{"id":3074,"date":"2018-01-18T21:09:28","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T21:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/52.10.1.109\/?p=3074"},"modified":"2018-01-20T01:57:46","modified_gmt":"2018-01-20T01:57:46","slug":"the-not-so-simple-art-of-a-business-email","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/?p=3074","title":{"rendered":"The not so simple art of a business email"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The email whisperer: Writing coach Carol Willis shared a few tips last week for the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce at the Brookdale Meridian retirement center. Photo by Peter Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Be careful of that \u2018send\u2019 button, writing coach warns<\/i><\/h3>\n

BY PETER JONES<\/strong>
\nNEWS EDITOR<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone knows writing an email in all caps is like YELLING FIRE IN A CROWDED THEATER! <\/span><\/p>\n

But did you ever think about the effect of a misspelled word, even in lower case?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTypos indicate a lack of control, and when somebody is emotional, they are more likely to have lack of control,\u201d writing coach Carol Willis said to business leaders last week. \u201cThere have actually been studies done where people have been given emails to read, and they are more likely to say the person is upset if the emails have typos in them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With dozens\u2014if not hundreds\u2014of emails piling into one\u2019s inbox every day, it is easy to forget the skills it takes to use the most pervasive of business communication channels effectively. Although email has been an indispensable tool since the late 1990s, its ubiquity has led to a kind of carelessness that often misses the whole point of the printed word.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cGood writing has power and beauty,\u201d Willis told an April 11 breakfast meeting of the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce. \u201cSloppy writing, on the other hand, can obscure meaning. It can cause misunderstanding and it can harm the reputation of the person who is using it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Spontaneity in \u201cvirtual\u201d print may be fine for casual email and social media, but Willis says businesspeople should be more careful when it comes to messaging colleagues and business associates. Time was that body language and tone of voice could help\u2014or sometimes hurt\u2014interaction, but without those variables, an emailing wordsmith is on his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWriting is heavy lifting because half of our communication doesn\u2019t have anything to do with the words that we say,\u201d Willis said, without irony. <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually, that means practicing a sort of golden rule of communication\u2014to speak, as best we can, the language of the individual one is emailing. It all begins with a simple greeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have never met this person and his business card says Matthew, don\u2019t call him Matt,\u201d Willis advised. \u201cHe may have decided in eighth grade he didn\u2019t want to be Matt anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And even \u201cMatthew\u201d may not be enough to make the recipient feel at home. Would he respond more favorably to a courtesy or professional title? A \u201cgood morning\u201d or \u201chello\u201d might make him more receptive. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, get to the point.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t make them scroll to find the main thing you want them to know,\u201d Willis said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Short paragraphs, bullet points and simple wording are some of the tools.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can make it more direct and easy to understand, that\u2019s true professionalism,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the message is ready, write a precise and effective subject line, keeping in mind that about two thirds of email is opened on mobile devices. Keep it short and sweet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before getting ready to send the message, read it one more time carefully, out loud if possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUse your finger to point at the words as you say them because it\u2019s easier to read what you think you wrote,\u201d Willis said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly\u2014and only lastly\u2014type in the intended email address. That way, the message cannot be sent until you are ready. Willis cited the example of an elated freelance writer who mistakenly sent an email of elation, intended for his mother, to the editor who has just given him the coveted assignment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSix-hundred spondulix for a piece on parenting, and I don\u2019t even have kids!\u201d the writer wrote in a message errantly sent back to the editor, via that too-easy-to-hit reply button.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bottom line, Willis says, write your professional emails as if they will be read in court someday\u2014because they just might.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Be careful of that \u2018send\u2019 button, writing coach warns BY PETER JONES NEWS EDITOR Everyone knows writing an email in all caps is like YELLING FIRE IN A CROWDED THEATER! But did you ever think about the effect of a misspelled word, even in lower case? \u201cTypos indicate a lack of control, and when somebody …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}