It might not be something you may think about all too often, but writing an email that is grammatically correct, as well as using the correct use of punctuation can make all the difference between winning and losing custom and credibility.
All too often we have seen emails that are written either partly-in or entirely using text talk (that is really a pet hate of ours!!) or there is no use of punctuation. Other common oversights include a distinct lack of capitalisation of letters at the start of new sentences, spell-checking and creating paragraphs – much nicer to read than one huge block of text!
Below are our top email misnomers and some great tips too!
DONT SHOUT AT ME!!!
When writing an email, there really is no need to write in CAPITAL LETTERS. Writing in capital letters is considered rude, as it is perceived as shouting at someone, and its also harder on the eye when reading, so try and avoid it!
Don’t forget the capital
No, I’m not talking about London, but rather the capitalisation of it – why write “london” when it’s actually “London”. In the same sense, remember to capitalise the first word on all new paragraphs.
Avoid the txt tlk
This might be acceptable when actually texting someone (and even then, we don’t like text talk!) however there is no place for it in an email. Don’t be lazy – write each word properly – your recipient will thank you for it, and it’ll send out all the right signals.
Punctuation, it is important.
There are two sides to this point; either punctuation IS used in an email, but, all, in, the, wrong, places, OR ‘it is missed entirely and that makes it very hard to read an email because you don’t stop for breath and it becomes tiring and exhausting and there are no natural pauses for your mind or eyes when reading the text argh!’ (see what we did there?) Please remember to write using punctuation, as it helps to compose your email well and makes it far easier for your recipients to read!
Sepll chcek yuor emails
Every email programme contains a spell-checker nowadays (as far as we’re aware) so there really is absolutely no excuse to not spell-check your emails before they are sent. Above anything else, poor spelling really is bad. Even if you have to write an email in a Word document first, then spell check and then copy and paste into your email, just make sure you check your spelling first! Of course, we aren’t all super-human, and of course there will be the occasional spelling error here and there – that’s to be expected, but all the time – well, that’s a big no-no.
Always start with a greeting! Hello!!
When writing emails, remember that they can easily be taken the wrong way (emails can easily convey the wrong type of undertone), so rather than starting an email with just a name, such as “Dave”, which can be taken as being a bit abrupt, try adding “Dear Dave” or “Hi Dave”, or similar – it comes across more warm and friendly. Likewise, if you are addressing someone by a title, then the same principle applies; “Dear Mr Bloggs” or “Hi Mr Bloggs” is much nicer.
And … Say goodbye too
Just as a greeting is important, so is closing your email too. Sign off your email with a simple ‘thanks’ or ‘kind regards’ – this is much more polite and professional than just writing your name without any form of closing.
Remember your subject
Sending emails with a blank subject line is wrong – plain and simple. Not only does it make it difficult to search and find the email in the future, should you need to reference back to it, but it’s also lazy too. Giving your recipient a clue about the content of the email by adding a subject goes without saying.
Plain font, please
Emails written using Comic Sans or another similar, equally as horrible font is a huge … massive .. colossal NO NO as well! Even the most professional of companies can come across as childish / amateurish when using an inappropriate font. Best stick to Arial or Calibri instead.
Don’t drag it out
Unless there is a real purpose for a long email, try and keep your email to-the-point. Having to sit reading long emails can irritate the best of us, so getting to the point nice and quick saves the pain of reading through 15 paragraphs to finally get to the point in the last sentence on paragraph 16.
Want to send a big file?
Have you ever tried to attach and send a big photo/image, or perhaps a large document, only to receive an “undelivered” bounce-back error message email? If so this is due to the mailbox of the person you’re sending the attachment to rejecting your email due to the size of the attachment. The solution here is to use a website like WeTransfer (https://wetransfer.com/) which allows you to send large (or huge!) files. Check them out – it’s a great service and free to use too!
