Comments on: Before You Send That Email

By: Geoff

Geoff — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:10:05 +0000

2) Leaf before you bury yourself in a deep hole….

/coat

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:29:36 +0000

oops….can you provide a check list called “before you post”…I’ll start it.

1) Make sure you are posting on the correct entry.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:28:29 +0000

He should have “branched” out and done some campaign shirts for Giuliani and called them “Rooty”.

By: Ange

Ange — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:49:04 +0000

Great list!! Here are some more:
- Are their unnecessary, annoying, and a high use of ridiculous and lame adjectives that actually just take up wasted space in the lengthy and potentially important email?
- Could the 3 paragraph email be written as bullet points? Or condensed to 1 paragraph? (chances are, if it’s longer than 2 paragraph’s people won’t read it)
- If the “reply to all” has been going on past 3 emails, have you thought about hosting a meeting about the topic? It’s obviously generated conversation…maybe it’s worth talking about it.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:17:01 +0000

Also:

1) Did you check your spelling and grammar? I can’t tell you how many emails I receive with basic mistakes, i.e. “your” vs. “you’re”, “loose” vs. “lose”, etc. Also, if your email is more than a few sentences, use paragraphs!
2) Is your capslock key engaged? I ENJOY FEELING LIKE I AM BEING YELLED AT!
3) If you are writing a formal email, are you using a professional, written voice, as opposed to either a “spoken voice” or informal language? It’s one thing when you have developed a rapport with the person on the other side to throw in the occasional “LOL”, “” or other icon. In my case, I would never send an email to an opposing attorney (I work in insurance), using terms like “cool”. A professional email should be treated with the same effort that you would to writing a professional letter sent via snail mail.
4) Did you remember to enter your name at the bottom? This is especially true if you are replying to a group thread.
5) When responding to an email in which an issue or problem is documented, are you allowing your anger and frustration to guide the content? Are you being sarcastic or cynical? I think we’ve all been there. Email is so instantaneous that we often times will just shoot a response off in anger or frustration. It’s ok to be angry. It’s ok to tell the sender that you are angry or frustrated, but remember to keep it civil.
6) Are you using difficult to read fonts or colors? I’ve actually received work emails in bright pink text on a white background.

Just my 2 cents. Or 6?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:46:42 +0000

You missed what I think is the most important one–”If I had to pay 42 cents to send this email, would I?” That one alone would eliminate 90% of the spam/scam email that circulate around.