Email: such a common tool, so often misused.
This is a real email we received (with a few details changed to protect the sender’s dignity):
Full of undefined acronyms, inappropriate abbreviations, and unnecessary personal details, this email does not give me much reason to trust this company. The writer says, “If there’s anything not clear, pls feel free to contact me.” I’m not sure if I want to.
I can tell that this email came from a non-native English speaker, but I don’t think this is an acceptable excuse. I believe that anyone with a basic command of English can learn to write effective emails, with just a bit of training.
A few weeks ago Drew and I delivered a lunchtime training on Effective Email Writing to about twenty employees of a leading law firm. Our presentation followed this outline: 
I personally think the most important part of an email is the subject line. I used to work for a company that did email marketing for non-profit organizations, and we obsessed over subject lines. Email marketing, of course, generates more statistics than typical emails between colleagues or clients, but I think it’s lessons are still valid: your subject line should describe the content of your email in a specific, concise way.
Here are some good subject lines:
- Staff Meeting: Thursday 2pm
- English Classes for Customer Service Team
- YSYC termination of contract with EasySoft
- Nice meeting you at dinner Tuesday
I try hard to follow these rules myself, but sending a quick email is so easy that sometimes I get careless. About a month ago, I invited a good friend of mine to dinner on Wednesday, and she suggested we attend an event on Tuesday instead. I sent my RSVP to the event’s organizer, not realizing that the subject line said “Dinner Wednesday?” I had inadvertently invited a 60-something man I’d never met to dinner! I sent him a quick follow-up to clarify, and, no, he didn’t think I was asking him out. But still, I think this illustrates my point well.
The hilarious Dave Barry relates the hypothetical historical consequences of this hastiness in his funny review of Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Home and Office:
Imagine, for example, how useful it would have been for Paul Revere. … Since Revere was typing with his thumbs, his e-mail probably would have said something like, “teh nritish are cming.” As a result the recipients might not have grasped the urgency of the message. The Concord patriots might have assumed it was mainly intended for the Lexington patriots, while Lexington might have assumed Concord was going to handle it, and we would still be British subjects today. I’m not saying that would be a bad thing; I’m just saying it was not what Revere meant to accomplish. [more]
What email writing tips would you add? What’s the most hilarious email you’ve received in a business setting?
-Leslie
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