Page 26 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

WhY MUST I REMEMBER ThAT NOThINg ON ThE INTERNET 15

reader is more likely to draw inappropriate conclusions unless the writer
takes special care to be clear. Here’s a piece of advice: practice the A.B.C.
of business writing, which means; if you do so, you’ll be accurate, brief,
and clear.
Emotional intelligence expert Daniel Goleman believes we have
a negativity bias in the way we perceive email. That bias causes us to
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assume that email content is negative in tone, when in reality it has a neu-
tral tone! Think back, have you ever gotten an email or sent an email that
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was misinterpreted? We have. And we know how to avoid those mistakes
most of the time. Although email is easy to use, you still want to be both
conversational and professional in your writing style. Here are some tips
to get the most from your email experience.

Tips for Composing Emails

Compose Messages Offline

This approach gives you the time to make sure you really want to send
that message.

Write Short, Actionable Subject Lines

For example, use two action words describing the audience’s desired action
and follow those words with a description of the topic. Recently, one of
the book’s authors (Jason) had to receive an answer to a question about an
accreditation report he was writing for a busy executive-level university
administrator. In that case, he used the subject “Please Advise – Accred-
itation Report Question.” The busy administrator responded from her
smartphone within an hour (unbelievably fast in the world of academia)!

Use Courteous Greetings and Sign-Offs

Just because the channel is easy to use and allows you to send messages
quickly, it is no reason to be curt or rude. For individuals above you in
the organization, begin your email with Dear Mr./Ms. ___ (last name).
For individuals who are at your same level or below in the organization,
you can begin your email with Dear ____(first name). Likewise, adopt a