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6. Use bullets or numbering in your messages to make them easier to read. Reading from a computer screen can be difficult on
eyes. Make this task easier for your recipient by making ample use of white space. Avoid long, dense paragraphs.
7. Be wary of
formatting features you use (like bolds, colors, and underlines), especially if you are sending
message to someone outside of your company. Many email systems strip messages down to
plain text. If you've sent a message with a lot of fancy formatting in it, your recipient may end up with gibberish.
8. Highlight
specific action you want
recipient to take at
end of your message. Few things are more frustrating than reading a long email message only to get to
end and not be clear on what
sender wants from you.
9. Read your message out loud before you hit
send button. Keep
tone of your message professional while at
same time adding bits and pieces of your personality. Given that deleted emails are never really deleted, never put something in an email message that you would not want to see on
Local News. Also, never say anything in an email message that you would not say to
recipient's face. You should not hide behind an email to deliver a difficult message. Pick up
phone.
10. When all else fails, pick up
phone. If you find yourself exchanging email with a person 3 or 4 times in order to clear up a single issue,
time had come to pick up
phone. Email is supposed to make communicating easier, not more frustrating. It is amazing how a 10-minute call can clear up
confusion that a 3-page email created.
Bonus Tip If you have a short message to send, put it in
subject line, this will completely eliminate
need for
recipient to open
email.
Example 1: Reminder: Status reports due by 5:00 pm (EOM) Here EOM means End of Message. Be sure you communicate that abbreviation to your team before you start using it. This format is ideal for quick reminders.
Example 2: MARY // Thanks for
report. It was perfect! // SUE In this example,
subject line contains
greeting,
message, and
closing. It is self-contained and its obvious to
receiver that your total message is in
subject. This format is great for sending people a quick Thank You note.
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© Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved. Myrtis Smith is a personal coach. Her mission is to help people create their preferred future and have fun doing it. Sign up for her free newsletter Change Now! at www.premeditatedlife.com .......because life doesn't just happen!

Myrtis Smith is a personal coach. Her mission is to help people create their preferred future and have fun doing it. Sign up for her free newsletter Change Now! at www.premeditatedlife.com .......because life doesn't just happen!