How to Write Better Emails

Do you feel like all your emails get washed up on a beach, unloved and unread? Here are some tips for getting more love for your emails.

1.        Ask yourself, do you need to send an email at all?

Emails are good for requests, providing or asking for information, asking for approvals, and other finite, well-defined tasks. They are not good for conversations among multiple parties. In that case, a meeting might be best. If you have a quick question, pinging the person on IM or walking to their desk will get you a quicker answer, and you can have a quick conversation if clarification is needed.

2.        If you are asking for information, try to look it up elsewhere – people don’t like to be disturbed when the information is readily available. Google is your friend.

3.        If you absolutely need to send an email, only address the people who need to be addressed.

Only put one email address in the To field, and put the others in the cc field; that way, it is clear who should respond. The others can always jump in if they like. If you put multiple people in the To field, no one may feel compelled to answer.

4.        State your purpose in the subject line, for example:

“Please approve my Feb. 3 expense report.”

”Do you have Jim Nabors’s contact information?”

”When would be the best time this week for us to meet for ? hour?”

”The site is down, I’m on it.”

If that is all you have to say, you can add <eom> (end of message) at the end of the subject line. However, since not everyone knows what <eom> means, repeat the subject line in the body and add “<eom> (end of message).”

5.        In the body, state what the request/question/action desired is first, before you give your rationale. That way, your recipient can choose to read the rationale or not, and they can read it already knowing what is being asked for:

”Just to let you know, the site is down and I’m working on it. Here’s what we know so far: …”

”Would it be OK if I took Tuesday off? The repairman is coming over.”

”I’m thinking that it might be a good idea to get together with Joe and ask him in person what went wrong. That way, ….”

6.        Use numbered lists or bullet points to organize information and make it easily ingestible.

7.        Always say please and thank you. Politeness matters, in some cultures more than others. However, don’t use “please” to try to soften a demand: "Next time, please don’t interrupt.” Instead, use softening phrases, such as “Perhaps it would be better if,” “I would rather,” “I would prefer,” Would you mind,” and “Would it be possible.” Email can come off sounding curt otherwise.

8.        If you need something by a deadline, be clear which date and time; avoid using “ASAP” which could mean anything.

”Would you mind sending me that report by noon this Thursday? I need to….”

”When you say it will be ready Thursday, did you mean morning or evening?”

 “Could you please send me the first draft by 11:00 am tomorrow (Wednesday)?” (If you’re sending this out on a Tuesday night and the recipient might not see it until Wednesday morning.)

9.        Run spell check of course. I highly advise setting up your email to run spell check automatically upon sending.

10. Proofread, proofread, proofread. Cut back your email to the nugget of what you want to say. Make sure it flows from idea to idea. I typically proofread an email 3 to 5 times before I send it, and more for sensitive emails. 

11. Check the addresses just before hitting "Send" to make sure you are not inadvertently sending it to the wrong person or people.