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10 Ways to Write a Professional Email
When you are in college, or taking classes from an online university, many students are
concerned about their class work and keeping up in class. In todays world, it is even
easier to keep in touch with professors. A student merely has to send an email to a
professor. They dont even have to talk face to face. Many professors like emails because
they can provide accurate information to the student. However, many professors dont
like email because they feel that students are far too informal with the emails they send.
Too often, professors say that they see things like, Lol, Ttyl, hee hee and
professors have no idea what those even mean! This skills that are used when you are in
college will be used in the workplace. Whether you are a student, or a professional, here
are 10 rules to writing a professional email. Your professor (or boss) will be pleased,
and you will probably receive a quicker response.
1. Make the Subject Line Count
You want your the person you sent the email to first open your email. They get tons of
emails a day, and if it is urgent, you want the recipient to read it. Include what class it is
for, and what questions you have. The professor will appreciate it.
2. Get to the Point
If you are able to present the problem in the first sentence, the person will be more
willing to help you.
3. Identify Yourself
Especially if this is for a professor (and even a boss) tell them what class you are in, and
what section. Many professors teach many classes, and if you tell them which class you

are, it will help them answer your questions even faster. If its for work, make sure that
you are clear about what you are asking about.
4. Keep the Text Language to Yourself
Avoid anything such as brb, ttyl, that may be good for texting, but keep it out of
emails.
5. Keep it Short
You want your email to be very short. Keep it around 1to 2 paragraphs. If it is longer
than thatbut you must send it, try including bullet points. The recipient will be more
likely to read it. If you have a lot to say, try just talking to the professor. It will be easier
for both parties if you need to talk at length.
6. Say Hello!
It is always nice when you add a small hello, or good morning, or good afternoon. It
shows that you are trying to be polite. You arent bothering the recipient with lots of
showy sayings, but you arent being rude either.
7. Proofread
Make sure to read your email before you send it. You will be able to catch a lot of
mistakes. Your professor and co-workers will respect you if you can spell and have
proper punctuation. This will also get you in the habit of reading over your work before
you submit it.
8. Be Pleasant
Just because you are annoyed with a professor or co-worker, dont show it in your
email. They will be less willing to help you.
9. Respond Fast
Email is supposed to be fast. If you dont respond within 24 hours, the person you sent
the email to will forget about your question. Even if you respond and tell the person

that you got their email, but you dont have the time to draft an appropriate answer, let
them know. They will appreciate that you took the time to inform them.
10. Have an Appropriate Signature Line
Make sure that if you have a signature set up on your email, it is profession and free of
quotes, silly fonts, or smiley faces. Others will think you are immature if you send them
an email and your signature is something in pink with smiley faces.

Writing Effective Emails

Writing Effective Emails
The average office worker receives around 80 emails each day. With
that volume of mail, individual messages can easily get overlooked. Follow
these simple rules to get your emails noticed and acted upon.
1.

Don't overcommunicate by email.

2.

Make good use of subject lines.

3.

Keep messages clear and brief.

4.

Be polite.

5.

Check your tone.

6.

Proofread.

1. Don't Overcommunicate by Email

One of the biggest sources of stress at work is the sheer volume of emails
that people receive. So, before you begin writing an email, ask yourself: "Is
this really necessary?"

As part of this, you should use the phone or IM to deal with questions that are
likely to need some back-and-forth discussion. Use our Communications
Planning Tool to identify the channels that are best for different types of
message.
Also, email is not as secure as you might want it to be, particularly as people
may forward emails without thinking to delete the conversation history. So
avoid sharing sensitive or personal information in an email, and don't write
about anything that you, or the subject of your email, wouldn't like to see
plastered on a billboard by your office.
Whenever possible, deliver bad news in person. This helps you to
communicate with empathy, compassion, and understanding, and to make
amends if your message has been taken the wrong way.

