I was recently talking to some senior high school students about how you e-mail people in the business community, prospective employers, college professors, etc. The majority of them had no idea how to approach the matter, and those that turned in example e-mails misjudged the tone you should take when writing a formal e-mail.

Things to Do

• Make sure you give the e-mail a meaningful subject line: “Hi” or “message from stacey” is not appropriate. Start the e-mail with a polite, but formal salutation e.g. “Dear Shelley Smith” or Dear Dr Jones.

Make sure the first sentence of your e-mail makes it clear why you are writing: e.g. Dear Dr Jones,
I am writing to inform you that I shall be unable to attend your seminar on Tuesday as I have a dental appointment I was unable to reschedule.
OR
Dear Stella Smith,
I am interested in applying for a summer internship at Big Company PLC: do you know if there are any vacancies still available for next year?

Things Not to Do

• Don’t leave the subject field of an e-mail blank empty. Busy business people want to know why you’re contacting them quickly, efficiently, and politely.
• Don’t write in an overly familiar tone. Remember it’s okay to be friendly, but business communication is different to writing to close friends.
• Don’t write long, rambling and overly chatty e-mails that fail to get to the point.
• Don’t forget to spell-check your email. There’s nothing worse than appearing sloppy.
• Don’t forget the golden rule of email writing: keep it short and simple.

Related Link: Writing sensible emails

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