hello Aubry how's everything going today I'm great Lindsay how are you I am great I'm excited to be
here what are we getting into a super important topic for our listeners yes we're talking about
business emails today any email really but especially business emails and I have a question
for you to start out okay let's do it why would you say Lindsay why is it a really big problem to
mess up the ending of a business email oh my gosh well last Impressions matter I mean if you look at
the research out there in the world of psychology it's the last thing we hear from someone is what
we remember guys it's not the first thing it's not the middle thing it's the last thing so this is
going to be great for our listeners today exactly that last impression is so vital you want to make
sure that you're ending it appropriately with tone formal versus informal grammar vocabulary having
those native natural phrases so you're ending emails the way a native speaker would yes and is
this episode from a listener question yes we had a listener question one of our Tick Tock followers
sent in the question is it okay to end an email with may you please respond and I have
seen students and you know language Learners and emails this way interesting and so it's a
really excellent question I know our listeners are probably thinking I have definitely ended emails
that way so okay this is going to be a good one to dive into oh well let's just start by answering
not leaving them in suspense is it okay to end an email that way what do you think no it is not
and this is tricky we're going to dive into the grammar of why we don't say may you and then we're
going to give you several you know options for better ways that mean the same thing but have the
correct grammar we'll make sure that you're aware of the tone so that you know what to say for whom
right and what's the exact problem with saying may I first of all yeah so may I is asking permission
and we can't ask permission from someone for their own action right right so it's sort of illogical
but we don't think about it if we just say it you have to kind of sit back and think about what does
this actually mean I love it we can't use the word may with the second person pronoun you
if we're making a request yes okay let's give our listeners a great alternative what exactly should
they say instead of that yeah so first of all we want to refer you to a really good recent episode
we shared some great phrases like please respond ASAP or at your earliest convenience so go back
if you missed it and check out episode 1845 how to show urgency when you End Business emails yeah and
we have some other options because those were very specific to showing urgency when you need
someone to respond right away we want to give you some other options when maybe an email Isn't So
urgent but you also need to know what to say yeah guys go and check out also our new business
English podcast where we address all of the business related topics that you have right
all there's English podcast is great you can stay subscribed we we go into every everything but this
new business podcast focuses one hundred percent on Career English emails presentations meetings
small talk with your colleagues so go and search for that Aubry how can they find that podcast by
the way yes wherever you find your podcast search all ears English and you'll see all three of our
podcasts and make sure to follow all three but the one that says business English is our exciting new
podcast you don't want to miss out on that one yeah bro the response to that has been so good
so far I'm so amazed reading our reviews from our listeners they are super excited to have
a resource just for business English yes I know I wish I had that in French and Spanish it's so
nice to have it be more topical sure you know you're getting exactly what you need yes so
exciting love it okay so let's get deeper into this question yeah we're going to give you guys
some great phrases here the first I use this all the time of course you can't say may you but you
can say could you could you please respond when you have a chance right I love that I love when
you have a chance if something isn't super super urgent to let people know you know when you have
a moment when you have a chance is a very native way to say like this does need attention but I'm
respecting your time yeah I would say that's friendly that's Cooperative right when you have
a chance it's kind of back and forth It's not putting intense pressure because you know you
can't say that everything needs to be done ASAP right because that just kind of takes the meaning
out of things it's like the boy who cried well right every email is Asap you know right as soon
as possible then you know nothing we're gonna not take anything seriously right if I got an email
from someone and they said ASAP every time like okay what's really urgent here that's funny that's
that must be so cultural because that's exactly what I was thinking too is that crying wolf
right saying that everything matters therefore nothing matters so avoid that guys um here's the
next phrase that you guys should be writing down right now would you please get back to me ASAP and
here's where we warn you use that sparingly right now we definitely can hear so we're saying you can
say could you or would you instead of may you and you can again say would you please get back to me
when you have a chance right yes would you please respond as soon as you can or you know there are
certainly options here depending on urgency but also grammatically right could yeah would you both
totally you know perfect grammatically so there are different options at the beginning of the
sentence and at the end of the sentence there are different things that we can mix and match here
right yes and then third can you like can you please let me know right away or just can you
