EFFICIENT EMAIL AND LETTER WRITING
LET US DRAFT E-MAILS …
 Draft a memo via e-mail to an employee who has gone on leave
for urgent medical treatment after informing the office
telephonically, to send a letter as soon as he can. The firm’s
rules require the request in writing for sanctioning the leave.
 Draft a mail from the HR department to all employees
requesting them to use water sparingly during the summer as a
drought is likely
 Write a short business letter announcing the opening of your
new office. Address the letter to all your current stakeholders
requesting them to attend the Inauguration ceremony
 A final notice letter to your dealer, who is three months behind
on payments, sent a fortnight before initiating legal collection
procedures.
 Draft a motivational mail to your subordinate – who has served
in your department under you for the past ten years and has
proved to be extremely reliable at all times.
EMAIL
 E-mail (electronic mail) is
the exchange of computerstored messages by
telecommunication
 The general structural
parts of an email are the
‘To’ field, ‘Cc’ and ‘Bcc’
fields, the subject line, the
‘Attachment’ tab, the body
of the mail space with the
formatting toolbar and
the ‘Send’, ‘Save’, etc
options tab
EMAIL ETIQUETTE…

	Address the recipient by name to add a personal touch to your letter

 DO NOT USE ALL CAPS !
 Use a descriptive subject line, avoid leaving it
blank or putting an irrelevant or general subject.
Avoid over using punctuation marks
 Avoid using abbreviations, such as IMHO (in my
humble opinion) or TTYL (talk to you later), not
everyone is familiar with them
 Skip a line when starting a new paragraph; avoid
using tabs to signify a new paragraph, different
email programs read tabs in different ways
EMAIL ETIQUETTE…
 Avoid using HTML in your e-mails, not everyone can
view it and it takes away from the professional image of
the letter

	If you are sending an attachment, make note of it and describe what the attachment is for in the body, some

people are very wary of attachments due to the threat of
computer viruses….do remember to ‘attach’ it !

	Keep your emails as concise as possible without leaving out any important information

 Keep usage of quoted text to a minimum

	Always leave a signature line, don’t assume the person already knows who you are

 JOURNALISTIC APPROACH
EMAIL ETIQUETTE…
 Do not keep on sending the same messages to the
same person over and over again, if they don’t
respond after a few days; send them an e-mail
enquiring if they received your first email
 Use spell check and proof read and revise your
letter after it is done Use threads, if you get a
message from someone and you are going to
respond, don’t send a new message, simply hit the
reply option on your email, this keeps the original
subject line with “Re:” in front of it

	If you are sending out an email to a large private list don’t use CC: (carbon copy) use BCC: (blind

carbon copy) to protect the addresses of the
recipients
EMAIL ETIQUETTE…
 Remember most emails are never
completely private, there is always a
chance of someone else besides the
intended recipient reading it, so
avoid writing any personal attacks
which are unprofessional to begin
with

	When reading emails treat them as if they are private messages (unless

you know you are allowed to share it
with others)
 Don’t write a mail in anger –
Sarcasm, veiled threats and some
forms of humour are best avoided
SUBJECT LINES…
 Subject must be clear,
concise & informative
 Don’t cc the entire
department on every email you send
 Double-check the To, Cc
and Bcc fields before you
send your message
 Ban non-work-related
company-wide messages
CREATE SUBJECT LINES…
 A mail informing the reader that his life
insurance policy # 93939 will expire soon due to
non payment of premium.
 A mail to a bank suggesting that a separate
deposit window be opened for merchants from 3
p.m. to 5 p.m. each workday.
 A mail to the company personnel director,
requesting information on resource and referral
programs for employees elderly relatives.
TO WHOM TO REPLY ?
 Check your settings for
‘Reply’ & ‘Reply All’

	Don’t send too many “thank you” e-mails

 If not needed, you may like
to delete the original text
before replying – it just
clutters up the message
 Keep the same subject
heading when replying, so
that it becomes an email
chain
LETTER FORMAT:
 Left flushed
 Date
 Sender’s address/letterhead
 Inside Address
 Salutation
 Introduction to the matter
 Body text
 Calling for action
 Signature Block
 Enclosures
 Carbon Copy – if any
TIPS FOR WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS VIA E-MAIL

	A heading is not necessary
in	an email letter (your
return	address,	their

address, and the date)

	Use a descriptive subject line

	Most of you would be using an official mail id.

 Flush left
 Spell check and grammar
TIPS FOR WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS VIA E-MAIL
 If the persons name is
unknown, address the
person’s title i.e. Dear
Director of Human Resources
 If possible avoid attachments
unless the recipient has
requested or is expecting an
attachment.
 If it is a text document,
simply cut and paste the text
below your letter and strip off
any special formatting
TIPS FOR WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS VIA E-MAIL
 Subject headings should be
clear and informative
 65 to 70 characters in a line!
 Font size 11 – 12
 Do not use sms language,
abbreviations or jargons


Always	proof read	emails
before sending and double
check	that	attachments
mentioned attached !	are	actually

