Tips on Business Emails: Drafting the Email
18. Use a professional signature.
Make sure your signature follows the corporate template (if you have one). Don't add any funny messages or pieces of advice (in particular, don't tell me not to print your email: it only makes me wonder if you're writing from 2003.)
19. Never send "forwards".
Those funny photos of cats your classmate from middle school sent you? That "shocking but true" piece of political gossip from your colleague? That poignant story that moved you to tears? Do not hit Forward.
I'm not saying "work email is only for work". Tell your co-worker who's interested in music about this great concert you attended on the weekend, by all means. But mass-emailing a tasteless joke or incorrect information that isn't even relevant to your job won't do your reputation any favors.
However, if it's information you think someone would benefit from and you are sure it will be welcome, send it on after: a) checking it up online and making sure it's not a hoax and b) adding a few words about why you are sending it.
20. Tailor your style to the audience.
If the client you are writing to behaves informally (starts out his email with "Yo, dude!" for example), it's okay to be a little informal yourself. If my correspondent starts out "Dear Ms. Datta," no way should I write in return, "You know what, Luke?" If the email I got is all business, I don't start my reply with a joke. You get the idea. If you're not sure, go formal.
I'll put up the last of this series next week: some handy tips to keep in mind just before you send your email. Now tell me: what should the 21st tip be?
* Strunk and White tell us: "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."
