Steve
Pugmire is an internship coordinator at Utah Valley University where he helps
students and employers connect. Over the past two years, Pugmire has worked
with students, faculty, staff, and employers face-to-face, through phone and
email. Because of the volume of individuals he works with, he prefers
conversing through email. Before working in the Internship Office, he received
his undergraduate degree in communication from UVU. He was then hired by UVU to
work as an advisor generalist answering student inquiries about financial aid,
transcripts, scheduling, tuition, and much more. In this position, he enhanced
his interpersonal communication and conflict management skills. He is currently
participating in the Master of Professional Communication program at Weber
State University and is expected to graduate in December 2017.
Utah Valley University – GT 601
801-863-5641
The Art
of Emailing: 10 Tips and Tricks to Remember When Emailing in the Professional
World
By:
Steve Pugmire
Time was ticking away and I still had one more email to send
before sprinting across Utah Valley University’s campus to catch the bus. If I
missed this bus, I would the train. Missing that train would mean I would get
home an hour later than what I promised my wife. So, with a sense of urgency, I
quickly started composing my last email. With fingers flying, I managed to put
my message into words. Without proofreading, I hit “send” without a second
thought. I grabbed my stuff and ran out of my office in pursuit of the bus.
When I opened my email the following morning, I was
excited to see a message from the last individual I emailed the night
previously. This individual was a recruiter for a popular local software
company who I had been striving to do business with. Apparently, I had hastily
written “Hell Susan,” instead of “Hello Susan.” She accepted my sincerest
apologies, but that was unfortunately her first impression of me.
I am an internship coordinator at Utah Valley University.
Because of the sheer volume of students and employers I interact with on a
daily basis, I heavily rely on email. It’s important to represent myself
professionally. All it takes is one mess-up to change the way people think of
you.
So that you don’t have to learn the hard way how to
communicate professionally through email, here are 10 tips:
1. Respond
promptly
2. Construct
a clear subject line
3. Identify
yourself clearly
4. Focus
your message and write concisely
5. Use
bullet points
6. Create
templates for frequently used responses
7. Be
respectful with attachments
8. Do not
email when angry
9. Create
a professional signature
10. Proofread
before hitting “send”
#1: Respond promptly
Have
you ever sent an email to someone, and weeks later received a response? Although
this situation has no place in a professional setting, it often happens. If you
can’t answer immediately, send what I like to call, a “heads-up” email. This
can be a quick note stating that you aren’t able to address the matter
immediately, but you are working on it. This can be done quickly and speaks
volumes about your professionalism.
Another
form of “heads-up communication” is automated responses. The message addresses
the reason for your slower-than-normal response time and goes automatically to
the sender. In the “Jerz’ Literacy Weblog” titled “Email
Tips: Top 10 Strategies for Writing Effective Email,”
Jessica Bauer and Dennis G. Jerz, say, “If you want to appear professional and
courteous, make yourself available to your online correspondents. Even if your
reply is, ‘Sorry, I’m too busy to help you now,’ at least your correspondents
won’t be waiting in vain for your reply.”
“The
Everygirl” blog in their article titled “Email
Etiquette 101: Writing Professional Emails” says, “When it comes
to your professional emails, make it your goal to respond promptly – usually
within one business day. Even if you can’t pull together a detailed reply in
that amount of time, you should at least touch base and let the sender know
you’ve received the message and are working on it.”
For the
past few months, I have been working with a student at UVU seeking an
internship. I invited him to a networking event where he got contact
information from one company he was particularly interested in. This student
emailed the employer and heard nothing for over a week. Finally, out of
desperation, the student emailed me. I emailed the employer, without mentioning
the student’s name, and received a response back within 24 hours. When I asked if
she received an email from the student, she confirmed she did and said she
would contact him shortly. The student received a response an hour later.
Respond within 24 hours, even if your message simply
states that you are working on the inquiry.
#2: Construct a clear subject line
Have you ever
received an email where the subject line is generic or misleading? I’ll assume
your answer is yes. In the blog “Life with Confidence,” an article titled “10 Tips
to Write Professional Email That Gets Noticed” by C. Pratt, mentioned
that “The subject line is important. Make sure it refers to the topic of your
email. People tend to scan the subjects. If yours is cryptic, too generic or doesn’t
relate to what your email is about, it may not get read for awhile [sic].” Pratt
shares two good illustrations of poor subject lines. For example, if you send
an email with “Meeting” as a subject line, that could imply anything. The
subject “Meeting” could be referring to notes from the meeting, a time or room
change, etc. Therefore, a more appropriate subject line could be “Today’s
meeting time has changed.” Another example of poor subject lines is “Read
Immediately” or “Very Important.” Something that is important to you might not
necessarily be important to the receiver. The recipient might hesitate to read
your future emails promptly because of past misleading subject line(s).