‘YOU’ ATTITUDE VS. ‘I’ ATTITUDE
 ‘I’ or ‘We’ attitude: when business messages use the ‘I’ attitude, they risk
sounding selfish and uninterested in the audience. The message is all about the
sender, and the audience is just expected to go along with it. Even so, using
‘you’ and ‘yours’ requires finesse. If you overdo it, you may create some
awkward sentences and sound overly enthusiastic and artificial
 The ‘You’ attitude is not intended to be manipulative or insincere. It is an
extension of the audience-centred approach. Sincerely think about your
audience. You may use the ‘you’ pronoun 27 times in a single page, and still
ignore your audience’s true concerns. It is about empathy…it is the
thought…the sincerity. If you are talking to your retailer…think like a retailer;
if you are dealing with the production supervisor…think like him or her ! “You
failed to deliver the customer’s order in time” ….sounds authoritative or
accusing ! “the customer did not receive the order in time”…or….”let us figure
out a way to ensure that customers receive their orders in time”
CHANGE THE ‘I’ / ‘WE’ TO ‘YOU’ ATTITUDE
 We are now ready to issue a cheque to
ABC Consultants for an amount of US$
1,00,000.
 To receive the said cheque, you will
deliver to me a bill of the same amount.
 We must insist that we be provided
with a stamped original of the bill
indicating the document number of the
invoice.
 Please contact the undersigned so that
an appointment can be scheduled
IMPROVED – FOR ‘YOU’ ATTITUDE

	ABC Consultants will receive a cheque for US$ 1,00,000

 Give us a bill of the above
amount to enable us to issue
the cheque.
 A stamped original bill with the
document number of the
invoice is needed.
 Please do call me to fix a
mutually convenient
appointment
LACKS ‘YOU’ ATTITUDE….CHANGE THESE…
 You did not fill out the job application
completely.
 You did not enclose a self addressed,
stamped envelope with your request.
 The telephone number you supplied is
no longer in service.
 By not changing the oil regularly, you
damaged the engine of your car.
 You did not pay the invoice on time, so
you owe a late fee of INR 100
‘I’ ATTITUDE…

	We expect you will enjoy the benefits of membership to our club.

	You made an error in this project,
that	put	us	three	days	behind

schedule.
 At C&A Company, we have more
than 30 years of experience that we
can offer to customers like you.

	You will be happy to know that all of our trainers are licensed and insured.

NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE EMPHASIS…
Focus on what the reader
can do, rather than on
limitations:

	We will not allow you to charge
more than account	50,000 on your VISA

 You will not qualify for the
student membership rate of 250 a
year, unless you are enrolled for
at least 25 hours.
 You can charge 50,000 on
your VISA account.
 You get all the benefits of
membership for only 250 a
year, if you are enrolled for
25 hours or more.
NEGATIVE EMPHASIS…
 We have failed to finish taking inventory.
 Do not forget to back up your disks.
 Your balance of US$ 5876 is delinquent.
 I hope that this is the information you wanted.

	Please be patient as we switch to the automated system.

 Now, Krunchies tastes better.
POSITIVE EMPHASIS…
 We will be finished taking inventory
Friday.
 Always back up your disks.
 Your balance of US$ 5876 is past due.

	Enclosed is our brochure on the information you wanted.

	If you have questions during our transition to the automated system, call our help

desk.
 Now Krispies tastes even better.
NEGATIVE EMPHASIS…
 We cannot sell
computer disks in lots
of less than ten.
 JUSTIFY: To keep
down packaging costs
and to help customers
save on shipping and
handling costs, we sell
computer disks only in
lots of 10 or more.
 UNNECESSARY: A one-year subscription
to PC Magazine is US$ 4500/year. That
rate is not as low as the rates charged for
some other magazines.
 SLIGHTLY IMPROVED: A one-year
subscription to PC Magazine is US$
4500/year.
 BENEFITS SPECIFIED:A one-year
subscription to PC Magazine is US$
4500/year, which is a 43% saving on the
newsstand price.
POWER IMPLICATIONS…
 ORDER: Turn in your time
card by tomorrow
morning…
 POLITE ORDER: Please
turn in your time card by
tomorrow morning…
 INDIRECT REQUEST: Time
cards have to be turned in by
tomorrow morning.
 POLITENESS: Would you be able
to turn in your time card by
tomorrow morning, please ?
POWER IMPLICATIONS…REWRITE FOR POLITENESS…

	ORDER:	To	start	the
scheduling process indicate
your	availability	for

meetings in the second week
of August.
 POLITE: …????

	ORDER:	Return the draft
with	any	changes	by

tomorrow evening.
 POLITE: …????
APOLOGISE EARLY – BRIEFLY & SINCERELY…
 I am sorry the clerk did not
credit your account
properly.
 I am sorry I did not answer
your letter sooner, I hope
that my delay has not
inconvenienced you.
 I am sorry that the chairs
will not be ready by
November 5th as promised.
 Your statement has been corrected to
include your payment of INR 2200.
 I am sorry I did not answer your letter
sooner.
 Due to a strike in the manufacturer’s
unit, the desk chairs you ordered will
not be ready till November end. Do you
want to keep that order, or would you
like to look at models available from
other suppliers ?

LET US RE-DRAFT THE E-MAILS …FOR ‘YOU’
ATTITUDE, POSITIVE EMPHASIS AND GOODWILL
 Draft a memo via e-mail to an employee who has gone on leave for urgent
medical treatment after informing the office telephonically, to send a letter as
soon as he can. The firm’s rules require the request in writing for sanctioning
the leave.
 Draft a mail from the HR department to all employees requesting them to use
water sparingly during the summer as a drought is likely
 Write a short business letter announcing the opening of your new office.
Address the letter to all your stakeholders requesting them to attend the
Inauguration ceremony
 A final notice letter to your dealer, who is three months behind on payments,
sent a fortnight before initiating legal collection procedures.
 Draft a motivational mail to your subordinate – who has served in your
department under you for the past ten years and has proved to be extremely
reliable at all times.