1. Top Ten Tips, Tricks, and Peeves in Email Communication
Lindsay Henning
BuCS

2. What are your pet peeves…
Hmmm?

3. Irritants

4. What are your irritants…
OMG/LOL
Smiley faces
Spelling/Grammatical Errors
Going AWOL w/o Auto reply
Kisses
Terms of Endearment
Cheesiness
WE have become a very friendly nation but it can all be very insincere — and even rather annoying.
Informality is bad manners and a business should be structured in the same way you would a written letter.
Here are the irritants that drive professionals mad — and why they are so aggravating:
OMG/LOL: Fifty per cent find these abbreviations, as well as phrases such as “totes amaze”, grating, the poll found.
It’s totes not acceptable because a lot of people won’t understand you, and it's too friendly. You’re at work — you should sound professional.
SMILEY FACES: 44 per cent say that they are irritating and unprofessional.
Unprofessional ... smiley faces
Smiley faces are a bit One or two occasionally to people you know very well are fine, but not in workplace s. It’s over-familiar and a tad childish.
SPELLING OR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS: Two-thirds say they lose faith in the sender when they spot these.
When you receive something riddled with mistakes it is completely unforgivable. It looks like you haven’t made an effort and that reflects very badly. Who wants to do business with someone who’s lazy?
GOING AWOL: 58 per cent say they will not do business with people who go away without leaving an “out of office” message.
My personal bugbear with these messages is, “I will be away until Tuesday”. What Tuesday? They should be specific. Put: “I will be away until Tuesday the ?? of whatever”. And you should leave a contact number of a colleague for urgent inquiries.
KISSES: XXXs are loathed by a huge 66 per cent. After all, we are still British, and we don’t like these overt displays of affection.
TERMS OF ENDEARMENT: “Honey”, “dear” and so on annoy 54 per cent of us.
They are not appropriate and can come across as patronising.
I work in the media and everyone is “darling” — but that’s fine because nobody can remember anyone’s name.
CHEESINESS: Corny lines such as “Happy Friday” annoy 28 per cent.
Again, it’s thoughtless and unprofessional — these people are not your friends, they are your clients.
Read more:

5. To: CC: BCC:

6. Is there a difference? TO: CC: BCC:
As is the prevalent form of communication for many web workers, it’s gotten a lot of attention: how to handle your , how to empty your inbox, etiquette, and more.
But perhaps not enough time is spent learning about how to communicate with . And more specifically, how to communicate clearly and concisely, two crucial aspects of communication that are often overlooked.
How many times have you received a rambling and incoherent ? How many times have you hit “Delete” because you have no idea what the person wants and no time to sort through the long message?
The truth is that people don’t have time for long s, and they don’t have time to try to find out exactly what you want. You have to tell them, in as short an as possible.
Misunderstandings are also a problem, because of the nature of . People are often ambiguous, and their messages are interpreted differently than they intended, leading to a waste of time and energy.
Communicate clearly and concisely with the following rules.
1. Use the minimum amount of sentences. I’ve been using the 5-sentence rule, but you can use more if needed. The question is: how many sentences are needed to communicate what you’re trying to communicate? Or how few sentences can you get away with. Cut it to that number, and no more. That ensures that you’re not wasting the time of the recipient, and that your actually gets read (people tend to put off reading longer ones, and might even delete them).
2. State what you want right away. Don’t write a long introduction, telling your life story, or any story for that matter. People aren’t interested. They just want to know what you want. So state that, in the first sentence. Skip the niceties. Don’t make the recipient wade through 10 paragraphs to find what action is needed for the .
3. Write about only one thing. There have been numerous times when I read an , saw the action needed, and went and did it … only to find out that three other things were also needed to respond to the . I’ve also responded to the first part of an and not to others, just because I didn’t have enough time.
If you write about multiple things, with multiple requests, you do two things: 1) make it likely that your actually won’t be read or acted on; and 2) make it likely that even if it is acted on or responded to, the recipient will only do one of those things.
Instead, stick to one subject, with one request. Once that’s done, you can send a second one, but don’t overwhelm the recipient if at all possible.
4. Leave out the humor and emotions. These don’t come across well in an . Even if you use emoticons. There’s just no way to express tone, inflection, etc. … and there’s no way to know if the recipient understands that you’re joking. If you’re communicating in person, you can see that the person didn’t understand the humor, and say, “I was only joking!” But not in .
So, unless you know the person well, and you know they’ll understand that you’re joking, leave out humor. It’s a risk that you don’t want to take.
5. Use “If … then” statements. As is a back-and-forth method of communicating, and it can take a day or more for a response (in some cases), you want to limit the number of times a message has to go back and forth. To do that, use “if … then” statements, anticipating the possible responses to your question.
For example, if you want to know if a person has received a response to an inquiry, instead of asking if they’ve received a response, and then waiting for a reply, and then sending another based on that reply, try doing it all in one
“Have you received a response from Mr. X yet? If so, please finish the report by Tuesday and it to me. If not, can you follow up today and let me know the response?”
By anticipating the possible responses, and giving a desired action for each possible response, you’re cutting a lot of wasted back-and-forth time.
6. Review for ambiguity, clarity. Once you’ve written an , take a few seconds to read over it before pressing the Send button. Read it as if you were an outsider — how clear it it? Are there any ambiguous statements that could be interpreted the wrong way? If so, clarify.
7. Revise for conciseness. As you review, also see if there is a way you can shorten the , remove words or sentences or even paragraphs. Leave nothing but the essential message you’re trying to communicate.

