How to Write a Good Email

2020 · VOA Learning English

This speaker is a general-american model. Each line below can be recorded and scored against it.

Transcript

1. Email is one of the most important ways through which we communicate.

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2. It has become part of most everyone’s day-to-day life.

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3. Writing a good email can mean the difference between someone reading it and writing back, and someone ignoring it all together.

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4. Do you have questions on how to make your message more effective?

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5. Today on Education Tips, we will answer the question, “How can I make my emails better?”

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6. Emails are made up of four different parts: Let us explore how to

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7. The subject line is usually the most important part of an email. It should be short but contain enough details that the receiver recognizes the subject of the email.

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8. A good subject line sets the expectations for the email. A bad subject line can mean the receiver will not read the email.

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9. Some people will add the word “important” to the subject line, but this does not provide enough information.

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10. Instead of writing “important,” two better choices for subject lines are: Meeting Tomorrow at 10am to Discuss New Changes Question

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11. The opening of an email depends on things like how formal the relationship is.

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12. If you are sending an email to a friend or someone you work with, two good openings or greetings are: Good Morning/Afternoon,

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13. Hello, or Hello [name], If you are sending the email to someone you do not know and it is a formal situation, some possible openings

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14. are: Dear [name of department], To Whom it May Concern, In a formal situation, when you know the name of the person, a good opening is

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15. simply: Dear [title] [family name], As in, Dear Mister Brown, Body The body of the email is where you ask for what you

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16. need or make clear your reason for writing the email. This could be asking them a question or keeping them informed.

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17. The body of the email should prioritize the most important information. It should be direct, and it is wise to keep it short.

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18. If the person you are emailing does not know you, you should introduce yourself in the first few lines. You might write: My name is Patricia Jones.

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19. I am sending this email to get some more information about the job you advertised.

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20. After you have introduced yourself and given your reason for writing, you can follow this with the body of your email. The most important information should come first.

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21. This makes your email clear to your receiver and saves them time. Here is an example.

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22. I wanted to know if you are currently accepting applications If so, where can I send my information?

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23. Additionally, will you be meeting people in-person or online? It is important to clearly explain yourself in as few words as possible.

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24. Try to keep your email short, but polite This is important because you want to make yourself clear to your receiver.

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25. Closings The last part to a good email is the closing. It is usually one or two words that let the receiver know that this is the end of the email.

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26. The ending should include your name and tell the receiver where you work and what you do.

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27. A few different closings are: Kind regards, Best, Thank you, Some applications create an automatic signature for the sender.

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28. This is useful because it saves time when you are writing.

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29. Here is an example email: If you follow these suggestions, you will find that you receive more responses to your emails.

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30. Effective email writing is important especially now when so much of what we do is online. I’m Gregory Stachel.

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