Craig Dodge - Blog

We have been discussing e-mail writing in several of my business English classes recently, and even students whose English ability is quite good were unfamiliar with many business e-mail basics, specifically when writing in English to a North American business audience. While there are many comprehensive resources available, there are a few simple guidelines I'd like to share here.

Use the K.I.S.S. Principle: Keep It Short & Simple (or sometimes known as Keep It Simple, Stupid). It is seldom necessary to write a lot of extra information, use big, fancy words just because you think it sounds more intelligent or use a lot of overly polite expressions just because you are trying to show respect. Most of the time, the reader will appreciate it if you don't waste their time.

Business people are busy, often receiving hundreds of e-mails every day. Your subject line must be specific enough so that the recipient will not mistake it for SPAM and delete it without even opening it. Additionally, you must let the reader know early in the e-mail exactly why you are writing, get to the point and keep the content clear and concise. Finally, you must let the reader know exactly what follow-up, if any, is required.

I would also like to suggest a simple format to follow that will make your e-mails more organized and easier to read. This format is useful for most of your English business e-mail correspondence:

• Greeting
• Purpose
• Details
• Future Action
• Closing

The greeting is usually Dear _______,     You fill in the blank with the name, if you know it, like Dear Craig, or Dear Mr. Dodge. If you don't know the name, you can use the title of the person or department to which you are writing: Dear HR Manager or Dear Customer Service. As a last resort, you could use Dear Sir or Madam.

The first paragraph can be a single sentence that gives the reason you are writing. Some people are so busy that they don't read past that first line if it's unclear or if they feel it's not important to them. A sample opening sentence might be: I am writing to ask about the sales position posted on 104.com.

In the second paragraph are the details you want the reader to know or the questions you want to ask. You should use short, clear, simple sentences and the paragraph should only be as long as necessary to make your points.

The third paragraph will be to ask the reader to do something, or inform them of some future action you will take. If no specific action is necessary, it's common to write: Please contact me if you have any questions.

The last part of the e-mail is the closing. How you close will depend on how well you know the person and the tone, or formality, of the e-mail. Many common closings are Sincerely, Respectfully, Best Regards, Regards and so on.

Putting it all together, here is how a simple, standard business e-mail might look:

Dear Customer Service,

I'm writing about a problem I had with my iPhone.

The iPhone was purchased on January 15, 2010 and the phone crashed on November 15, 2010. It crashes and reboots continually. I tried resetting and restoring the phone, but none of those actions solved the problem. The phone is less than a year old and is useless.

Please let me know by the end of this week how I can take care of this problem. If I don't hear from you, I will visit one of your retail stores next week.

Respectfully,

Craig Dodge

Please note that there is a space (an empty line) between each paragraph. This is important to make it easier to read.

I hope that these tips will help you write more effective business e-mails in English.