Email Etiquette Time - 60 minutes

 Power point presentation

Resources to be used
 Participant Handbook

Introduction

Course Email Etiquette

Module Email Etiquette

Screen

Do Show slide 1.

Notes for Facilitation Click on the ‘play’ icon. Show the video.

Nick is not very happy at being woken up at an unearthly hour!

(smile)
Ask
What, according to you, would have been a better mode of
communication?

Intended Response Emails

Ask Why do you think emails would be better?

Because it does not disturb people. It is quick and easy. People can
Intended Response
check and respond whenever they have time.

Say Yes. Emails are perhaps the most efficient way of communicating
in today’s world.

Whether personal or professional, the ability to communicate

Say (WIIFM) effectively through an email or a business letter is extremely
important.

Do Show slide 2.

Say (Objective) Today, we will practice and learn about emails

After completing the session you will be able to
 Write formal and effective emails
 State the dos and don’ts of email writing.
 Main Content

Do Show slide 3.

Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging

messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices.
Remember: Our goal is to write emails that:
Say  Will actually be read,
 Will actually be understood,
 Will not annoy the receiver, and
 Will not take up too much of the receiver’s time

 Show slide 4 and ask the participants to read the email

grab on the screen (give them a few minutes to read it)
 Now, show slide 5 and ask the participants to read the
Do second mail on the screen (give them a few minutes to
read it)
 If needed, go back and forth between the slides if the
participants want to view the mails again.

Ask Can you identify the differences between these emails?

The first email is casual in its approach. The language is informal.

There are abbreviations, coloured fonts, short forms, spelling
errors and emoticons.
Intended Response The second email is formal in its approach/tenor. It uses formal
language. There are no short forms used.
The first email shares personal news. The second email is a
professional email about a business visit.

Do Show slide 6 - 7

Click and Say Yes, emails can be used to share information with friends and
colleagues but the way in which we share this information is
different. With friends, we may use casual language, emoticons,
colours and we may forward jokes and pictures. But, when we
send emails to our colleagues, bosses, seniors, teachers, clients we
take care not to be casual. Otherwise we may come across as
frivolous and non-serious.
Let us now look at the structure of an email.
Click and say - Subject Line - this should be short but give specific
information about the content.
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon and say - In this case, it is about
appointment and dates for the president of a company. Click on
the blue arrow to come back to the slide on structure.

Click and say Salutation - this can be formal or informal.

i. Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. - Formal; used for the first contact
(Mention the usage of ‘Ms.’ In cases where you are not
 aware if the lady in question is married. Many married
women do not change their last names. So, ‘Ms.’ Is a safe
address) (Also, when you are not aware who you are
writing to, then you may use ‘Dear Sir/Madam’
ii. Dear Mary - Less Formal; a contact has already been
established. Or they have already addressed you by your
first name. Or this is the office norm.
iii. Hi/Hello Raj (or just the name)- Informal; usually used with
colleagues you work with.
iv. (No salutation)- Very informal; usually used in messages
which are part of a longer email exchange.’
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Say - In this case, it is Dear Mr.
Maples. Click on the blue arrow to come back to previous slide.

Click and say Opening Sentence - this is used to explain why you
are writing E.g. ‘I’m writing to...’ (which is formal) or ‘Just a quick
note to...’ (which is friendly, informal)
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Say - Here, Leslie Nidelman is writing
to schedule an appointment for the company president. Click on
the blue arrow.

Click and say Conclusion - this is where we tell the reader what
kind of response, if any, we expect. E.g. ‘Looking forward to your
response’ or ‘Hope to hear from you soon’.
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Here, Leslie concludes by asking
about the exact dates so that the visit can be planned. Click on the
blue arrow.

Click and say - Close - this can be formal or informal. E.g. ‘With
Best Regards’ (which is formal), Warm Regards (less formal)
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Here, she uses ‘with best regards’.
Click on the blue arrow.

Click and say - Signature - this is your designation in an

organisation. E.g. ‘Marketing Executive, Kroma Packaging, Pune’.
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon and say - Note the signature here. As
students, while applying for jobs, you may also write [your name],
Final Year B. Com, [name of college/university], Kolkata.
Remember; write them one below the other in your email. You
may include contact number. Click on the blue arrow.

Do Show slide 14 and 15.