2. Make Good Use of Subject Lines

A newspaper headline has two functions: it grabs your attention, and it
summarizes the article, so that you can decide whether to read it or not. The
subject line of your email message should do the same thing.
A blank subject line is more likely to be overlooked or rejected as "spam," so
always use a few well-chosen words to tell the recipient what the email is
about.
You may want to include the date in the subject line if your message is one of
a regular series of emails, such as a weekly project report. For a message
that needs a response, you might also want to include a call to action, such as
"Please reply by November 7."
A well-written subject line like the one below delivers the most important
information, without the recipient even having to open the email. This serves
as a prompt that reminds recipients about your meeting every time they
glance at their inbox.
Bad Example

Good Example

Subject: Meeting

Subject: PASS Process Meeting

Bad Example

Good Example
- 10 a.m. February 25, 2014

If you have a very short message to convey, and you can fit the whole thing
into the subject line, use "EOM" (End of Message) to let recipients know that
they don't need to open the email to get all the information that they need.
Example
Subject: Could you please send the February sales report?
Thanks! EOM
(Of course, this is only useful if recipients know what "EOM" means.)

3. Keep Messages Clear and Brief

Emails, like traditional business letters, need to be clear and concise. Keep
your sentences short and to the point. The body of the email should be direct
and informative, and it should contain all pertinent information. See our article
on writing skills for guidance on communicating clearly in writing.
Unlike traditional letters, however, it costs no more to send several emails
than it does to send just one. So, if you need to communicate with someone
about a number of different topics, consider writing a separate email for each
one. This makes your message clearer, and it allows your correspondent to
reply to one topic at a time.
Bad Example

Good Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales

Report

Subject: Revisions For Sales

Bad Example

Good Example

Hi Jackie,

Report

Thanks for sending that report

last week. I read it yesterday,
and I feel that Chapter 2 needs
more specific information
about our sales figures. I also
felt that the tone could be
more formal.

Hi Jackie,

Also, I wanted to let you know

that I've scheduled a meeting
with the PR department for
this Friday regarding the new
ad campaign. It's at 11:00
a.m. and will be in the small
conference room.

I also felt that the tone could

be more formal.

Please let me know if you can

make that time.
Thanks!
Monica

Thanks for sending that report

last week. I read it yesterday,
and I feel that Chapter 2 needs
more specific information
about our sales figures.

Could you amend it with these

comments in mind?
Thanks for your hard work on
this!
Monica
(Monica then follows this up
with a separate email about
the PR department meeting.)

It's important to find balance here. You don't want to bombard someone with
emails, and it makes sense to combine several, related, points into one email.
When this happens, keep things simple with numbered paragraphs or
bullet points, and consider "chunking" information into small, wellorganized units to make it easier to digest.
Notice, too, that in the good example above, Monica specified what she
wanted Jackie to do (in this case, amend the report). If you make it easy for
people to see what you want, there's a better chance that they will give you
this.

4. Be Polite
People often think that emails can be less formal than traditional letters. But
the messages you send are a reflection of your own professionalism ,
values, and attention to detail, so a certain level of formality is needed.
Unless you're on good terms with someone, avoid informal language,
slang, jargon , and inappropriate abbreviations. Emoticons can be useful for
clarifying your intent, but it's best to use them only with people you know well.
Close your message with "Regards," "Yours sincerely," or "All the best,"
depending on the situation.
Recipients may decide to print emails and share them with others, so always
be polite.

5. Check the Tone

When we meet people face-to-face, we use the other person's body
language , vocal tone, and facial expressions to assess how they feel.
Email robs us of this information, and this means that we can't tell when
people have misunderstood our messages.
Your choice of words, sentence length, punctuation, and capitalization can
easily be misinterpreted without visual and auditory cues. In the first example
below, Emma might think that Harry is frustrated or angry, but, in reality, he
feels fine.
Bad Example

Good Example

Emma,

Hi Emma,

I need your report by 5 p.m.

today or I'll miss my deadline.

Thanks for all your hard work

on that report. Could you
please get your version over to
me by 5 p.m., so I don't miss

Harry

Bad Example

Good Example

my deadline?
Thanks so much!
Harry

Think about how your email "feels" emotionally. If your intentions or emotions
could be misunderstood, find a less ambiguous way to phrase your words.

6. Proofreading
Finally, before you hit "send," take a moment to review your email for spelling,
grammar, and punctuation mistakes. Your email messages are as much a part
of your professional image as the clothes you wear, so it looks bad to send out
a message that contains typos.
As you proofread, pay careful attention to the length of your email. People are
more likely to read short, concise emails than long, rambling ones, so make
sure that your emails are as short as possible, without excluding necessary
information.
Our article on writing skills has tips and strategies that you can use
when proofreading your emails.

