Emails are probably one of the best inventions know to man. They are abundantly useful in many ways. Yet some or rather most of us fail to use this important communication device properly. There are some key things to remember when communicating with people that most people forget when using email.

Email is an open form of communication similar to a mailed letter, but it should be treated more on a personal level. Below I’ve outlines some key points of communication that are important to making sure the person or persons your in conversation with don’t curse you out when they read your emails. Also some other points that are important as a base of communication that we usually discard when we shouldn’t.

1. Always use a greeting “Hello, Hi, Hey or WHATS UP HOMIE!”
Sometimes in emails we get into a conversation that doesn’t require a greeting, but when first contacting someone a greeting should always be used. Not saying hello sets a tone that people generally don’t respond well to and can come off a brash.

2. Don’t bark orders, ask someone to do something for you
I don’t know how many times I get emails with no greeting first off, and second they bark orders or are very short. It sets the same tone as not saying hello. Word your emails fluently and respectfully and people will respond positively.

Example:
“This work needs to be done by wednesday please let me know when it is completed”

“Hey Tony,
I just got word this project needs to get done by wednesday. We need to make sure we get this done by then. Please let me know when you can have this to me. Thanks, Matt”

3. Always end with a sign off
Another lesson is setting a tone. Saying thanks, please and just being courteous works wonders. This is a conversation, so write it out like its one.

Basic structure
1. Greeting
2. Body (be nice!)
3. Signature/sign off

4. Answer when someone writes you something
This is, I feel, one of the most important things in conversating via email. Acknowledge someone when they write you. I don’t know how many times I’ve written and email to a coworker and had to ask, “Hey did you get that email”. Just write back! A simple “Thanks”, “You got it”, “Foresheezy” ANYTHING will suffice. It’s a conversation for god sakes, answer the person. Would you not answer someone you were talking to directly? Since we are at a loss for body language in email conversations we need to confirm receipt and understanding. If everyone did this the world wide web would be a better place.

5. Leave emotion out of business emails
I don’t want to hear your sick of your dog just died in business emails. Don’t get me wrong I love my dog, but emotion emails sets a tone that you don’t want. Keep things professional and strong. Don’t be a weenie emailer. Be straight and to the point

6. If your email is two pages, its too long
This is email, not a ebook. Keep your mail short and to the point. If your email starts to get long, you might want to think about creating an attachment to put your life story into.

7. More than 4 attachments is too many
Don’t send someone 50 images attached to an email. First of all, its annoying second of all your email will probably get bounced. If you have a bunch of files create a package, or a zip file to compress it and make it more manageable. You don’t want to be crashing peoples email clients because you send over a ton of attached files.

8. Don’t send files over 10MB
I know the limit on email attachments is 13MB but don’t go there. Sending large files is just bad etiquette. Large emails take long to load in emails clients. And with the birth of smart phones and reading email on mobile no one want to wait 5 minutes to see that 30MB video of grandma doing backflips, although they might…

9. Make your subject relevant to the content of the email
“Hi” isn’t a good subject for any email. First of all it will probably get marked as spam. Second, it’s going to be hard to find anything important in that email if you need to access it later. If someone else has a bad subject CHANGE IT. Make sure the subject briefly and accurately describes the content of the email. It’s good practice and will help later when you need to find that important email with the elephant sitting on that car that was so funny.

10. Lastly, just be nice
No one likes to be barked at, so setting the tone of your email is infinitely valuable so everyone doesn’t hate you. Keep it simple, be nice and above all treat email as a conversation not a letter.

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