Centenary’s ProWriters

This might seem like a strange topic for a blog post. Emails have become so commonplace among everything from school to the modern business place that there is virtually no one that is unfamiliar with writing, receiving, and sending them.

Despite this, emails are often written informally and unprofessionally. This blog post will show you how to write a proper, professional email, making you look much better to professors and employers.

Opening

The opening is the first part of the email the person you’re communicating with will see, so it’s important to make a good first impression. Start the email off professionally. If it is someone you already know, you may be able to say ‘Hello’ as your greeting, whereas ‘Dear’ is likely better for a person you haven’t had close contact with. Unless you are already friends with the person you’re communicating with, try to avoid more casual greetings, like ‘Hey’.

This is simple, but make sure that you have the name of the person you’re writing to correct. Spelling their name wrong or, even worse, getting their name wrong altogether can mean that they dismiss your email out of hand. Double check before sending the email.

Body

Emails are often designed to communicate professionally, at least in a professional setting like school or work. Because of this, it is important that you keep your email succinct and to the point. You should have a subject that you are writing about, be it a question you want to ask or a document you need to explain, or a piece of work you want them to complete for you. Make this subject the main focus of your email. Long or rambling emails will make it harder for you to get your point across and will make you look less professional to the person you’re emailing.

It is also helpful if you break your email into paragraphs. Every time you change the subject, make sure you also change the paragraph. This will make it easier for the person you’re emailing to follow your email. Remember, you don’t want to make it hard to read. This will make it less likely for the person you’re emailing to see you as a professional.

Finally, make sure you proofread. Typos will make you look far less professional and may lessen the receiver’s respect or trust in you. It is a simple step, but still very important.

Conclusion

Conclude your email by thanking the person you’re emailing for their time. You may also want to give any time frame that is necessary to hear back from them within. Finish up the email with your name. Keep in mind that this is a professional email, which means that you should use your full name, not a nickname or just a first name. This will let the person you’re emailing know who specifically is emailing them.

Emails are a vital form of communication in the modern day. By learning how to effectively use this medium, you will become a more effective communicator in all professional settings.