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Formal Email Writing - Email Etiquette

Email Etiquette - Formal and Informal Tone

The informal tone is for:
  • People we know well
  • Friends and family
  • lose co-workers
  • established client relationships
  • most of our regular contacts
The formal tone is for:
  • people we don't know
  • new clients and contacts
  • speeches and lectures
  • important and official matters
  • formal situations
  • when not sure what tone to use
Informal emails:
  • use formal vocabulary
  • avoid using jargon, slang, idioms, and non-standard language
  • use formal spelling and grammar (no alternative and abbreviated spelling)
  • use proper grammar
  • avoid emoticons (smileys and frownies)
  • be respectful and professional
Email Etiquette - Privacy
No email is private because it can be:
  • intercepted
  • shared
  • forwarded
  • posted online
  • printed
  • email accounts can get hacked
Do not:
  • write anything you don't want to be shared
  • write secrets – tell them in person instead
  • write anything you can't say directly
  • write anything offensive
  • write anything defamatory
  • write anything slanderous
  • make threats
  • be hateful
  • be a racist
  • be a bigot
Email is not private.If you can't say it proudly in public, don't email it.

Email Etiquette - Formatting
  • Do not use all CAPITAL letters
  • Quotation marks are for word-for-word quotations and for sarcasm
  • Use *asterisks*, <less-than>, >greater-than<, or ^carets^
  • Use italics, bold, or underline
  • Use bold, red, and underline sparingly
  • Avoid embedding images
  • Avoid rich formatting
  • Use color formatting when responding to a number of points
  • (colorize the questions, not the answers)
Email Etiquette - To, CC, BCC, Reply, Reply All

To:
Type in the recipient after you're done writing
Email addresses can't contain spaces
CC (carbon copy):
Use it to include all the people who need to know
All recipients can see each other's names and emails
BCC (blind carbon copy):
Use it to hide the recipient list
Recipients can't see each other's names and emails
Include yourself in the TO field and paste everyone else in the BCC
Reply:
Leave the original message below your reply
New topic, new email
Reply All
Do all recipients need to see your reply?

Read here for the Complete Course of Formal Email Writing
  1. Punctuation general rules for formal email writing
  2. Email Grammer for formal email writing
  3. Email Vocabulary 
  4. Structure of the formal email
  5. Email etiquettes
Email Etiquette - Forward, Priority, Return Receipts
Forward
  • Is it OK to forward?
  • Do I need permission?
  • Do not forward chain letters, spam emails or hoaxes
  • Remove headers and other people's names and emails
  • Remove carets and other quoted message symbols
  • Add a comment of your own
  • For multiple recipients, forward using BCC
Priority:
  • Most people won't see it
  • Many don't pay attention to it
  • Use action words on the subject instead
Return receipts:
  • For most people, they don't work
  • Most will decline to return a receipt
  • It's no guarantee that your email was read
There are approximately 4 more articles included in the label (course) Formal email writing. Please read all to get clear navigation.
Formal Email Writing - Email Etiquette Formal Email Writing - Email Etiquette Reviewed by Unknown on January 03, 2018 Rating: 5