Eliminating WORDINESS AND BIZ-SPEAK

Write your emails like your job (or GRADE) depends on it! (It Just Might)

Creating an effective, business appropriate email is not difficult, but it does take time and effort. For a number of reasons, students, employees, and business professionals sometimes struggle to create effective emails.

WHY? What causes seemingly intelligent people to write so poorly when creating an email - a written form of communication that could be seen by thousands of readers?

After years of reading, writing, and analyzing emails, my experience has shown me that writers struggle to create effective emails for the following reasons:

1. They write too quickly. (In a hurry? Wait to write and send that email!)

2. They fail to proofread their email before hitting send. (What you write is sometimes NOT what you type! Re-read your email, then read it again, and read it again!!!)

3. They think email is just an informal communication and do not see it as important. (Not important? Then WHY are you writing in the first place?)

4. They think email is just a form of texting. (U R Crzze if u think email b the same)

5. They do not know the proper way to format an email. (EVERY business document HAS TO LOOK GOOD!)

6. They use their cell phone to send and answer email. (This is now more common, but it DOES NOT excuse poor writing.)

7. They don’t think anyone else will ever see their email. (The bad emails I used are proof - you never know what the reader will do with your email once they receive it.)

8. They do not think proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation are noticed by others. (WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!! Your readers will notice, your professors will notice, and every potential employer will notice.)

9. They write when they are upset or distracted. (Never send emails when you are not calm. Your mind-set will always impact your writing!)

10. They are LAZY!!! They use abbreviations, slang, cliches, texting language, and make other poor writing choices.

Probably the worst ASSUMPTION of all! If you make EASY email writing errors, your reader might assume you are simply LAZY! How else can I explain Management 306 students who write emails where they forget to capitalize their own NAME? use “I” correctly twice, then use “ i ” ? Misspell and, were, mine, yesterday, class, assignment, over, week, waste, me, went, tried, few. These are a few of the email writing errors I have received since the quarter started!

You may not make all of these errors in your emails, but I bet you have made some of these errors. STOP making these mistakes! Writing clear, professional business emails is mandatory. There is no excuse for writing poor emails. __________________________________________________________________

A GOOD EMAIL SHOULD...

If you want to make writing errors when you send emails to your friends or family (and you are confident they will not judge your poor writing, then go for it).

However, if you want the reader to be impressed by you, your writing, and your email, you should:

1. Always include a greeting (Dear Professor Metz, or Dear Apple INC,) 2. Always tell the reader what you want (make a point - remember?) 3. Always double and triple check the writing for errors (WRITE WELL!) 4. Always include an informative subject line (this is extremely important) 5. Always be clear and specific (Do not use vague words, slang, or abbreviations) 6. Always be polite and respectful (even when you don’t want to be) 7. Always put some written information in the body of the email (NEVER EVER

send a blank email with an attachment) 8. Always include your name at the conclusion of your email (Thank you, YOUR

NAME) 9. Be concise but not too blunt or brief - leaving out key information is counter-

productive 10. Show what a good writer you are! - Every email is a reflection of your writing

skills Notice the parallel list? All lists have to be parallel, right?