for a job, and you shouldn't' abbreviate in an email. Same idea. Consider:

OMG! UR2Coo! U didn't! *LOL* *RME*

What does this mean? To the average non-instant messenger, it is garbage. To you , it might mean:

Oh, my gosh! You are too cool! You did not! (I'm laughing out loud and rolling my eyes.)

9. Don't use sarcasm unless you clearly indicate that you are doing so. Remember, without face-to-face, telephone, or instant communication, a person can't use your tone of voice or ask exactly what you mean to understand you. Therefore, the potential for miscommunication is great, and you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. What if a student who was generally concerned about his grade emailed me to ask about a project due date, and I replied,

"It's due tomorrow, but don't worry: You've probably got a "D" anyway! Ha!"

This student probably has an "A" if I'm being sarcastic, but there is likely at least part of him that would be worried, even if he understood the sarcasm, and if he didn't, he'd probably be traumatized. Sarcasm can be very dangerous in email. I'd avoid it except in personal communication with friends.

10. Don't send enormous files or too many at once. Be aware that the person you're emailing might not have a fast computer or that they might have limitations on the size of the files they can receive, so if you plan on attaching any files, you want them to be as small as possible. For example, if you have picture files, you want to save them as ".jpg" or ".gif" instead of ".bmp" because ".bmp" (or bitmap files) are much larger than the others. If you don't know what type of files they are, you might just send one at a time per message (thereby violating the repeat-messaging rule). If a file is a MB or more, you might consider an alternate method of delivery, such as disk or ftp.

With these rules in mind, you should be all set. So...

image courtesy of Theteachersguide.com