6 Must-Read Tips for Writing Friendly AND Professional Emails

6 Must-Read Tips for Writing Friendly AND Professional Emails Last week I had the privilege of presenting a workshop for the staff of a fast-growing digital asset management software company here in Madison. The topic was how to write consistently with the company’s brand, which is friendly, helpful and professional. A big piece of any business communications, of course, is email. How can you write emails that are personable without being too casual? Here are my top 6 email writing dos and donts on how to write email communications that are both friendly AND professional: 1. DO start with a friendly greeting that includes the recipient’s [first] name. There is neuroscience research showing that hearing one’s own name activates parts of the brain that increase attention. I would hazard a guess that people pay more attention when addressed by their name whether in writing or orally. This alone convinces me to use the addressee’s name in every email greeting. (Use the first name except in very formal writing where you might use a full name or a Mr. or Ms. title). What should you put before the name? Sometimes simply the name followed by a comma will do (â€Å"Jane,†), but usually we want to use another word of greeting. â€Å"Hi Jane,† is a common greeting and is widely accepted. â€Å"Hey Jane,† is more familiar and casual. Using â€Å"Dear† could be read as more formal or as more intimate, depending on the context. There’s no right greeting to use except the one that your company agrees is the one most aligned with its brand. In a lengthy email exchange, the person you’re writing to might drop the greeting and simply respond to your message with answers to your questions or responses. Talk to your company about whether you should follow suit. Personally, I rarely write an email that doesn’t include the person’s name at least somewhere (â€Å"That’s a great idea Jane!† or â€Å"Thanks so much Jane!†) Of course, appropriate language and level of formality will also depend on your particular relationship with the person you’re interacting with. When in doubt, check your brand guidelines or ask a colleague or supervisor for direction. 2. DO use emoticons :-O. Emoticons are becoming more and more accepted in business communications and can help with guiding the way a message is read. Emoticons can make a message seem more personal and friendly, so if that’s the tone you’re going for, use them! More neuroscience: Studies have shown that seeing an upright smiley face activates the same part of the brain as seeing a real face! Still, don’t use them unless your company says it’s okay. And know your audience. If you’re communicating with a millennial, emoticons are probably fair game. If your audience is over 70, maybe not. But there are plenty of exceptions to both of these generalizations. Depending on the nature of your business, you might or might not want to use emoticons. They are probably not appropriate for a law practice or government institution for instance, whereas a social media firm might use them frequently. If your industry is somewhere in between, you still might want to refrain from using emoticons in your initial communications. Consider waiting until you’ve established rapport with someone before you start inserting 🙂 s in emails to them. I would recommend sticking to standard happy, sad, and occasionally surprised emoticons, and not pictorialize anger, disgust or love/kisses. That might be going overboard in a professional context. Here are two useful blog articles on the topic: Do emoticons have a place in business communication? and How to Use Emoticons and Emojis in Business Communications. 3. DO write a catchy, informative, spam-word-free subject line. â€Å"What are you doing May 17?† That subject line might get attention from some people, but others might delete it without a second thought, not knowing why they are being asked this question. What about â€Å"Clear your calendar for May 17. [Company] is taking you to dinner†? Sure it’s longer, but I’m inspired to find out more about this dinner. When I first decided to email my LinkedIn contacts and invite them to join my e-list, I used the subject line â€Å"I’ve never done this before, Jane!† A lot of people opened the email. But now so many people are using that subject line, I don’t think it would get much traction. I’ve changed my subject line to â€Å"Where to Find the Best Essay Expert Articles: Your Inbox.† I like this one. It doesn’t hide anything and doesn’t use any tricks. A lot of people open it and sign up for my lists. Be careful to avoid words that will get your email caught in spam filters. â€Å"Free† is a big one. An extensive list can be found in the article Subject Line Spam Trigger Words. There are others. Just google â€Å"email subject line spam words† and you’ll get a lot of good info. 4. DON’T overuse exclamation points! I am guilty myself of overusing these pesky punctuation marks. But they often make things seem less important when we’re trying to make them seem more important. I recommend limiting yourself to one exclamation point per email. You might be surprised how much more powerful your writing becomes. When I was putting my newsletter together, my assistant sent me a draft and I saw an overabundance of exclamation marks. One example was the description of my 8 Most Important Updates for You to Know on LinkedIn – March 2016. The description read: Here is a summary of LinkedIns latest platform updates, from job features to mobile apps and some that are still rolling out! What was the purpose of that exclamation mark? I’m sure I don’t know. Both my assistant and I use them unconsciously and we are starting to catch ourselves and reduce their proliferation. 5. DON’T overuse the word â€Å"please.† The group I presented to was in Wisconsin, a state with a reputation for being â€Å"nice.† So the question came up of whether the word â€Å"please† can be overused in email messages. The answer is yes! People especially tend to overuse the word in awkward phrases like â€Å"Please find attached†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is not language you’d use if you were speaking with someone. Instead, use conversational language: â€Å"I’ve attached the document here† or â€Å"The updated version is attached.† We also frequently say, â€Å"Please let me know if you have any questions.† Here, the â€Å"please† is more natural, so you might choose to use it. But, like the rule with exclamation marks, limit yourself to one â€Å"please† per email. 6. DO reread your emails 3 times before sending. The best way to make sure you’re following the above 5 rules AND that you catch any typos or confusing sentences, is to reread, reread, and reread again. Even those of use who know the best practices and who blog about them (ehhemm†¦.) make some of the errors listed above. As I frequently say, every editor needs an editor. Your writing will be much more professional if you proofread it, saving you time in the long run. So check your work at least 3 times before hitting send. Your recipients (and your boss) will be so grateful that you did.