Key Points
Most of us spend a significant portion of our day reading
and composing emails. But the messages we send can be
confusing to others.

To write effective emails, first ask yourself if you should be

using email at all. Sometimes, it might be better to pick up
the phone.
Make your emails concise and to the point. Only send them
to the people who really need to see them, and be clear
about what you would like the recipient to do next.
Remember that your emails are a reflection of your
professionalism, values, and attention to detail. Try to
imagine how others might interpret the tone of your
message. Be polite, and always proofread what you have
written before you click "send."

1. Write a meaningful subject line.

Before you hit send, take a moment to write a subject line that accurately describes the content, giving
your reader a concrete reason to open your message.
Email is different from text messaging. In a text message conversation, two parties expect to engage in
multiple, rapid back-and-forth exchanges, asking for clarification and providing corrections when
necessary. Generally, you are texting somebody you already know well, about a shared interest, and the
subject of the conversation will change as your time together progresses.
But email is part of most peoples work routine. Most professionals who get 20 or 50 or 200 emails a day
do not want to engage in a leisurely back-and-forth; they want to clear out their inbox and move on to their
next task.
If your subject line is vague or even worse, if its blank you have missed your first opportunity to
inform or persuade your reader.
Remember your message is not the only one in your recipients mailbox. A clear subject line will help a
busy professional to decide that your email is worthwhile.

Subject: [Blank]

If you dont include a subject line, you are suggesting that your name in the From line is all your
priority. That could come across as arrogant, or at the very least, thoughtless. A well-chosen subje
reader.

Subject: Important! Read Immediately!!

What is important to you may not be important to your reader. Rather than brashly announcing th
informative headline that actually communicates at least the core of what you feel is so important

Subject: Quick question.

If the question is quick, why not just ask it in the subject line? This subject line is hardly useful.

Subject: Follow-up about Friday

Fractionally better provided that the recipient remembers why a follow-up was necessary.

Subject: That file you requested.

If youre confident your recipient will recognize your email address, and really is expecting a file fr
email users get scads of virus-laden spam with vague titles like this. The more specific you are, th
through.

Subject: 10 confirmed for Friday will we need a larger room?

Upon reading this revised, informative subject line, the recipient immediately starts thinking abou
open the email.

2. Keep the message focused.

Why are you writing? Are you responding to a request? Apologizing for an error on your part? Asking for
the recipient to take some action for you?

Purpose: Any textbook on business and professional writing will include examples
of complaint and adjustment letters, proposal letters, progress reports, application

letters, and so forth.

Directness: You probably dont need to open with Dear Ms. Jones, engage in
personal chit-chat, and close with Yours Truly. (If you really want to be that formal,

send a letter on paper instead.)

Organization: Readers will often get partway through a complex message, hit
reply as soon as they have something to contribute, and forget to read the rest.
Thats human nature.

Number your points in more complex message. (Start with a clear

statement of how many parts there are to your message.)

Split unrelated points into separate, purposeful emails.

If you send all your employees a message that only relates to some of
them, a lot of people will waste time reading the whole thing, in order to

determine whether any part of it applies to them.

Other people will give up as soon as they find any detail that does not

apply to them. (Again, this is human nature.)

Politeness: Please and thank-you are still important, but wordiness wastes your
readers time (which is rude).

Indirect and wasteful: Dearest Arnold: I would be very much obliged

if, at your earliest convenience, you could send me the current password for the
website. I look forward to your response. Have a nice day! Yours Truly,
Philomena.

Blunt to the point of rudeness: Need the password for the

website. (If you get a message like this, you might assume the sender trusts you
and really needs your help; however, if you send a message like this, you might
appear needy and panicky. Is that how you want to come across? Think about it.)

Urgent, yet polite: Site is down, but I cant troubleshoot without the
new password. Do you know it?

To help your reader focus on your message: keep your text readable.

Proofread, especially when your message asks your recipient to do work for you. Allcaps comes across as shouting, and no-caps makes you look like a lazy teenager.
Regardless of your intention, people will respond accordingly.

If you are in middle school, a gushing statement thx 4 ur help 2day ur gr8!

may make a busy professional smile or shudder.

