Ten laws for better email
Most emails are badly written. No surprise, perhaps, since we write more emails than anything else. By 2010, the business world will have produced 27,000 billion gigabytes of email. So what goes wrong?
- Not written with the reader in mind
- Not written to be scanned or read quickly
- Too many topics in one email
- Important information or requests buried in verbiage
- Reply in haste, repent at leisure
- Poor grammar, spelling and punctuation
- Using email when some other communication would have been better
So I have drafted ten laws for better email:
- Email is about the reader, not the writer. Don’t think about what you have to say. Think about what the reader needs to hear. There’s nothing more tedious than an email that starts out with 200 words of self-justification when all it needs is a single sentence containing a question.
- Email exists to solve problems, not create them. Don’t fire people by email. Unlike Radio Shack - see previous post. I try to avoid dealing with money matters by email. Don’t drunk-mail. Don’t email when angry. Don’t argue by email.
- The headline is the email. The subject line should be clear, factual and specific. It should also encourage the reader to open and read the email. Think about the subject lines used by chain emails (see my post: The evil power of chain emails) and spammers - made you look! Don’t be afraid to change the title of a long-running discussion thread if the subject matter has moved on. Put the old subject in brackets afterwards for continuity.
- Fewer words, greater understanding. I like this email from Cambridge Consultants which I blogged two years ago. With email, shorter is better. Also short words are best.
- Emoticons rule!!
Seriously, shading an email with some emotional colour can make it more personal and reduce the risk of misinterpretation. See Email etiquette revisited for more on this. - Think before you forward. Forwarding, CC’ing (and especially BCC’ing) and, in some cases, sending brief thank you emails can spam up people’s inboxes and make emails political. In fact, most of the email-related work crises I’ve seen have involved inappropriate forwarding, CC’ing and - in the two worst cases - BCC’ing.
- Respect privacy in group emails. Ever received a round-robin email addressed to hundreds of people where all their addresses were included. This is a gross breach of privacy and it is also pretty much the only circumstances where a BCC is appropriate.
- Be succinct. Imagine your email was a telegram and that you were paying by the word. Avoid long paragraphs. Consider using one-sentence paragraphs. Keep sentences short. Use bullets for lists. Use subtitles to break up long emails. Use strong active verbs. Let the passive and subjunctive be avoided. Avoid jargon and acronyms.
- Highlight actions and key points. It’s fine to use underlining, highlighting or bold to help people concentrate on the key points. I have colleagues who highlight action items and important dates.
- Wait a minute. Re-read your emails before you send them. Out loud. Rewrite it if you can make it shorter.
Michael wrote:
Excellent advice. I need to pass along your article to everyone at my work place. Most of these tips work very well for comments on blogs too - especially “fewer words, greater understanding.”
Posted on 14-Jan-08 at 1:46 pm | Permalink
Judith wrote:
Great post, Matthew! I am always encouraged when folks type about this very important topic that all too many disregard. There are a couple more considerations when it comes to Business E-mail Etiquette.
I have a site full of free E-mail Etiquette services, articles, a Blog and even a Netiquette Quiz.
Why not stop by NetManners.com and check out my article Business E-mail Etiquette Basics?
Take care ~
Judith | NetManners.com
Posted on 14-Jan-08 at 4:35 pm | Permalink
Roy Jacobsen wrote:
This is an evergreen topic; I posted an article on the subject last July, but I don’t think you can have too many people singing this song.
Your emphasis on the reader’s needs, and on simplicity, can be applied to everything we write. Well said.
Posted on 14-Jan-08 at 7:39 pm | Permalink
Karen Phelps wrote:
Great advice, my boss sent me this after I got in an email row with a distantly associated fellow employee. I am far to apt to fire off a nasty gram than I should be. Although I’d still probably fire her by email if it were my right to do so I appreciate this post very much, they are words to live by.
Posted on 15-Jan-08 at 2:26 pm | Permalink
Andrea wrote:
I was directed to this on a day when a dear friend had forwarded yet another mindless time-waster. (She’s addicted!)
I’d love to send her this - after a judicious delay, of course.
Thank you for the ten rules. Useful anywhen.
Posted on 17-Jan-08 at 12:05 am | Permalink
Bruce Pilgrim wrote:
“Too many topics in one email” is a big one. I’ve found that if I ask two questions in one email, I almost always get one answer (sometimes less than one). If I need a person to answer three questions, I send them three different emails in rapid fire. It’s probably a little annoying to the receiver, so I only do this when time is short and I really need those answers ASAP.
Posted on 17-Jan-08 at 12:58 pm | Permalink
Matthew Cornell wrote:
Thanks for the tips, Matthew. In addition, I found a lot of good email advice in the book “The hamster revolution,” including their A-B-C tool for content (structure ea. message in this order: Action summary, Background, and Close) and their 1-2-3 tool (ask 1. Needed, 2. Appropriate, and 3. Targeted).
Posted on 17-Jan-08 at 6:23 pm | Permalink
Manage Your Writing wrote:
The headline is the e-mail…
At Bad Language, Matthew Stibbe has posted Ten Laws for Better Email. I could devote a whole posting to each one, but here’s a taste:3. The headline is the email. The subject line should be clear, factual and specific. It…
Posted on 18-Jan-08 at 12:32 pm | Permalink
Email is about the reader « brisebois blog wrote:
[...] Re-read your emails before you send them. Out loud. Rewrite it if you can make it shorter. (Bad Language) [...]
Posted on 18-Jan-08 at 1:32 pm | Permalink
Talent Zoo Journal wrote:
[...] each day, it’s not surprising to hear that most are poorly written. Check out these Email Laws for tips on how to make sure your correspondences aren’t falling into the category of [...]
Posted on 24-Jan-08 at 10:23 pm | Permalink
MayaAndMarketability wrote:
Speaking of Subject Lines and Headlines… could you point me to case studies that prove using “you” versus “I/me” (ego) in headlines is more effective. Convincing clients to write customer-centered headlines can sometimes be a challenge. Businesses get stuck stroking their ego and starting all their marketing materials with “I do this for you…” type headlines. Aargh!
Posted on 22-Feb-08 at 6:38 am | Permalink
kumarraj wrote:
Thank u, Matthew. I think these are the 10 commandments of newly users like me and offcourse to all e-mail users. once again thank you.
Posted on 15-Mar-08 at 2:29 pm | Permalink
Music TrollyeBus » Ten rules for better email wrote:
[...] read more | digg story [...]
Posted on 19-Jun-08 at 2:13 pm | Permalink