Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer. Part of my daily routine
seven days a week includes time for responding to public comments and email.
If you write email even half as much as I do, you'll want to be sure you're writing the best
messages possible to be effective and efficient. Email requires clear communication. If you aren't
clear, you can create a misunderstanding. An appropriate tone is also important because
sounding too formal or informal isn't good for any kind of relationship. So, let's talk about
12 common mistakes people make when they write email, and I'll teach you how to avoid them.
In an earlier lesson on writing email, I shared five basic don'ts. Let's quickly review those.
One. Don't forget to write a subject line. Be concise.
Two. Don't write your whole message in CAPS (capital letters).
Three. Don't write in all lowercase letters.
Four. Don't start each sentence on a new line.
Five. Don't write your whole message as one paragraph. Use line breaks.
Don't overuse CAPS or other formatting, like underlining, for emphasis. If something is urgent,
you can sparingly use boldfacing or italics, or you can simply express the urgency or the
importance in words. Check out these examples. In the subject line, you can simply use title case:
we capitalize the first word, the last word, and all important words like nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs, and, of course, proper nouns. Some people choose to
use sentence case. That means you only capitalize the first word and proper nouns.
And don't feel the need to use exclamation points in the subject line, especially in business email.
In this sentence, boldfacing is used to highlight the date. That's okay. In this sentence,
italics are used to emphasize "not." Do not share these internal links. That's all right.
In this example, we're using words to express the urgency, and that's sufficient.
Here again, we rely on words to express the urgency and importance.
Don't write email like you talk in conversation.
Be more direct and concise. Take a look at these models. Let's see how they can be improved.
Here are my suggestions. Hi Kyle. When you have a minute, you can check out the attached PDF of
my services. Please reach out if you'd like to talk more or if you have any questions.
We can definitely make this more direct and concise.
Hi. Yes, tomorrow is fine. What time is good for you? I can meet in the AM or PM. Let me know.
Don't write business email like you text a friend.
Business email is often friendly, but you can still maintain a professional tone.
How would you change these statements? Make them more appropriate for business email.
Hi Gwen. I got the document. Thanks. I'll read it and return a signed copy as soon as possible.
Best, Teresa
Hi Gwen. I read the document, and I have a question about item 5.
It asks for an employee code. I don't know where to find that. Please advise. Thanks, Teresa
Don't write every email like a formal business letter, especially in a long thread.
Email needs to be efficient. Don't waste time on long greetings and closings
when the back-and-forth within a thread is very fast.
Let's look at this thread. It's fairly typical. An early message uses the standard structure.
There's a greeting, the body, followed by the closing and signature.
The reply uses the same format: greeting, body, closing signature. The next reply,
which came soon after, omits the greeting and closing. The signature is there by default.
Don't overuse or misuse punctuation marks.
Let me quickly quiz you. How should we end every sentence?
With a period. And how should a question end? With a question mark. What's this called?
An exclamation point. It usually expresses strong emotion.
Okay. Let's look at a message and see if the punctuation marks are used well or not.
So, the first thing I see here is the lack of any line breaks. Let's separate the greeting
and the signature. The most common way to punctuate a greeting is with a comma.
Sentences need to start with capital letters, and we're not going to join sentences with commas.
A sentence needs to end with a period. Be sure you know how to identify a sentence. If it's a
question, end with a question mark. In business email, don't try to combine a question mark with
an exclamation point. And if it's not a real question, it should end with a period.
To review standard use of punctuation in American English,
check out my writing skills playlist. I'll put the link in the video description.
Don't repeat what isn't necessary. Even formal business email can be concise. Polite requests,
for example, might use longer structures, but that doesn't mean a lot of repetition is needed.
Watch my lesson on ellipsis to gain a better understanding of when words can be omitted.
Here we have a message from Max. He's writing to an admissions office.
Let's read his email. Hello. I am applying for the MBA program, and I plan to complete some
of my coursework remotely. The website does not clearly state which courses are offered online.
There are a number of electives I am specifically interested in taking,
so I would like to confirm in advance if they are only offered on campus. As I am applying for
the MBA program and the deadline is next week, I wish to clarify my options as soon as possible. It
is my hope that you will be able to provide this clarification so that I will be able to meet the
deadline and submit my application on time. Would you please tell me if the courses listed below
are offered online or if they are at least offered online for some semesters if not for others?
I would greatly appreciate the clarification. I look forward to your response regarding the
clarification of these courses in which I have expressed interest. Thank you. Best regards, Max.
That was quite wordy. I think it's fair to say it's rather verbose.
All right. Let's help Max and reduce repetition. I think we can start
right around here. We don't need to say we're applying again. Take it out, Max.
All right. Yes, you want to clarify, so don't ask for clarification. Let's take that out.
Now, if you're concerned about the deadline, it's obvious. Right? So, do we need to explain
why you're concerned about the deadline? No.
You don't need to talk about the deadline twice.
Let's just take that all out. It's all understood. It is clear.
We can certainly reduce this. Let's make it shorter, more concise. How about "at any time"?
Okay. This is all polite, but this final part is way too long. You just want to look forward to the
response. Perhaps we can combine this appreciation with the "thank you." Here's my suggestion.
How about, "Thank you in advance"? That's what we need to say. Thank you in advance
for your time and assistance.
Then we'll delete this one, and it looks good.
Of course, Max needs to make his list. Let's
make space for that, so max does not forget to list the courses.
Now let's read the message aloud to see how well it flows. Hello. I am applying for the
MBA program, and I plan to complete some of my coursework remotely. The website does not
clearly state which courses are offered online. There are a number of electives I am specifically
interested in taking, so I would like to confirm in advance if they are only offered on campus.
As the deadline is next week, I wish to clarify my options as soon as possible.
Would you please tell me if the courses listed below are offered online at any time? I look
forward to your response. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. Best regards, Max
Don't forget the need for some pleasantries and context.
You can't always assume that your reader knows exactly what you're referring to.
Check out other lessons I have on including pleasantries and email.
I also teach formal and informal greetings and closings.
Let's jump into this message and see how it sounds. Hello Mia. Re: 33 Cherry Street. These
are the days I am available to view the property: Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Best, Adam Rush.
Well, Adam, you might be rushing. First of all, I'm not sure if he knows Mia or if Mia knows him.
I'm going to suggest that Adam add a bit more context. He can start in the subject line. What
is the request? Let's be more specific. It's a request to view a property, specifically 33 Cherry
Street. Mia must be a listing agent, a real estate agent. If this is the first message to Mia, he
can show a little more respect. Let's write full sentences. Make it sound nice. He's asking for a
favor. He wants to see that house. I noted that you are the listing agent for 33 Cherry Street.
He can explain what he wants and why. I missed the open house earlier this week.
The request now. Would it be possible to schedule a showing? These are the days I'm available to
view the property. I think one nice thing to add here would be "thank you." Thank you in advance.
All right. That looks better, Adam. Oh let's add one more thing. Have a good day!
Since you're asking for something, be nice. Remember not to rush so much that you forget
context and pleasantries.
We'll end here. Please like the video if you found it useful.
As always, thanks for watching and happy studies!
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