Netiquette: Business Email and Business Writing

Let’s talk about Business Email and Business Writing

“Monique, Sarah is too long-winded in her emails and she needs to be able to get to the point!” A business leader said this to me in our monthly update for his employees being coached on effective communication skills.

If you’re new to the world of business writing, or have been in the industry for a while and still have trouble with your emails, this is for you.

Understanding how to make your emails a success is hugely influenced by your company’s culture, and audience. Some leaders want a longer, more in-depth email. Others want a shorter, more concise version. Some prefer to have no emojis at all in email, while others feel too much formality is stiff.

Regardless of what your audience requires, business emails are an essential part of running a business and strengthening your brand. The way you write influences how people perceive you.

But, it can be tough to write good emails if you don’t know what to do. It can feel like there are so many things that need to be written in any one email: from a formal greeting to a personalized thank-you note, from a professional introduction introducing your company and its products to the attention-grabbing subject that gets readers excited about reading your message.

It’s not just about getting your message across, but it also goes hand-in-hand with your overall goal of being a successful business professional.

Writing business emails gets better with intentional practice. It can be a little intimidating at first, but you’ll feel confident once you understand general dos and don’ts.

Here are some tips for making sure that your emails sound professional and friendly:

1. Use an active voice. Use words like “I,” “you,” and “we” instead of “he,” “she,” or “it.” This makes it sound more personal, which makes people feel more comfortable reading the email.
2. Be clear and concise. Don’t ramble on about irrelevant details—truly, just get to the point. Many things can be misconstrued in email and the more words you add, the higher the chance for confusion and misinterpretation.

   3. Be brief, but detailed enough! I know this is a tricky one because I just told you to be concise, but you don’t want to leave anyone hanging in suspense with what you want or need them to do. This is not the time to be a private detective. Make your ask clear.

A good rule of thumb is to keep each paragraph under three sentences long—and if there’s something especially important or complicated happening in one paragraph, break it up into multiple paragraphs.

4. Proofread and edit! No matter how many times you read over your email, mistakes will still happen—so it’s important to proofread it before sending it off. This is especially true if you’re writing in a rush; when we’re under pressure, our minds tend to skip over words or make typos that wouldn’t normally happen!
5. Don’t use any strange formatting or colors when writing business emails; these things distract from the message itself, which should be about what needs to be done or has been agreed upon by all parties involved.
6. Use a clear subject line. Nothing is more frustrating than having to figure out the purpose of an email by reading it. The subject line is a great way to leverage clarity. If you want feedback, or are providing an update, use the subject line to communicate clearly from the start.

And lastly, have you ever been in a meeting, and someone just goes ahead and starts typing out an email for everyone on the spot?

That’s the worst because many details are often missing in these shorthand notes. If you’re writing business emails, you need to take extra care to make sure they are understandable.

Writing a business email is a skill that every business professional should master.

Would you like to learn more about Clear Communication Solutions? Visit the media page, or if you’d like to book a consult for private coaching, contact me today.