I once
received an email from a student with the subject line “Hello.” When I saw it
in my inbox, I immediately moved it to spam because that subject line often alludes
to scam or virus. A few weeks later, a student dropped by my office saying he
emailed me and received no response. I investigated to determine whether I
received the message and found it in my spam folder. I apologized to the
student for the mix-up. However, this situation taught me a valuable lesson –
be careful what you put in your subject line. Ultimately, if the goal is to get
the receiver to open your email, you want to use a subject line that will make him
or her curious enough to act.
#3: Identify yourself clearly
As part of my job duties at UVU, I constantly reach out
to employers in hopes that they will offer our students internships. It’s
important to identify myself clearly so the reader knows exactly who I am. The
“Jerz'
Literacy Weblog” offers great insight on this. “If you
telephone someone outside your closest circle, someone who probably wouldn’t
recognize your voice, you would probably say something like ‘Hello, Ms.
Wordsworth, this is Sally Griffin’ … While a routine email does not require a
formal salutation such as ‘Dear Ms. Wordsworth,’ ask yourself whether the
person you are writing knows you well enough to recognize your email address.” In
other words, if the individual you are writing is someone you don’t know well,
include a brief introduction.
At UVU, each time I reach out to someone new – a student,
employer, faculty or staff member – through email, I always include complete
identification information. I write “My name is Steve Pugmire and I am one of
Utah Valley University’s internship coordinators. I am writing you regarding …”
I have found this is the most effective, yet concise, way for me to identify
myself.
#4: Focus your message and write concisely
Nothing is worse in email than a long and drawn-out
message. Get to the point because time is valuable. The key is to use the KISS
principle (Keep it Simple, Stupid) when composing your email. The blog “Career
English,” maintained by writer, teacher WIL (no full name given) recommends, in
a post titled, “How to
Write a Perfect Professional Email in English in 5 Steps,” “Make
your purpose clear early on in the email, and then move into the main text of
your email. Remember, people want to read emails quickly, so keep your
sentences short and clear.” A good way to do this is to write emails in
“inverted pyramid” style. This means supplying the most important information
first, and then present the remaining information in order of its importance.
After returning to work from a three-week paternity
leave, I was welcomed back with 75 emails and 15 voicemails. I struggled to catch
up. Each day, I clicked on my “unread” folder and worked my way up from the
bottom. One email was convoluted and long so I skipped past it. A few days
later, I had some extra time so I reopened the message. After reading seven
paragraphs, I finally discovered all the student wanted was to visit and
discuss internship opportunities. In the email, this student told me his
academic history before getting to his point. Imagine how effective a concise
message would have been in that situation. With a concise message, I would have
been able to address his inquiries days’ sooner.
#5: Use bullet points
The blog, “Think Simple Now: A Moment of Clarity, ” by
Tina Su, says, “Make emails easy to read and quick to scan by using bullet
points, numbered lists, and keeping paragraphs short” (“15 Tips
for Writing Effective Email”). Valuable work time is wasted reading
long emails with buried requests. We’ve all been counseled in English class
that a paragraph is a minimum of five sentences. However, that rule is moot
when dealing in email. Imagine only receiving emails with five or more
sentences that you were expected to read, pick out the key points, and then
respond promptly. Bullet points are the answer.
I work with an individual at UVU who is an expert at using
bulleted lists in her emails. When she emails employers or faculty, she constructs
her message in a formatting that is easy to skim through. On top of good
formatting, she highlights key information in bullet points. I can review her
emails quickly without reading every word and not miss any highlights. Because
of her email style, I never dread seeing her name in my inbox.
#6: Create templates for frequently used responses
Being in a professional position for a while typically means
you are asked the same questions over and over. Therefore, it’s helpful to have
response templates created for fast retorts. The “Business
News Daily” suggested to “Take some time to pre-write responses and
save them on your hard drive. This will save you time because you won’t have to
think of great wording.”
As an internship coordinator, I receive the same
questions every semester. After my first semester, I decided to save my
responses to prevalent questions in order to be more efficient. However, my
templates were created about two years ago. Therefore, the verbiage does not
sound like me anymore. To rectify this, I am revamping my templates because over
time, our speech naturally changes. For this reason, review your templates
every 6-12 months to confirm they still have your voice.
#7: Be respectful with attachments
There is a time and place for attachments. Most
attachments are unnecessary and cause extra work for the receiver. Similarly, information
sent as an attachment has a higher risk of not being read or even viewed. Before
sending an attachment, ask yourself this: “If such-and-such document was sent
to me as an attachment, would I open it?” If your answer is no, put the
information into the email body. “Jerz'
Literacy Weblog” states that “Rather than forcing your reader
to download an attachment and open it in a separate program, you will probably
get faster results if you just copy-paste the most important part of the
document into the body of your message.” Attachment formatting can tend be
differ when viewed on different devices too.
#8: Do not email when angry
An emotionally charged situation handled through email
can be fatal to someone’s career. To illustrate, the “DailyMail.com” reported
an incident of an email rant sent from one member of a Delta Gamma sorority to
her fellow sisters. “Her colorful commentary ranged from sexual orientation,
religion, and age.” After this email exchange was made public, the sorority
member promptly resigned. Email is permanent. Once it’s sent, it can be forwarded
an infinite amount of times.
