Are your professional emails in English having the right impact?

Writing an impactful email in English is not just about grammar and vocabulary, it is also about structure, simplicity and tone. These can make all the difference as to how your recipient understands the message you are trying to convey.

Here are some examples:

You should follow a standard structure to give your emails clarity and personalisation.

Use an opening to start a conversation, or maintain an ongoing dialogue that creates and fosters a relationship over email.

I hope you are well/all is well: It shows you care about that person. It’s respectful and a safe phrase to initiate a friendly approach.

I hope you had a great weekend/week/day: It depends on which time or day of the week you are reaching out. This phrase is one of the most common in business emails.

I hope you enjoyed your break: It works when you have the information that the person was in their holiday period and when you want to continue a conversation that had to stop because of that.

I hope you feel better soon: When you know the person is recovering from a surgery or illness and therefore wasn’t available at work.

I hope you enjoyed the (name of the event): When you are reaching out after a corporate event that you have organised, using this phrase makes a great first impression, mainly if you will ask for something on the email.

Secondly, use the main part of the email to explain the purpose and achieve the goal of the email.

I am writing to you about… Here you can insert anything related to a previous conversation or meeting you had with the recipient. Also, you can use this introduction to talk about future events.

I am writing to ask/enquire/let you know/confirm/invite you to/to update you on/ask for…”: Use this when you want to ask for information, a positioning, make an invitation without further ado. It’s a way to be direct and keep the email short.

Finally, summarise with a brief conclusion or a personal sign off. This structure keeps the email formal, allows for personalisation and will stop any mad ramblings.

Please let me know if this works/if you are available/if that sounds good/if you can/if you can help/if you need to reschedule…: It’s a phrase to finish the email showing that you need a response about what you have sent to the recipient.

I look forward to seeing/meeting you: Use it when you are scheduling a personal appointment.

2- Simplicity

Emails, like traditional business letters, need to be clear and concise. Keep your sentences short and to the point. The body of the email should be direct and informative, and it should contain all pertinent information.

Bad Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report

Hi Jackie,

Thanks for sending that report last week. I read it yesterday, and I feel that Chapter 2 needs more specific information about our sales figures. I also felt that the tone could be more formal.

Also, I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday regarding the new ad campaign. It's at 11:00 a.m. and will be in the small conference room.

Please let me know if you can make that time.

Thanks!

Monica

Good Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report

Hi Jackie,

Thanks for sending that report last week. I read it yesterday, and I feel that Chapter 2 needs more specific information about our sales figures.

I also felt that the tone could be more formal.

Could you amend it with these comments in mind?

Thanks for your hard work on this!

Monica

(Monica then follows this up with a separate email about the PR department meeting.)

3- Tone

When we meet people face-to-face, we use the other person's body language, voice, and facial expressions to assess how they feel. Email robs us of this information, and this means that we can't tell when people have misunderstood our messages.

Your choice of words, sentence length, punctuation, and capitalisation can easily be misinterpreted without visual and auditory cues. In the first example below, Emma might think that Harry is frustrated or angry, but, in reality, he feels fine.

Bad Example

Emma,

I need your report by 5 p.m. today or I'll miss my deadline.

Harry

Good Example

Hi Emma,

Thanks for all your hard work on that report. Could you please get your version over to me by 5 p.m., so I don't miss my deadline?

Thanks so much!

Harry

What do you think? Do you agree? What would you add?