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The Success Series: How to Sound More Professional in Emails

The Success Series How to Sound More Professional In Emails

How to Sound More Professional in Emails

If you’ve ever wondered how to sound more professional in emails, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we will review the four major components of an email, as well as common email mistakes. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Start With the Subject Line

For the most part, people are going to see your subject line before anything else. Therefore, a descriptive, succinct naming convention is ideal. For instance, “Client Kickoff Meeting Agenda – 5/17.” This example includes the what – kickoff meeting, who – the client, when – 5/17, and how – the agenda.

Writing effective professional emails

Introductions/Openings

Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong with “Dear name.” Though, it may sound a bit dated. In any case, “Hello name,” and, “hi name,” work just as well, albeit a tad casual. When writing your opening, be sure to address who you’re communicating with directly. 

Next, Write a Brief, Descriptive Body

Similar to the subject line, it is important to have a well-outlined body. Unlike most essays, your message should be short and sweet, with just enough detail to convey your message, but not too much. Have you ever heard of the term, “elevator speech”? Well, if not, it refers to the time spent in an elevator when navigating between floors. Altogether, you should have a brief moment to pitch your sale to your fellow coworker (or a recruiter).

Closings

When you get to the closing of your email, it’s imperative to keep with the “short and sweet” strategy we’ve used before. Don’t call out any points that aren’t majorly important. In summary, you want to highlight the key takeaways from your message and any next steps or action items.

Common Email Mistakes

Omitting the Oxford Comma

While commonly thought of as unnecessary, the Oxford Comma is of utmost importance in email communications or written material. Without it, you can cause confusion.

Cognitive technology includes natural language processing. An example of this is a man putting on a headset to listen to his assistive screen reader

Hedging

If you’re not familiar with the term, hedging is using phrases that undermine what you’re saying. For example, “I think we should…” or “It would be great if…” both make your statements less direct. Using clear, direct statements will leave your writing sounding confident and informed.

Sounding Robotic

Even though email is a derivative of snail mail, it doesn’t mean it has to sound that way. In fact, using impersonal writing can leave your reader feeling confused. That being said, there is a happy medium between talking to a friend or an acquaintance. Remember: practice makes perfect!

Information Overload

Though it may seem like the cliche, “the more the merrier” can apply to emails when it comes to information, it’s not true. Consequently, when emails are lengthy, they tend to lose the reader’s attention partially or fully before the closing. Generally, aim for K.I.S.S. Keep It Short & Sweet.

A person using a mobile phone and a laptop simultaneously

Forgetting to Proofread

To say nothing of proofreading would be doing a disservice to writers everywhere. Yes, it’s true that Outlook and other email clients provide automatic proofreading checks, but they aren’t always 100% reliable. Additionally, they may miss certain grammatical or spelling errors. Altogether, if you can spend 2-5 minutes before hitting send, you might find an issue you missed – and prevent miscommunication.

In Conclusion

Lastly, it’s important that you know how to sound more professional in emails. In a future role, you may need to coordinate with colleagues. While you may write more casual emails now, that may change, so it’s best to stay prepared. As always, please provide your thoughts in the comments below.

Resources & Further Reading

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