It's happened to everyone. You misunderstand something in an email, or your recipient misunderstands something you wrote, and what follows is a confusing back-and-forth that can take all day to sort out. Not fun.
Unfortunately, misunderstandings are common in email communication. There are a number of reasons for this. People tend to write emails when they're in a hurry, and send them out without proofreading. People send emails from their phones, and the "auto-correct" software kicks in and makes an unintelligible garble out of what should be a simple message.
Whatever the cause of bad email communication, there are some simple solutions. Here are my top tips for better email communication:
1.) Be concise, but write in complete sentences.
Conciseness is especially important for work- and school-related emails, because people in those environments get many emails every day, and by necessity tend to read them quickly. If your email is long and involved, your recipient might miss important details. Stick to main ideas, and try to get your point across in as few words as possible.
In the days of text messages and online abbreviations, the idea of writing in full sentences may seem like a bit of a dinosaur. But writing in clear, complete sentences is the best way to avoid confusion. YOU may understand your personal version of shorthand, but your reader might not.
Note: If your message is too complex to communicate concisely via email, consider emailing to ask when your recipient might have time for a quick meeting or phone call.
2.) If your message is complex or has multiple components, use white space, bullet points, and/or boldface to make your message easier to read.
My "Writing Tip of the Week" emails demonstrate this. Think how unreadable this post would be if I didn't leave a space between each item and put main ideas in bold. Bullet points or numbers can be especially useful for making lists. It is generally easier to read a bulleted or numbered list than a big chunk of text.
3.) Proofread.
Just as you would never turn in a paper without proofreading it, don't send an email without reading through it first. To be extra confident that you are sending off a clear, well written message, read the text out loud. This will force you to slow down and hear how your sentences sound. You will be much more likely to catch errors this way.
Proofreading will also help you to be more concise. In addition to checking for grammatical errors and misspellings, look for places where you could trim down your language.
4.) Use the subject line.
Communicate the central idea of your message in the subject line, so that your recipient has an idea of the email's content before s/he even starts to read it. The subject heading can also help your recipient to prioritize your message among all the others s/he receives that day, and it may save your message from being mistaken for spam and deleted. Lastly, once your recipient has read your email, the subject line will help her to find it if she ever needs to read it again.
5.) Use a "topic sentence" to summarize the main idea of your email right away.
Example:
Joan,
I wanted to give you a quick update on my progress with finding donors for the silent auction in May.
In the first line of this email, the author gives her recipient a clear idea of the message's purpose. Now she can go into more detail.
6.) Be clear and specific about what you want your recipient to do with your message.
Make sure there is no ambiguity about your end game. If you need a prompt reply, or a reply by a certain date, (politely) say so. If you want to set up a meeting or telephone call to discuss the subject in more detail, say so. If you need the reader to pass your information along to someone else, say that. If you want your recipient's opinion on something, make sure s/he knows that. Also be sure to let your reader know if you want her to simply let you know that she received and read your message (this is especially important for students who are sending assignments to their professors--asking for a confirmation of receipt can alert the sender if the recipient didn't receive the email).
As always, I hope you'll find these tips helpful. Happy emailing!
Whitney Kurtz-Ogilvie, MFAW
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