please let me know when you have a chance right I use this a lot if I am asking a question I'll
often end the email with you know let me know let me know right away or can you let me know
when you get a chance in your mind Aubry we can do this in another episode so guys hit follow on
this show but what is the difference between can you please respond right away and could you please
respond right away they're very similar yeah right I feel like they're quite interchangeable
um Can is a little more direct right can you respond can you please respond is a little
more direct both would you and could you are Less Direct and therefore maybe a little more
respectful of someone's time I agree just slightly more a direct can is I love it okay what about why
won't why should we know not use will you please I bet a lot of our listeners are asking themselves
this question yes definitely I really avoid ever saying will you please do that because it is very
forward and sounds very demanding and there are so many better options that aren't demanding and
it's just a almost feels a little rude wouldn't you say Lindsay I also yeah I think it's more
confrontational and I also think it's more spoken I I would tend to use that more in an argument
with someone like will you please start putting your dishes in the dishwasher um I wouldn't tend
to say that in a business email in writing no and even in daily life right I'm asking my daughter
to put dishes in the dishwasher I for sure would say would you put those in the dishwasher if I say
will you put those in the dish I'm probably mad that they haven't done it right it's so direct so
forward that I reserve it for if I've asked three times and it's not happening will you please do
what I asked right it's more emphatic it's just not something that you it's just not an option as
much guys when it comes to making these requests and businesses okay so avoid will you or even will
you please and instead go for these other options could you would you can you I love it okay Aubry
what's next here what else do we need to know so these all everything we've shared are all quite
formal they are perfect for new clients maybe your boss your supervisor right there it's a
quite a formal email but you do need less formal options these are used way more often the average
email that I send to a co-worker or someone I know I'm going to use a much less formal option
yes for sure and I think we're pretty informal here in the all our English team so something
that you could say is just let me know right it's easy it's simple honestly we don't have
a lot of times like could you do this will you know would you do this let me know or please let
me know to think about how much less formal that is just to say would you please let me know or
could you please let me know and just shorten it and say let me know Aubry yes exactly exactly so
that one could be used you know equally with your friends in a text message or with your colleagues
if you feel comfortable if you know that your work environment is pretty informal right yes
for sure and this next one I pulled straight out of an email you sent me Lindsay so this is fun
who sent me and ended with let me know if any questions at all thanks and I think it's so smart
to point out that this grammar we're dropping words right we wouldn't say let me know if you
have any questions at all no need we don't need the subject or the verb we just say let me know
if any questions it's so it is informal but it saves time like you said it shows like we have
this you know this relationship where I can drop a couple of words yes I love this I love that you're
going right to an email between us or between our team members pulling it out we could do more
of this over on our business English podcast so so two points here right as you mentioned
Aubry pulling out if you have any right and I just said if any if you have taking out that you have
as you said I love that and I also love adding at all how does that change the feeling of how
you felt as my colleague when when you received that email really good point it's so much more
friendly and supportive instead of saying let me know if you have any questions I almost feel like
maybe you don't really mean it right like okay but if you say let me know if any questions at
all it really feels friendly like I really do want to support you any question no matter the
question let me know oh I love that that could be a whole other episode in itself adding at all
or other similar little phrases at the end that automatically make it more friendly more open
more like supportive it changes the environment anytime anytime at the end right anytime anytime
at any time right anytime yes that same thing so much more friendly supportive where you really
feel that like oh they really do mean this I love that let's do some episodes on that in
the future guys hit follow and you know I think that this is this is so key because again it's
the last thing you say in this email and so this is what is the impression you want them to have of
you as a professional and of the environment the relationship the Rapport You're Building
between you and them right exactly that really is the takeaway here that it is vital that last
impression you leave especially on business business emails you want this client you want
the business relationship you need the vocabulary and the grammar to make that good first that good
last impression you got it guys so pay a lot of attention to the beginning yes but also the end
of your email it's not like you just finish it up and don't worry about it it's the most important
part so pay a lot of attention to that love it so good exactly this is really fun Lindsay so
useful great topic today Aubry I'll see you in the next one very soon awesome see you later bye bye