Last month’s piece on email ‘worst practices’ really hit home with several readers who asked for even more content. I love it when that happens. So … your emails will definitely suck if you:
- Use ‘cc’ that displays a long distribution list instead of concealing the names with a ‘bcc’.
- Don’t keep it short and simple so the whole message can fit in a single screen without scrolling down.
- Send your response to everyone because you hit ‘Reply All’ instead of ‘Reply to Sender’.
- Begin them with ‘Dear Bob … ‘ instead of simply ‘Bob … ‘.
- Don’t proofread beyond auto-spell check and actually read your message twice before sending it.
- Fail to determine if an email is the best method for solving this particular communication need with this person or group and better than a text, phone call or face to face chat. Or, doing nothing.
So, there you go — simple techniques to help you project a more positive, professional and courteous image and create emails that don’t suck. Your readers will notice and definitely appreciate the difference.