Email Best Practices
Review this page for VV email best practices
Subject line: Clear, informative, keyword-dense
Email subject lines must be crisp, clear, and informative. They should specify what the contents of the email are while providing (briefly) context for the email itself.
Vague subject lines like “Notes” or “Some questions” are pointless. Moreover, they imply that it’s the recipient’s job to figure out what your email contents are.
Tips on how you should approach it
If it’s about an engagement or client/partner project, include its name (in some way)
Write the subject line first! - and never send a message with the subject line left blank
Write the subject line before the email so you know it’s taken care of
Keep it short. Get right to the point in about five to eight words - MAX!
A typical inbox reveals about 60 characters of an email’s subject line
A mobile phone shows 25 to 30 characters
Place the most important words at the beginning.
Put which project you’re talking about in the beginning of the subject
Eliminate filler words.
With such precious space, don’t waste it with unnecessary words like “hello,” “nice to meet you,” and “thanks,” which can easily be included in the email’s body
Be clear and specific about the topic of the email.
The subject line should communicate exactly what the email is about so that the recipient can prioritize the email’s importance without having to open it
For example, writing “Do you have a sec?” is vague.
Keep it simple and focused.
It should be focused on one action, which should be communicated in the subject line
For example, offer one takeaway, indicate how the reader can make use of it, and specify how you will deliver it: “Action required” or “No action — FYI only.”
Use logical keywords for search and filtering.
Good subject lines use keywords — it’s not feedback on the “deck,” it’s feedback on the “Revised brand deck.”
The recipient knows which document is being referred to before opening the message, and keywords related to the topic of the email makes them easily searchable later.
Examples of what not to use: (no context to recipients of the topic, project or client):
“deck feedback”
“Budgets”
“Invoice”
“Confirming today’s meeting
Example Subject Lines to use: (Specific to client, internal topic, project):
“[company name] revised brand deck — my thoughts and questions”
“VV - Social Media Update”
“Proposed changes to [website].com”
“VV Biz Dev Reminder: Update Tracks & Highrise”
Email content: Clear, explicit, direct
Good emails are clear, explicit, and direct. They are a tool with a utilitarian goal: to cause recipients to take a desired action.
That action might be:
Understand a piece of information
Respond to a question
Do something specific
Basic guidelines when composing an email
Create emails that are easy to scan and read- A scannable email allows your busy readers to get the important information they need much faster.
Write short paragraphs and sentences
Separate chunks of text
Use descriptive, interesting headlines
Use visuals to add variety such as:
Ample whitespace. Space out copy, with only one or (a max of) two sentences per paragraph.
Bullets and numbers for lists.
Formatting. Use bold and underline formatting to highlight important details, words, sections etc.
Emphasis. You may even use ALL CAPS to emphasize words — just not excessively.
No sentence fragments- Avoid using incomplete sentence fragments. The meaning of your sentences is clear to YOU, because you are thinking them. But a skimmer might misread them.
Ex: “Great meeting — would love to talk sometime next week”
Corrected: “It was great to meet you! Do you have any time to continue the conversation next week?”
Avoid negatively charged language- Try not to use words that will create negative emotions in your readers’ minds. It sounds silly, but people remember how they felt more than they remember the specific words
Ex: “I doubt it will be a catastrophe”
Corrected: “I’m sure it will be great,” “We are so excited,” etc.
Place your call to action at the beginning of your email- Put high priority tasks and info at the start of the email
Emphasize team members for whom the email is particularly relevant to
Think before you hit reply all!- Ask yourself “Do all of the recipients need to see this email?”
Consider what is best to handle face-to-face
If you’re 4 paragraphs deep into a manifesto, this is a good sign that you need to call a meeting, or pick up the phone, or go beyond the written word to get your point across.
(Not that a written documentation of your thoughts — perhaps sent as a follow-up note — isn’t useful).
Proof emails before sending- Here are some common edits made on the second read-through:
Move the last line of the email to the top. Remember writing papers in college, where your ending paragraphs were always better than your introductions? The same thing happens here. Move the last line to the top.
Remove colloquialisms. Phrases like “How about we…” and “It would be great if we could go ahead and…” will come out naturally in your writing. Remove them when editing.
Remove excessive ellipses and dashes.
Ellipses makes your prose feel flighty… like you aren’t bringing your thoughts home…
Dashes—like this one—imply disconnected, fragmentary thinking—the kind you’d like to avoid communicating
Fix spelling, punctuation and grammar. There’s no shame in writing a draft with spelling & grammar errors; there is a great deal of shame, however, in pressing “Send” without an editing round. There are dozens of free solutions out there. Use ‘em!
Remove jokes, ironic language etc. It sounded funny in your head, but it’s dangerous on paper. You aren’t there in person to gauge your recipient’s mood, or apologize when things land the wrong way. Unless you’ve got something absolutely dynamite, save the jokes for meetings and phone calls.
