by Nina Sunday
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Most of us receive too many emails. That's a given.
But what specifically irritates you about how emails are written?
We asked Business Writing participants their list of email pet hates. In this article we reveal the top 5 complaints and what you can do about it.
Review your email draft with this question in mind, ‘What unnecessary words can I delete?’
Less is more. You can probably remove as much as 20 per cent of the words, yet your message will stand out even more clearly.
Many people go into long-winded explanation or justification that takes up your reader’s time.
Ask yourself, ‘Is this sentence essential’. Delete those that are not.
Five Sentences
Just as Twitter allows only 140 characters, aim to get your message across in just five sentences.
After writing your email, count the number of sentences, then decide which unnecessary sentences can go.
Eventually you’ll automatically stop ‘waffling’ and keep it to the essential five. And when you get good at doing it in five, aim for three!
Shorten long Sentences
Long sentences make an email appear wordy.
Here’s a quick trick that improves readability.
Locate each time you write ‘and’, combining two ideas. Assess if it could just as easily be two sentences. Add a full stop or period to end the first sentence; start a fresh sentence where the ‘and’ would have been. To grasp each idea one at a time helps your reader follow your train of thought.
Complaint #2: Not being clear
Communication involves a sender and a receiver. Good communicators consider their recipient. They review their draft to remove any ambiguities or idea gaps.
Three questions
Here are three questions you can ask yourself after writing your email draft:
2. Have I listed my own availability as a starting point?, (if proposing a meeting).
3. Have I included a timeframe?, (when requesting action). Email is full of unrealistic demands where everything is urgent. Good time management is about working to priority. Stating a timeline aids that.
Subject Headers
Using old subject headers when the topic has changed is frequently listed as a major irritation that often creates confusion. It can lead to your email being missed altogether.
Know when to pick up the phone
If you find yourself rewriting the same paragraph over and over or struggling to find just the right words, there's a 50/50 chance your email will be misunderstood. Consider picking up the phone.
Complaint #3: Negative tone
A live conversation over the phone or face to face is two-way. You can amend what you intended to say based on the responses you are receiving. But email is a monologue. Without the benefit of tone of voice or facial expression to soften what you are saying, your words on their own in an email might be perceived as brusque or rude, (even if that is not your intention).
Tone of command vs. possibility
A Customs Officer writing to an importer might include, 'You must comply with the law by. . .' But consider the use of 'You must comply with the law by . . .' Does that sound officious?
What if they wrote instead, 'Please comply with the law by . . .'? Does that get the same idea across without sounding heavy-handed?
Here are some 'command' words to avoid in business writing:
- must
- should
- ought to
- have to / need to
- I suggest . . .
- Would you be willing to . . .
- You might like to . . .
- Please . . .
- Read the entire book online at: http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html