How to Write Clear and Professional Emails

TO: SteveR@mosaic.com

FROM:   DemetriW@mosaic.com

SUBJECT:  How to Write Clear and Professional Emails

Dear Steve,

I wanted to take a moment to give you a few tips to help you write more clear and professional email communications.  I have listed some things below to improve the next correspondence you have via email.

1. Subject line – You need a subject line that clearly states what your email is about.

Ex. You left yours “unspecified”

2.  Write clear and concise – Make emails short and to-the-point to reduce time spent on email.  You can do this by knowing your purpose.  Ask yourself:  Why am I sending this?  What do I need from the recipient?  Is this email necessary?

Ex. “Pursuant to our conversation yesterday on the telephone, enclosed please find the needed sales figure for the past quarter of the current year. It should be noted that the figures presented herein include numbers on the most recent sales data for this quarter minus this past week prior to the official ending of the quarter.”

Could read:  Here are the sales figures from last quarter as you requested. The figures shown are for this quarter with the exception of last week.

3.  Limit yourself to five sentences – Use enough sentences to say what you need and no more.

4.  Use short words, sentences, and paragraphs – This makes your email easy to read.

Ex.  “Should you have any further questions on this important and high priority issue that I need to take into consideration, please don’t hesitate to contact me about your concerns at your earliest convenience so that we can discuss them at length until both parties can reach an agreed upon resolution.”

Could read:  If you have any further questions and/or concerns, please let me know.

5.  Proofread your email – After you’re done read you email out loud to yourself to ensure it’s clear and concise, and to catch any grammatical errors.

Ex.  “At the request of the conversation that occurred with you, I have taken the liberty to commence prioritizing the furniture peaces that seemed to have the most impressive routine sales during the initial and final weeks’ of the sales quarter.”

Could read:  I have arranged the furniture pieces according to the most sold during the initial and final weeks of the quarter.

Simply proofreading your message would have caught this spelling error - “Peaces” should be “pieces.”

These are just a few friendly tips to get you started.  If you need any assistance just give me a call.