Understanding how to write good emails is a crucial skill, especially for work. Whether you own a small business or are self-employed, you are likely to handle countless emails every day.
You may use emails as your primary method of communication with other businesses and customers. It might seem like a simple task to write an email, but people often suffer from miscommunication.
Here are a few tips that can help!
1. Be Precise
In email communication, you need to be specific with what you're saying. A simple email such as "I need this done by tomorrow." won't suffice if you are messaging an employee.
Even though your employees should understand most of what you say, why take the risk of miscommunication when you can be direct instead?
2. Structure Your Email Properly
Optimizing the Subject Line
All aspects of your email, from the subject line to the body, should be optimized.
You receive countless emails each day, and some of them tend to stand out, right? Usually, those are the ones with an optimized subject line. The subject line of your email should be relevant to the email's overall subject.
When we don't recognize the subject line, or it seems irrelevant, we simply delete the email before reading it. To avoid this, make sure your subject line is structured correctly.
Email Body
Begin your email with a greeting. It is important to be formal when communicating with clients and business partners. It's perfectly fine to use informal speech when appropriate, but it is better to use formal speech in most cases.
What is the question or action you are trying to convey? It is good to get right to the point after greetings. Don't hesitate to be direct.
Closing
The ending of your email is the last thing your customers or business partners are going to read. This can influence whether they give you a response or not.
Try to end the email like you would in a conversation. You will stand a better chance of receiving a positive response if you are friendly, professional, and clear with your call-to-action.
Sending an Attachment
If you have a large attachment that you want to send, you shouldn’t do that via email. Instead, upload the file to a file-sharing service and send a link instead. This looks a lot more professional.
3. Edit and Proofread!
When preparing your email, try to imagine everyone in the company will read it. Emails are fast to create, but they can leave a lasting impression, so be sure to review your work before you click Send.
There are many free online tools that can help you ensure that your work is well-written and grammatically correct. It includes sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, etc.
Grammarly
Grammarly will analyze a piece of text that you wrote and check for any grammatical errors. You can install it as a browser extension, and thus you have access to it no matter which website you are using.
For example, Grammarly can check your grammar as you type your email on Gmail or other email sites.
Grammarly is available for free, but it also has a premium version. Its free version does a good job at detecting basic and advanced grammar and punctuation errors, such as commas, run-on sentences, alliteration, fragments, etc.
It will also check for spelling errors, plagiarism, and writing style. The premium version of Grammarly adds an extra touch to everything the free version offers. However, the premium Grammarly is mostly intended for those who plan on publishing articles.
Hemingway Editor
The Hemingway Editor is a free online tool that will help you improve your writing style. The platform is ideal for editing short pieces, such as emails.
In addition, the Hemingway Editor will encourage you to be clear and direct in your writing, even if you write long articles with complex sentences. You can use this editor to assess the complexity and readability of your work.
Microsoft Word and Other Editing Tools
Did you know that Microsoft Word has great proofing options? When you open Microsoft Word, click on File > Options > Proofing. You can choose the AutoCorrect and spelling options you want Microsoft Word to check.
In addition, Microsoft also provides Microsoft Editor, a browser extension that can help you check your documents for grammar mistakes, style, and more.
The great thing about editing your emails in Microsoft Word is that the edit/formatting translates great to some email apps/sites, such as Gmail or Outlook.
Today, most popular email providers will have integrated editing options. A lot of them will check for grammar mistakes as well. Other than Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook also have formatting options for emails.
Learn How to Structure a Perfect Email
Most of us spend a significant portion of the day composing and reading emails. A lot of the time, these emails can be confusing to others. The tips mentioned above should help you write concise, clear, and easy-to-understand emails.
Your emails are a reflection of your professionalism, attention to detail, and values. So make sure to keep in mind how others might interpret the tone of your email.