Often, the sweetness of the gesture wont be enough. u want ur prof r ur boss
2 think u cant spl? LOL ;-)

Write short paragraphs, separated by blank lines. Most people find unbroken blocks
of text boring, or even intimidating. Take the time to format your message for the

ease of your reader.

Avoid fancy typefaces. Dont depend upon bold font or large size to add nuances.
Your recipients email reader may not have all the features that yours does. In a
pinch, use asterisks to show *emphasis*.

3. Avoid attachments.

Rather than forcing you 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.

To: All 1000 Employees

From: Eager Edgar
Subject: A helpful book everyone should read

Hello, everyone. Ive attached a PDF that I think youll all find very useful. This is the third time I s
207, so Ive sent the whole thing again. Since some of you noted that the large file size makes it a
document. Let me know what you think!Attachments:

Big Honking File.pdf (356MB)

BHF Cover.pdf (25MB)

BHF Chapter 1.pdf (35MB)

[ ]

(Okay, raise your hands how many of us would delete the above message immediately, without

To: Bessie Professional

From: Morris Ponsybil
Subject: Email tips a subject for an office workshop?
Bessie, I came across some tips on streamlining professional communications. Has anyone volunt
if youd like me to run a little seminar (2o minutes?) on using email effectively.Below, Ill paste the
want it.Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.

Write a meaningful subject line.

Keep the message focused and readable.
Avoid attachments.
[]

Recognize that attachments

consume bandwidth (do you want your recipient to ignore your request so as to avoid

paying for a mobile download?)

can carry viruses

dont always translate correctly for people who read their email on portable devices.

may require your recipient to have certain software installed (such as Microsoft
Publisher or Apples Pages)

4. Identify yourself clearly.

If you telephoned someone outside your closest circle, someone who probably wouldnt recognize your
voice, you would probably say something like Hello, Ms. Wordsworth, this is Sally Griffin. A formal Dear
Ms. Wordsworth salutation is not necessary for routine workplace communication.
When we send text messages to our friends, we expect a lot of back-and-forth. But professionals who use
email dont enjoy getting a cryptic message from an email address they dont recognize.
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.
To: Professor Blinderson
From: FuZzYkItTy2000@hotmail.com
Subject: [Blank]Yo goin 2 miss class whats the homework

(Professor Blinderson will probably reply, Please let me know your name and which class youre i
address FuZzYkItTy2000@hotmail.com.)

To: Professor Blinderson

From: m.ponsybil@gmail.com
Subject: EL227 Absence, Oct 10Hello, Prof. Blinderson. This is Morris Ponsybil, from EL227 section
advanced to the playoffs, so Im going to be out of town on the 10th.According to the syllabus, it l
Chapter 10. May I email you my Chapter 10 discussion questions before I leave town? And could I
the paper? Ive asked Cheryl Jones to take notes for me.
Thank you very much. Ill see you in class tomorrow.

(If you are asking the other person to do you a favor, providing the right information will give him
Ponsybil shows his professor he cares enough about the class to propose a solution to the problem

When contacting someone cold, always include your name, occupation, and any other important
identification information in the first few sentences.
If you are following up on a face-to-face contact, you might appear too timid if you assume your recipient
doesnt remember you; but you can drop casual hints to jog their memory: I enjoyed talking with you
about PDAs in the elevator the other day.
Every fall, I get emails from bad_boy2315@yahoo.com or FuZzYkItTy2000@hotmail.com who ask a
question about class and dont sign their real names.
While formal phrases such as Dear Professor Sneedlewood and Sincerely Yours, are unnecessary in
email, when contacting someone outside your own organization, you should write a signature line that
includes your full name and at least a link to a blog or online profile page (something that does not require
your recipient to log in first).

5. Be kind. Dont flame.

Think before you click Send.
If you find yourself writing in anger, save a draft, go get a cup of coffee, and imagine that tomorrow
morning someone has taped your email outside your door. Would your associates and friends be shocked
by your language or attitude?
Or would they be impressed by how you kept your cool, how you ignored the bait when your
correspondent stooped to personal attacks, and how you carefully explained your position (or admitted
your error, or asked for a reconsideration, etc.).
Dont pour gasoline on a fire without carefully weighing the consequences. Will you have to work with this
person for the rest of the semester? Do you want a copy of your bitter screed to surface years from now,
when you want a letter of recommendation or youre up for promotion?
@!$% &*@!! &(*!