Awntone Fisher essays

Awntone Fisher essays The film, Antwone Fisher features a boy named Antwone, who find vital comfort and friendship in a psychologist, Dr. Davenport. The movie takes place while Antwone is in the navy. Since, he has trouble getting along with some of his crewmates, Antwone is sent to the naval psychologist. While there, Dr. Davenport discovers bottled emotions and the unforgettable childhood that Antwone experienced. An orphan, Antwone was taken in by the Tates, where he and his two step-bothers were physically abused by Mrs. Tate. Also, Antwone was sexually abused by Nadine, the Tates maid. This abuse had a profound on him, even in his early adult life. He is more apt to take part in physical violence and has trouble expressing feelings and becoming intimate with women. Throughout the movie, Dr. Davenport helps Antwone uncover this past and guides him along to see his future. Antwone almost becomes part of Davenports family, and their relationship inspires him to go back to his hometown and face his terri ble past. As a critic, I give this movie an A-. I think the film was very enjoyable to watch. It taught me personally that a persons past can have a tremendous effect on their emotions and actions later in life. Also, I learned that just because their past was bad, doesnt mean their future has to be too. My favorite aspect of the movie was the amazing relationship formed by Dr. Davenport and Antwone. Dr. Davenport was an incredible psychologist who taught Antwone lessons he will never forget. I would recommend this movie to any of my friends because it is funny, insightful, and very easy to watch. I enjoyed it very much and I would watch it any time. ...

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Leadership - Essay Example These are: first belief (B1) signifies the relationship between effort and performance; the second deals with the relationship between performance and outcomes (B2); and third (B3) with the relationship between outcomes and satisfaction. B1 is the perception and belief of the employee whether effort will lead to success or not; a perception of the employee if the work given is hard to perform. B2 deals with employee’s belief whether his performance will result to outcomes. B3 is the employee’s belief as to the satisfaction of his outcomes, and how favorably the outcomes will be. B. Application of the Expectancy Theory of Motivation In scenario, the employees were not motivated to work given the new production process. Some of them do not seem to put forth any effort to master the process, and some just do not exert much effort, though they have mastered it. Some were not motivated to reach the production goals because there is no disparity between the salary of those wh o can meet the department goals, and those who cannot. In addition, they claim that though they were given bonus for reaching the production goals, their salary amount is so small because of the withholdings, thus, not worth the effort. In application of the expectancy theory of motivation, the company must do every means to make their employees motivated to work on the new production process. Some of their employees were thinking they â€Å"cannot just do it,† no motivation is entered in their minds; they were dubious if they can do it. Also, this company should try to make something that will make the employees motivated, so that they will exert more effort towards performance by using Effort-Performance method (like giving additional bonus). The concern about additional hand dexterity to achieve success, the company should, in any way, try to motivate employees that their performance will lead to outcomes. Some of them would think, â€Å"Will I get it?† so, the comp any should make its employees think that they can perform the job; they must believe they will achieve what they expect if they perform well by using Performance-Outcome method (like conducting training). Finally, employees should be made to believe that their overall outcomes will be satisfying, no matter what the situation will be through Outcome-Satisfaction method (like praising them for a job done). Hence, employees are motivated if: they believe that effort leads to performance: performance results to outcomes and outcomes will meet satisfaction. References Green, T. B. (1992). Performance and motivation strategies for today's workforce: A guide to expectancy theory applications. US: Greenwood Publishing Group. Griffin, R. W., & Moorhead, G. (2009). Organizational behavior: Managing people and organizations. US: Cengage Learning. Task 2. Leadership A. Leadership Style Transformational leadership according to Bass (1998), the leader tries to change the values as well as the pri orities of the subordinates through motivating them to fulfill more works in their jobs by introducing to and doing things in new ways. In addition, transformational leaders possess an awesome ability to inspire, motivate, and encourage followers or subordinates to come up with outcomes far beyond of what is