The article titled “25 Tips
for Perfecting Your E-mail Etiquette” from the site “Inc.com,” quoted
Lindsey Pollak, who made the following observation: “E-mailing [sic] with bad
news, firing a client or vendor, expressing anger, reprimanding someone,
disparaging other people in e-mail [sic] (particularly if you’re saying
something less than kind about your boss) are all major no-no’s. Because e-mail
[sic] can seem so informal, many people fall into this trap. Always remember
that e-mail [sic] correspondence lasts forever.”
I have
been demeaned and belittled through email. I’m sure you have at some point too.
It’s difficult swallowing my pride and not attempting to get the last word. Conversely,
when I have emailed angrily, I always regret it. The key is to halt on a
response until your emotional levels have stabilized. Waiting, rather than
immediately acting, takes discipline.
#9: Create a professional signature
Your email signature is the icing on the cake. There’s no
point constructing an email if your signature detracts your message. The “Business
News Daily” quoted chief academic officer
and co-founder of New York Code + Design Academy, Zach Feldman, who said, “If
you don’t set up the same signature that you have set up in the desktop version
of your email, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re replying from a mobile device.
Setting up the signature properly on your mobile device should only take 10 to
20 minutes and is infinitely better than ‘sent from my iPhone.’” Like many, I
was guilty of having the signature “sent from my iPhone.” But, after hearing
those comments I immediately changed my mobile signature. Honestly, no one
cares what device you respond on. All that matters is that you responded.
Additionally, make sure your signature is not gaudy or
excessive. What you say in the body of your message can be overpowered by a
“creative” signature. A witty quote, or picture, has no place in a professional
signature. Richard Nordquist, blogger for the website “About
Education” said, “Add a signature block
with appropriate contact information (in most cases, your name, business
address, and phone number, along with a legal disclaimer if required by your
company). Do you need to clutter the
signature block with a clever quotation and artwork? Probably not.”
I was
guilty of adding “A witty quote” to my work signature block. After reading
Nordquist’s words, I again found myself in revision mode. I subsequently
removed my quote and simplifying the remainder of my signature. Then, for
continuity, I spent a few minutes making my professional signature the same
across devices.
#10: Proofread before hitting “send”
Proofreading is so vital that you might recall my
introductory paragraph highlighting a time I failed to proofread a critical
email. Editing can either enhance or tarnish your professional image. “The
Everygirl” blog stated, “We’ve all read the emails that are littered
with typos and errors. What was your impression of the sender? Well, I’m
willing to bet you thought that was sloppy. If he or she couldn’t even take the
time to spell your name correctly, you’re likely not too excited about needing
to continue a professional relationship with that person.”
In “Jerz'
Literacy Weblog,” Bauer and Jerz urge writers of professional
emails to “Proofread, especially when your message asks your recipient to do
work for you. All-caps comes across as shouting, and no-caps makes you look
like a lazy teenager. Regardless of your intention, people will respond
accordingly.” It’s imperative you read your message for any errors before
hitting “send.” I like to read my emails aloud because I catch more errors when
I hear the words audibly. Whatever your tactic, do it every time before hitting
“send.”
A Swan
Among Ducks
Niki Swan has taught in various aspects of the education
field for a number of years. Recently, she was the career counselor for UVU’s
Woodbury School of Business. From there, she moved into her current position as
director of Internship Services. In her spare time, she teaches stress
management and career exploration.
Niki and I sat down together and discussed the ten email tips
highlighted above. Niki talked over her approach and philosophy for each tip.
Here are the highlights from our conversation:
Niki is the epitome of professionalism and it shows in
how she runs her team. Part of her success she credits to being available and
responsive through email. “I always try to respond within 24 hours. We
sometimes get caught up in the thinking that we need to have an answer for the
sender prior to responding. But, simply sending a confirmation of receipt shows
you are interested in the sender and likewise the information they are
sharing.”
I asked
Niki for her thoughts on responding to emails that are emotionally charged. Her
experiences have taught her the following: “I naturally want to zing right
back. How dare you do that! But, that is never helpful even though it seems so
therapeutic at the time. However, two tricks I’ve learned is to, first, take
time before responding and, second, have a co-worker read over my response
before I send it off.”
Our
conversation concluded with the topic of proofreading. “This is the most
important thing when it comes to writing emails. If you are angry, but you
proofread your response, you will catch the tone and potential harsh language.
You never know what you are going to convey with not proofreading your
message.” She shared a recent experience where she sent a 15-word email to her
boss – with one grammatical error – that was forwarded to a few higher-ups to
weigh in on the topic. Needless to say, she was mortified.
There you have it. Outlined above are ten tips to help make
anyone an expert in the art of professional emailing. For convenience, this
article includes references to blogs and websites for additional tips.
Mastering professional emailing can elevate your career. If you truly desire to
be viewed as a professional, start implementing these tips now.
Additional
resources to help in master professional email writing
Textbooks:
Websites:
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