7. Clear and Concise…

8. What does that mean… Lead with your main point Cut the jargon
Use short, direct sentences
Read it aloud
Use spell check
Don’t overuse spell check
Lead with your main point: If you were forced to boil down your to one or two sentences, what would they say? Always start by writing your main point. Then elaborate as necessary.
Cut the jargon: You and your office mates might talk to each other about the current state of your bandwidth, but in writing it’s much more clear and concise to say “My schedule is full.”
Use short, direct sentences: You’ll likely remember this rule from grammar school: Put the subject at the beginning of your sentence. So instead of, “A new meeting date was set by the steering committee,” write, “The steering committee set a new meeting date.” Also, watch out for sentences that go on for three or more lines. Shorter sentences are much easier to read.
Read it aloud: When you’re getting ready to send an important communication, you’ll catch mistakes and other problems more easily if you read it aloud. If something trips you up or doesn’t make sense as you’re reading, rewrite until it’s clear.
Use spell check: Seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many people skip this crucial step.
Don’t overuse spell check: Meaning, don’t assume spell check is going to catch all of your mistakes. Depending on the program you’re using, you may not be alerted if you wrote “there” when you really meant “their.” And spell check certainly won’t help you if you addressed your client as “Kate,” though she actually spells her name “Cate.”

9. 7 Rules for Communicating Clearly and Concisely in Email
Use the minimum amount of sentences
State what you want right away
Write about only one thing
Leave out the humor and emotions
Use “If…then” statements
Review for ambiguity, clarity
Revise for conciseness
As is the prevalent form of communication for many web workers, it’s gotten a lot of attention: how to handle your , how to empty your inbox, etiquette, and more.
But perhaps not enough time is spent learning about how to communicate with . And more specifically, how to communicate clearly and concisely, two crucial aspects of communication that are often overlooked.
How many times have you received a rambling and incoherent ? How many times have you hit “Delete” because you have no idea what the person wants and no time to sort through the long message?
The truth is that people don’t have time for long s, and they don’t have time to try to find out exactly what you want. You have to tell them, in as short an as possible.
Misunderstandings are also a problem, because of the nature of . People are often ambiguous, and their messages are interpreted differently than they intended, leading to a waste of time and energy.
Communicate clearly and concisely with the following rules.
1. Use the minimum amount of sentences. I’ve been using the 5-sentence rule, but you can use more if needed. The question is: how many sentences are needed to communicate what you’re trying to communicate? Or how few sentences can you get away with. Cut it to that number, and no more. That ensures that you’re not wasting the time of the recipient, and that your actually gets read (people tend to put off reading longer ones, and might even delete them).
2. State what you want right away. Don’t write a long introduction, telling your life story, or any story for that matter. People aren’t interested. They just want to know what you want. So state that, in the first sentence. Skip the niceties. Don’t make the recipient wade through 10 paragraphs to find what action is needed for the .
3. Write about only one thing. There have been numerous times when I read an , saw the action needed, and went and did it … only to find out that three other things were also needed to respond to the . I’ve also responded to the first part of an and not to others, just because I didn’t have enough time.
If you write about multiple things, with multiple requests, you do two things: 1) make it likely that your actually won’t be read or acted on; and 2) make it likely that even if it is acted on or responded to, the recipient will only do one of those things.
Instead, stick to one subject, with one request. Once that’s done, you can send a second one, but don’t overwhelm the recipient if at all possible.
4. Leave out the humor and emotions. These don’t come across well in an . Even if you use emoticons. There’s just no way to express tone, inflection, etc. … and there’s no way to know if the recipient understands that you’re joking. If you’re communicating in person, you can see that the person didn’t understand the humor, and say, “I was only joking!” But not in .
So, unless you know the person well, and you know they’ll understand that you’re joking, leave out humor. It’s a risk that you don’t want to take.
5. Use “If … then” statements. As is a back-and-forth method of communicating, and it can take a day or more for a response (in some cases), you want to limit the number of times a message has to go back and forth. To do that, use “if … then” statements, anticipating the possible responses to your question.
For example, if you want to know if a person has received a response to an inquiry, instead of asking if they’ve received a response, and then waiting for a reply, and then sending another based on that reply, try doing it all in one
“Have you received a response from Mr. X yet? If so, please finish the report by Tuesday and it to me. If not, can you follow up today and let me know the response?”
By anticipating the possible responses, and giving a desired action for each possible response, you’re cutting a lot of wasted back-and-forth time.
6. Review for ambiguity, clarity. Once you’ve written an , take a few seconds to read over it before pressing the Send button. Read it as if you were an outsider — how clear it it? Are there any ambiguous statements that could be interpreted the wrong way? If so, clarify.
7. Revise for conciseness. As you review, also see if there is a way you can shorten the , remove words or sentences or even paragraphs. Leave nothing but the essential message you’re trying to communicate.