Go ahead write it, revise it, liven it up with traditional Lebanese curses, print it out, throw darts
order to get it out of your system. Just dont hit Send while youre still angry.

From: Clair Haddad

To: Ann O. Ying
Subject: Re: Ongoing Problems with ProjectIm not sure how to respond, since last week you told S
Wednesdays workshop. I can CC Sue in on this thread if you like, since shes the one who will hav
you my copies of the manual, or we can look into shifting the work to someone else. Let me know

From: Ann O. Ying

I tried all morning to get in touch with you. Couldnt you find a few minutes in between meetings t
and Im sorry if this is last-minute, but Ive never done this before and I think the least you could d

If your recipient has just lambasted you with an angry message, rather than reply with a point-bywhich

1. casually invokes the name of someone the angry correspondent is likely to respect (in orde
developed) and
2. refocuses the conversation on solutions (in this conversation, Ann has already dug herself

6. Proofread.
If you are asking someone else to do work for you, take the time to make your message look
professional.
While your spell checker wont catch every mistake, at the very least it will catch a few typos. If you are
sending a message that will be read by someone higher up on the chain of command (a superior or
professor, for instance), or if youre about to mass-mail dozens or thousands of people, take an extra
minute or two before you hit send. Show a draft to a close associate, in order to see whether it actually
makes sense.

7. Dont assume privacy.

Unless you are Donald Trump, praise in public, and criticize in private. Dont send anything
over email that you wouldnt want posted with your name attached in the break room.
Email is not secure. Just as random pedestrians could reach into a physical mailbox and intercept
envelopes, a curious hacker, a malicious criminal, and your IT department can probably read any and all
email messages in your work account.
If you stretch the truth in an email (downplaying a problem, leaving out an important detail, etc.), youre
creating a written record that your recipient can (and will) use to determine whether

you are uninformed about the truth

you are informed but deliberately misrepresenting the truth

your confused and conflicting emails mean you arent a reliable source for
determining the truth

8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations.

When you are writing to a friend or a close colleague, it is OK to use smilies :-) , abbreviations (IIRC for
if I recall correctly, LOL for laughing out loud, etc.) and nonstandard punctuation and spelling (like that
found in instant messaging or chat rooms).

These linguistic shortcuts are generally signs of friendly intimacy, like sharing cold pizza with a family
friend. If you tried to share that same cold pizza with a first date, or a visiting dignitary, you would give off
the impression that you did not really care about the meeting. By the same token, dont use informal
language when your reader expects a more formal approach.
Always know the situation, and write accordingly.

9. Respond Promptly.
If you want to appear professional and courteous, make yourself available to your online correspondents.
Even if your reply is, Sorry, Im too busy to help you now, at least your correspondent wont be waiting in
vain for your reply.

10. Show Respect and Restraint

Many a flame war has been started by someone who hit reply all instead of reply.
While most people know that email is not private, it is good form to ask the sender before forwarding a
personal message. If someone emails you a request, it is perfectly acceptable to forward the request to a
person who can help but forwarding a message in order to ridicule the sender is tacky.
Use BCC instead of CC when sending sensitive information to large groups. (For example, a professor
sending a bulk message to students who are in danger of failing, or an employer telling unsuccessful
applicants that a position is no longer open.) The name of everyone in the CC list goes out with the
message, but the names of people on the BCC list (blind carbon copy) are hidden. Put your own name
in the To box if your mail editor doesnt like the blank space.
Be tolerant of other peoples etiquette blunders. If you think youve been insulted, quote the line back to
your sender and add a neutral comment such as, Im not sure how to interpret this could you
elaborate?
Sometimes Email is Too Fast!
A colleague once asked me for help, and then almost immediately sent a follow-up informing
me she had solved the problem on her own.
But before reading her second message, I replied at length to the first. Once I learned that
there was no need for any reply, I worried that my response would seem pompous, so I
followed up with a quick apology:
Should have paid closer attention to my email.

What I meant to say was [I] should have looked more carefully at my[list of incoming] email
[before replying], but I could tell from my colleagues terse reply that she had interpreted it
as if I was criticizing her.
If I hadnt responded so quickly to the first message, I would have saved myself the time I
spent writing a long answer to an obsolete question. If I hadnt responded so quickly to the
second message, I might not have alienated the person I had been so eager to help. DGJ