1. Academic Writing Workshop
July 31, 2012

2. Agenda Introductions T-square Set-up Syllabus How to write an Email
Practice writing/feedback

3. Introductions Name What is your major?
What is something interesting you have done?

4. Syllabus

5. Practice
You are not feeling well today and you have a fever. You do not think you will be able to make it to dinner with your friend tonight. Write an to him or her to cancel.

6. Practice
I am going to give you some situations, I want you to try to write an following the situation.

7. Practice
You are very confused about the registration process for your classes at GA Tech. Send an to the secretary Kathy Williams to ask to meet with her and talk about the problems you are having.

8. Practice
You are not feeling well today and you have a fever. You do not think you will be able to make it to your 10am class. You are worried about not being able to turn in an assignment in class. Write an to you’re instructor and tell him/her that you can’t make it.

12. Introduction to
You just wrote three different s, did you change the way you wrote each of them? If so what differences were there?

13. CC/BCC What do these mean? CC (stands for Carbon Copy)
This means that you are just copying someone in that . The person will be able to see the entire and who else it was sent to.
BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)
If you use the BCC line, again, all the recipients will receive a copy of the . However, names and addresses in the BCC line are not visible on the message.
Use this if you are sending an to a large group of people (just so not everyone has to see the whole list).
In addition, privacy matters may call for BCC mailing.

14. Subject Line
The subject line of the is typically what tells the reader if the is important or not
Write something here that clearly states your purpose
Examples
CHM 101 Section 12 question
Question about the Exam

15. Formality and Greeting
can be formal or informal, and your greeting will vary according to the tone.
if you are writing to someone you haven’t met, if you are making a cold contact, or sending a mass asking people to do something, then you are writing to people you don’t know and should send a formal .
if you send a formal , you should use a greeting like you would in a business letter. You would say “Dear So-and- So,” and the greeting should be followed by a colon.

16. Greetings Formal Informal but sometimes ok Avoid Dear Dr. Smith
Hi Dr. Polio
Avoid
Hey
Hey Teacher

17. Identify Yourself
Identify yourself and get to your point early in the message,
readers don’t read messages carefully
Therefore you need to get the readers attention and get to your point while they are paying attention
if you’re writing to someone you don’t know, you should include your name, occupation, and any other important identification information in the first couple of sentences.

18. Format/tone maintain an appropriate, professional tone.
This is especially important when you are making a cold contact, corresponding with a superior or writing to someone you don’t know well
However, it is also important to be professional when interacting with other employees whose respect you want.
You should also follow standards like skipping lines between paragraphs.
Avoid special typeface features like boldface, italics, and color because a lot of programs only display the message in simple text format.
Of course, avoid using all caps – this reads as SHOUTING.

19. Friends
For a friend or a close colleague, it is OK to use smiley codes or abbreviations like LOL for “laughing out loud."
you can also use nonstandard punctuation and spelling like you find in instant messaging or chat rooms.
ONLY use these with colleagues you know very well.
For business purposes, keep to appropriate, professional standards.

20. Links If you use a link in an email make sure it works
Don’t add extra punctuation
Include the whole thing
The recipient should be able to click on the link and go to the webpage.

21. Signature make a professional signature.
Most programs now automatically attach a signature to an outgoing .
Format your signature file to include your name and job title
Avoid snappy quotes or slogan unless they are appropriate for your work.

22. Extra Tips Limit the length of your email
Try to keep it to one screen, if possible
make your a series of small paragraphs rather than one or two long ones.
You will see examples of this later
If you have a series of points or questions it helps to number them
This goes back to the point about people not always reading the whole , the shorter the the more they will read

23. Attachments Try to limit you’re use of attachments
They take up memory
Get lost
Fail to open
Take extra time
If you are only sending a small part of something paste it into the
If you do attach a large item name it appropriately and reference it early in the

24. Proofread
After you write your message, stop and reread it. Check spelling, grammar and flow carefully.
Your message will represent you to its recipients, so be sure it is competent and accurate.

25. Privacy Remember that emails are easy to forward or copy
They are almost always saved
Never put anything in an that you wouldn’t be willing to say publicly.

26. Practice
You are confused about something I talked about today and you would like to meet me to talk about it. Send me an about your problem.
You are not feeling well and you cannot make it to class today. Send an to me.

27. Practice
You need to ask a group of strangers to help you with a project for your class. Write an to them.

28. Practice
You need to your thesis advisor to find out what the deadline to turn in your proposal is. You also want to meet with her before you turn it in.

29. Thursday
We will be talking about audience, style, and organization

30. Homework
Read the article and think about the questions I gave you we will discuss these and practice using what you learned next time.
I will post this powerpoint on t-square and I will bring a printed out handout on Thursday.