Email Archives

How to Be Assertive, Not Pushy

If you write to customers, clients, employees, or almost anyone on the job, you have times when you need to assert yourself. You have to disagree, delegate, instruct, remind, and say no—in each situation coming across as clear and forceful without pushing into rudeness. The… continue reading

Preserve Your Relationships, Even in Sticky Situations

If you are human, you face situations during your workday that require you to write under pressure. Maybe you have to respond to an angry employee’s email. Maybe you seriously disagree with a coworker and need to put your reasons in writing. Or you may… continue reading

How Thinking Small Can Improve Your Writing

On the job, we strive to think big. We try to see the big picture and the long view. But thinking big can weaken our writing. This post explains how to avoid that problem. Yes, big ideas are important. Organizations thrive because of their vision… continue reading

The Most Common Capitalization Error

Guess which is the error: Best Regards, OR Best regards, In email after email (including two this morning), I find people incorrectly capitalizing the complimentary close. The rule is to capitalize only the first word of the close. This rule applies wherever you use a complimentary… continue reading

10 Things NOT to Tell Your Email Readers

Sometimes people say things in email that would be better left unsaid. This list of 10 examples will alert you to statements that can weaken your messages and your business relationships. 1. “My manager told me to handle it this way, but I’m not sure he… continue reading

Email

Read Carefully Before You Write That Email

Emails have their problems. They can suffer from old subject lines, too many topics, lack of focus, and bad punctuation. But one serious, time-wasting email problem has nothing to do with writing. That problem is reading. Actually it's poor reading–reading an email too fast or only partway before responding. My… continue reading

21 Ways to Shrink the Email Monster

Are you haunted by too much email appearing nonstop, lurking in your inbox, and raising your anxiety level? If you are like most people at work, you get too much unnecessary email. If you need to keep your email open, you probably have messages popping up constantly,… continue reading

To Cc or Not to Cc? That Is the Question

Do you know when to copy people on the emails you send? Or do you cc a bunch of people and hope to offend no one? This post will reduce your cc doubts. Should you cc or not? To answer that question, remember that your… continue reading

Caution: Read the Thread Before You Send

Forwarded emails can threaten professional relationships and reputations. And they often communicate the dangerous content where we don’t readily see it–lower down the thread, in a previous screen. The three examples below will remind you to scroll and check content before clicking Send. 1. I… continue reading

Email

Can This Email Be Saved?

I got a request from Luke, who wanted help with an email. He wrote: I recently authored a brief ACT prep guide that I am giving to schools throughout the country free of charge. Unfortunately, the response rate from superintendents/ principals has been very low.… continue reading