#emailing

Sending emails can be scary!

No one ever really talks about the level of anxiety that comes with sending an email you know lots of people (or even one person if we’re being honest) will see. I remember it would take me ten minutes to reread every email obsessively before I sent it off. Even if the email was just a one-sentence reply (yikes)

Over the years I’ve had to get over that in a hurry. In this day and age, you cannot escape emailing EVERYONE, even my little sister in the 5th grade is emailing now. Crazy right?

Because email has become so commonplace over the past few years many of us have had to figure it out on our own. Where was that email communication 101 when you need it?

And that why sending emails can be so scary because most of us were never taught how to do so we kinda just have learned as we go.

That was me.

But now that I’ve had to send emails to all types of people from company CEOs to my great aunt, I’ve come up with the absolute most important tips you need to craft a perfect email every single time.

Don't write in big block paragraphs

This is the most important part of email communication in my opinion. I can tell immediately if someone is new to sending professional emails if they write in big never-ending paragraphs.

It’s an innocent mistake but think about if you were writing a professional letter, say something like a cover letter. You wouldn’t send it in within one big paragraph and hitch a salutation at the end, would you? That would make it impossible to read and since most people read emails on their phones that would make it near impossible to get through.

In almost all digital writing you need to make it skimmable.

Let’s be real, most people won’t read through the whole thing but people like to get the gist, and then if it captures their attention they go back to read the rest.

So make sure you separate your thoughts and make sure you're separating different thoughts, ideas, and questions. To make it easier you can use bullet points, bold text to create visual breaks. Make use of the formatting options that Gmail offers! They are at the bottom of every email you try to send.

P.S: If you can’t find your formatting options, The “A” option beside send will give you all the text formatting tools like bold, italic, underline etc.

Tailor your intro to the person you're talking to

Not this is THE MOST important part of sending emails people will want to actually open.

The issue with most of us is that after sending tons of emails it starts to become second nature. No matter who you’re talking to you’re saying the same things you probably aren’t even aware of what the person you’re emailing really wants from you.

This goes from young professionals trying to send cold pitches or just emailing someone from your class. Everyone has different needs and you have to talk to that person in a way that addresses what they want.

An example of this is to say I was your coworker and you need a video from me so that you can finish a part of your project. You’re not gonna send.

Example 1.

Hi Janice,

I wanted to check in to ask about our Williams project. I really need it by Monday or I’ll miss the deadline.  Will it be ready by then?

Thanks,

Wanda

That message is very abrupt it only focuses on you and your goals to get the project in on time. Most people won’t react to your need, you need to also offer empathy and see what might motivate them to fulfill your request.

First one is texting, the second is emailing. Enjoy! ~Lynne

Little Numbers by  iknowitainteasy

Blaine sends a text message to a wrong number by accident. Things progress from there.

Also available on LJ or Download the PDF/EPUB

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Is It Weird? Verse by @a-simple-rainbow