Email has become an integral part of doing business, but many
people still struggle to get it right. Here are five common mistakes I see
that limit the effectiveness of email communications.
- Addressing
an email to no one in particular. Emails addressed to a large group of
people often get answered by no one. Address your message to a specific
person, and CC (carbon copy) those who just need to be “in the know.”
- Ignoring
spelling, grammar and punctuation. People tend to read
emails as though the sender is speaking the words. When your grammar and
punctuation are incorrect, it affects their perception of your
competency and expertise.
- Writing
a stream-of-consciousness email. Writing an email as you think can
produce some pretty hard-to-follow text. Be sure to re-read and edit
your message before you hit “send,” and eliminate run-on sentences,
incomplete thoughts and contradictions.
- Burying
the key points. If the recipient of your email has to
dig through lines of detail to get to the point of your message, they
may not put in the effort. Make sure the key thought, statement or
question is clear and easy to find – preferably at the beginning of the
email.
- Assuming
the context.
An email sent as a follow-up to some verbal conversation or event may
not be easily understood once some time has passed or the conversation
is forgotten. Make sure that any relevant context to your email is
summarized, so that when read later it still makes sense.
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