Click and Say It is important to be familiar with basic email headers.

Click and say - To - it is for people that the message directly affects,
and that you require action from. If you are expecting someone to
do something, they should be in the ‘To’ field.
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Say - in this case, the email has been
written to Edward Maples. Click on the blue arrow to get back to
the slide on Email headers.
 Click and say - CC is carbon copy - it is for people we want to know
about the message, but are not directly involved. It’s mainly for
people that do not need to act or reply to the message, but it is
used to keep them informed.
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Say - Here, no one has been CC-ed.
Click on the blue arrow.

Click and say - BCC is Blind Carbon Copy - BCC is used when we
want other people to receive the message, but we don’t want the
other recipients to know they got it. One good use of Bcc is when
sending an e-mail to hundreds of people. We don’t want them all
to see each other’s e-mail addresses so we use this field.
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Here, Linda Smith has been BCC-ed.
This means Mr. Maples does not know that Linda Smith has also
received this information. Click on the blue arrow.

Click and say - Attachments - These are documents, photographs,

and files sent with an email.
Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Say, this is the icon for attachments.
Click on the blue arrow.

Click and say - Inbox - this is where emails, which we receive, are
stored. Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. Say, Faten’s inbox does not
have unread messages. If she had left 2 messages unread, ‘2’
would have appeared next to ‘inbox’. Click on the blue arrow.

Click and say - Drafts - this is where messages are saved before
sending. Click on the blue ‘play’ icon. As you can see, Faten has
written 2 messages but has not sent them yet. Click on the blue
arrow.

Do Show slide 22.

Say These are a few accepted acronyms and abbreviations. These are
accepted worldwide, even in formal emails. However, it is always
advised that if you are corresponding with someone for the first
time, use complete words and sentences.
Click and say - PFA is ‘Please Find Attached’ which we use when we
attach some files and documents with the email
Click and say – RE/Re is ‘Reply to that Message’
Click and say - Fwd/Fw is Forward. This usually appears
automatically in the subject line.
Click and say - FYI is ‘For your information’
Click and say - FYA is ‘For your Action’
Click and say - ASAP is ‘As soon as Possible
Click and say - EOD is ‘End of day
Click and say - TIA is ‘Thanks in Advance’
Click and say - Re is ‘Regarding’ - We use this only in the subject
line.
 Click and say - Btw is ‘by the way’.
Click and say - REQ is used in the subject line for Request

Do Show slide 23

Let’s now look at some Do’s in Email Etiquette

 Do have email ids with our full names; if not available, we

may use dots, underscores and numbers. Please avoid
adjectives such as ‘prettygirlrima@gmail.com’ or
‘smartashish@yahoo.in’. Email ids like
‘rima.sinha28@gmail.com’ is acceptable.
Say
 Do use a short and accurate subject. Without a subject,
your email may end up in the spam folder.

 Do appear courteous. We’re all in a hurry, but it doesn’t

take long to type “please” and “thank you” and you’ll get
better results.

Do Show slide 24

Do’s in Email Etiquette (contd.)

 Do use active instead of passive - Try to use the active
voice wherever possible. E.g. ‘We will process your
candidature/ CV today’, sounds better than ‘Your
Say candidature/ CV will be processed today’.

 Do proofread your message. For example, if your email is

littered with misspelled words and grammatical errors, you
may be perceived as sloppy, careless, or even uneducated

Do Show slide 25

Now let’s look at some of the Don’ts in Email Etiquette

Don’t write anything private, confidential or potentially

incriminating in an e-mail. (Yes, I know I said the same thing in the
Say
section above; I’m saying again here.)
Don’t introduce a new topic in the middle of an e-mail thread.
 If you’re changing the subject, create a new message with
a different subject line.

Do Show Slide 26

Say Don’ts in Email Etiquette (contd.)

 Don’t copy people on an e-mail unless there’s a good
reason for it. Our inboxes are full enough without e-mails
we really don’t need to see.
 Don’t copy people on an e-mail unless there’s a good
reason for it.
 Avoid using colours, emoticons and funny fonts for
professional communication. Stick to Times New Roman,
Arial, Calibri or Cambria. The font size is usually 11.
 Don’t Hit “Reply All” unlesss necessary.
 Do not use all capitals as it is equivalent to shouting.
 Avoid long sentences.
 Do not leave out the message thread.