{"id":43,"date":"2020-05-05T05:28:42","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T09:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/writingtextbook\/chapter\/writing-emails\/"},"modified":"2022-11-13T20:31:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T01:31:32","slug":"writing-emails","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/writingtextbook\/chapter\/writing-emails\/","title":{"raw":"Writing Emails","rendered":"Writing Emails"},"content":{"raw":"
\"Writing Emails\"<\/a> by Arley Cruthers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0)<\/a>. It was originally published in Business Writing for Everyone<\/em><\/a>.<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_84\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"Diagram Figure 6.2 The Email [Image Description]<\/a>[\/caption] \r\n\r\n<\/a>Email is typically quite familiar to most students and workers. While it may be used like text messaging, or synchronous chatting, and it can be delivered to a cell phone, email remains an asynchronous communication tool. In business, email has largely replaced print hard copy letters for external (outside the company) correspondence, as well as taking the place of memos for internal (within the company) communication (Guffey, 2008). Email can be very useful for messages that have slightly more content than a text message, but it is still best used for fairly brief messages.\r\n

Many businesses use automated e-mails to acknowledge communications from the public or to remind associates that periodic reports or payments are due. You may also be assigned to \u201cpopulate\u201d a form email in which standard paragraphs are used, but you choose from a menu of sentences to make the wording suitable for a particular transaction.<\/p>\r\nThe rise of email management systems like MailChimp and Constant Contact have also made it easy to integrate graphic design elements into emails and to send emails to an entire mailing list without getting caught in a spam filter. Now, businesses send everything from newsletters to donations campaigns to holiday greetings through email.\r\n

Emails may be informal in personal contexts, but business communication requires attention to detail, awareness that your email reflects you and your company, and a professional tone so that it may be forwarded to any third party if needed. Email often serves to exchange information within organizations. Although email may have an informal feel, remember that when used for business, it needs to convey professionalism and respect. Never write or send anything that you wouldn\u2019t want read in public or in front of your company president or CEO.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Tips for effective business emails<\/h2>\r\nIf you're struggling to write an email, err on the side of not wasting the reader's time. Many readers get hundreds of emails a day. While a reader might sit down to read a letter or a memo, they will usually spend a few seconds scanning an email for relevant information before moving on to the next one.\r\n\r\nUnless your email is sensitive or you are breaking bad news, it's nearly always a good idea to state the main point of the email clearly and to clearly tell the audience what you want them to do.\r\n\r\nIt may be helpful for you to think of this as building a frame around your email. In the first part of the frame, you open by telling the reader why you're writing. Then, in the body, you give the main message. In the bottom part of the frame, you end by telling the reader what to do next. Here's an example. The grey shaded parts represent the frame.\r\n
Frame: I'm writing to congratulate you on being named Employee of the Month.<\/div>\r\n
In your nomination form, your manager noted that you've always had exceptional customer service skills, but last month you stood out by helping an elderly customer troubleshoot her computer issues. Your patience and dedication was inspirational to the rest of the team.<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nFrame: We would like to present you with a certificate and your $100 cheque at the staff meeting on Monday, June 5th. Please confirm whether or not you'll be in attendance so we can plan accordingly.\r\n\r\nCongratulations once again. We are lucky to have you part of our team!\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nFirst, the writers tells exactly why they're writing. Then, they provide the supporting details. Last, they tell the reader what to do (confirm whether or not they'll be at the meeting).\r\n\r\nHere are some more tips for sending successful emails:\r\n