Make business emails short, concise, clear and compelling. Pay attention to the following areas:
Content:
- Create a meaningful subject line.
- Make your purpose immediately clear using the first sentence. For instance, “ I have included information on . . .”
- Front-load your first paragraph. Place all priority information in the first paragraph.
- Tone: Communicate in a compatible tone. Does this client prefer off-the-cuff or formal interaction?
Style:
- Engage with sentences: Use active rather than passive voice. Use strong nouns preceding strong verbs.
- Vary sentence length: Vary length, but shorter sentences are better than long ones. Don’t write any sentence that must be reread for meaning.
- Keep flashy vocabulary tucked away. No one wants to grab a dictionary when reading an email.
- Review: Spell check – please. Read it aloud; you will catch errors.
Form:
- Brevity is key: The longer your email is, the more likely it is to be deleted.
- CC with moderation: Only cc parties directly involved.
- Include your signature. Your signature should include your contact, and any other relevant information. Spotlight your services.