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1.
Strive For a Style Somewhere Between Stuffed-Shirt Writing and T-Shirt Writing:
Just as the business casual dress code has some people stumped, so has
the business causal writing style. Some writers confuse the screen for a t-shirt
slogan. 2.
Avoid Knee-Jerk Responses:
E-mail's greatest benefit can also be its greatest drawback:
speed. We open. We read. We
reply. Then we think, or don't, as the case may be. 3. If
You Don?t Have Something To Say, Don't Say It: On the
street, when someone you know speaks to you, etiquette requires that you return
the greeting. Not so with e-mail. 4.
Check It, But Don't Be Chained To It: Instead of being
constantly distracted, let the e-mails pile up and check them only once or twice
a day. 5.
Use The "So What?" Prompt To Turn Information into Communication:
Imagine your reader asking, "So what?"
Then add the answer: Draw
conclusions. State the action you want. 6.
Avoid Stream-Of-Consciousness Rambling: Just as the
penny is the basis for our monetary system, the sentence is our basic unit of
thought. If your e-mail wasn't all that interesting to read the first time,
imagine forcing people to slog through it a second time to catch your meaning. 7.
Tune into the Tone of Directives:
Brief is good. Blunt is not. 8.
Guard Against A Trigger-Happy "Send" Finger:
As a safety measure, don't enter the recipient's e-mail address until you have
the e-mail ready to go, with all attachments. Then if your trigger finger goes
off, your e-mail is still safely in your hands. 9.
Make Sure "Anytime, Anywhere" Doesn't Mean "No Time,
Nowhere": Many organizations advertise that
they're available anytime anywhere. But
the reality is that that expectation disappoints all too often.
Email goes unanswered for days and weeks. 10.
Know When To Phone Instead of Writing E-Mail or Letters:
People are typically less guarded when speaking
than writing. Choose according to your purpose. 11.
Be Wary of Humor or Sarcasm:
Comedy writers earn big bucks. Either
make sure your humor works or don't try it. 12.
Understand Your Liability for Personal E-Mails on Company Systems:
Inexpensive software packages can scan up to 50,000 e-mails an hour for
objectionable words (unfair, performance review, copyright, breast, resume,
angry) and forward those messages to a designated person. Consider that your
e-mail may be retrieved for any number of things that keep people awake at
night. (Excerpted from “E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication”) |