10. Use (just) enough words…
Bullets work.
But if the list
Makes no
Sense in that
Format
It doesn’t help your communication…

11. Manage this issue…
Save time and money by getting it right the first time
Don’t make the reader guess your meaning
Use enough words but not wordy
Read and proof before sending

12. Editing and Proofing…

13. What’s wrong with this picture?

14. And this…

15. Etiquette…

16. Email Etiquette… Start Your Message with a Greeting
Send to Appropriate Recipients
Use Descriptive and Meaningful Subject Line
Write Clear and Concise Message
Scan Attachments

17. Email Etiquette… Avoid Using Emoticons 
Avoid Sending Forwards and Inappropriate Jokes
Use Signature
Respond to s in Timely Fashion
Know When to and When to Call

18. First five…
Thou shall use to convey only ideas and factual or logistical information, no emotions.
Thou shall write the topic of your message on the reference or subject line.
Thou shall address the using the name of the intended person.
Thou shall use BCC for s sent to groups.
Thou shall never ever forward a chain letter that states if you do or don’t do something within a certain time, your life will forever be changed.
Thou shall use to convey only ideas and factual or logistical information, not emotions. To express emotions and sentiment, take time for a one-on-one meeting or telephone conversation rather than sending an . The sound, tone, timber, and quality of your voice will help to better communicate your message and avoid misunderstandings.
Thou shall write the topic of your message on the reference or subject line. Always write a succinct, accurate description of what recipients can expect in the body of your e- mail in the subject line. It helps them prioritize their messages and quickly sort them for future reference. It also allows them to easily follow the trail of responses back and forth. If you correspond with the same people on multiple subjects, separate the e- mails by the appropriate topic clearly stated in the reference line.
Thou shall address the using the name of the intended person. Have you ever received a personal note destined for someone else? I did—and it was a love note that made me blush! I read half of it and realized it wasn’t meant for me. Since then, I’m never sure I’m the intended recipient unless I see my name at the top.
Don’t muddy your messages; always address the recipient by name.
Thou shall use “blind copy” for s sent to groups. Avoid sharing names of the whole group via unless it’s a small, closed group such as a Board of Directors or a Club and you know members have previously been given the list of names and addresses. addresses should be kept private.
Thou shall never ever forward a chain letter that states if you do or don’t do something within a certain time, your life will forever be changed. It’s nice to create change for someone but not by using threats. If you really must send the letter to others, remove the threatening language. If you don’t, you will be excommunicated from the hall of good manners.

19. Last five…
Thou shall use ‘delivery receipt notification’ only when it’s imperative that you know if the intended recipient received it.
Thou shall use capitalizations, upper and lower case, and proper punctuation in s as in all other written communications.
Thou shall close your message with heartfelt words that show that the sender is fully present.
Thou shall proofread your messages before sending them.
Thou shall respond to s within 24 hours.
Thou shall use “delivery receipt notification” only when it’s imperative that you know if the intended recipient received it. Don’t create a need to send any unnecessary by using this tool. It can annoy people.
Thou shall use capitalization, upper and lower case, and proper punctuation in s as in all other written communications. Studies have proven that if people read text written in all capital or all lower case letters, it takes much longer to read and understand a message. Use a standard way of writing.
Thou shall close your message with heartfelt words that show that the sender is fully present. Don’t just rely on your automated signature line to close your . Let your recipients know that, indeed, a real person is sending them a message.
Thou shall proofread your messages before sending them. Although can be an informal way to communicate with people, it’s always a good habit to use spell-check and read through your note before hitting “send” so that the message is clear. Sometimes just one missing word can make a difference. “I love your work,” and “I loathe your work,” clearly mean two very different things.
Thou shall respond to s within 24 hours. Even if you cannot yet provide an answer, replying to someone’s within a day lets the sender knows you received it. Sending immediate responses also keeps you organized and up to date on your e- mail correspondence.

20. Top 10 Tips…

21. Let’s build our list…
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22. Thanks for ing…