How to write emails for maximum clarity
Structure the email
Nobody wants to receive emails that take multiple read-thoughs to grasp. Structuring your email will help your recipient quickly understand and grasp the main points.
Basic, all-purpose email structure
Opening line: Provide context. What’s the purpose of the email.
The meat: Provide the core point or ask the key question.
Details and action items: What’s going to happen next? Are there deadlines or dependencies?
Signoff: Thank you and your name.
Here’s how this looks in action:
Hi [Client],
We’re excited to kick off the brand launch project with you. (Opening line)
How does mid-next week look for a kickoff meeting? (The meat)
We'll run through a project timeline and outline our initial thoughts on how to approach. (Detail)
Currently these time slots work for us: (Detail)
Tuesday 8/28 between 9am and 11:30am
Tuesday 8/28 after 3:30
Wednesday 8/29 after 1pm
Could you let me know if any of those windows work? Also, let me know your preferred location. We're happy to host, or come to you. (Conference call works too).
Thanks!
Numbers and bullets when dealing with lists
Whenever possible, chunk information into bulleted or numbered lists.
Use numbers for ordered or prioritized lists, such as an action plan to be followed in a specific order.
Use bullets for lists where the order isn’t important.
Use sub-bullets and sub-numbers to group subordinate topics underneath top-level bullets.
You may also want to use numbers for longer or more complex lists, or lists that will be referred to often. It’s easier to say “Item #5” and have the number 5 right there, rather than having to count to find the fifth bullet.
Tips for structuring long emails
Every once in a while, you’ll need to write a longer email:
Detailing a plan of action (or choices between several plans of action) to a group of people
Relating a longer piece of information (a meeting recap, a strategy discussion etc.)
Detailed analysis/questions (in response to a presentation, a pitch, etc.)
Longer emails require a secondary layer of structure.
Open with a paragraph that sets up the contents of the email
Include action items and next steps at the top, so that people who don’t read the entire thing still grasp the main points
Clearly label subsections with Underlined titles
How to get your readers to do things
You’ve won over your audience with a clear subject line, compact prose and adherence to form. Now you need them to take your email and act on it. Here’s how.
Be explicit when asking questions or giving commands.
We’re often uncomfortable asking people questions or giving them commands, particularly if they are clients or rank above us.
It feels easier to disguise your question/command as a weak conditional:
“If you could let me know about Tuesday, that would be great"
“If you could please take a look at the mockups and let me know of notes”
“Can you take a look at your schedule, we are hoping to get this on the books this week"
But this ambiguous phrasing doesn’t resonate with the reader as well as clear, direct questions and commands. Instead, word things like this:
“How does Tuesday at 2 work?"
“Please review the mockups and send me any questions/edits.”
“What are some good windows for a meeting this week?"
Break out action items and provide additional detail (names, due dates etc.) whenever possible
Don’t let questions and action items get buried in paragraphs. Give them their own line in the email.
If there are multiple action items, I’ll often create a section called “Action Items” and park all action items under there as a numbered list.
Whenever possible, name the person responsible. Seeing our own name in print is arresting, and even a fast-moving skimmer will likely stop and read the sentence. BOLD it for extra weight.
Poor example:
“It would be great if you could send those over so I can review on the plane tonight.”
Good example:
“Lindsey, can you send the files by EOD?"
Suggest options whenever possible
The less open-ended your questions, the higher the likelihood of them getting answered.
This is because people intuitively see choosing options as easier than coming up with an answer themselves. Think back to high school — didn’t you prefer multiple choice tests to essay questions?
Whenever I’m scheduling something, for example, I always provide 3 windows that work for me as a first round of choices. It’s easier for someone to check a definite time (say, Wednesday at 9am) against their calendar than to make a list of their open time windows.
Suggestions also give the impression that you’re in motion, which is a better incentive to act than the impression that you’re sitting around waiting for a reply. When I suggest “Wednesday at 9am,” it implies that I’m holding that slot — a better incentive to reply.
Respecting other people’s inboxes
Do not Forward or Copy people on emails without telling them why at the top of the email.
Sometimes we receive emails that are important to other people, so we forward the chain, or copy them on our reply.
Always explain to the person WHY you are doing this. Nobody enjoys receiving a 12-email thread with no context.
A single sentence is enough. “I think you’d find this interesting." “I’m copying Lisa to review your questions and provide additional detail."
Do not introduce new topics into unrelated email chains.
I’ve seen, for instance, email threads about design tweaks morph into intense, 40-message budgeting discussions. Often, important information and critical action items are missed, simply because nobody has time to stay on top of a 40-message email thread. Because the subject line is still, “Design tweaks,” there’s no indication that it contains important budgeting info.
Please don’t do this. It’s one of the least effective ways to disseminate information. Start a new email chain for new topics, important questions and key action items.
When in doubt, CC — but take heed of other people’s preferences.
It’s better to CC someone unnecessarily than leave them off a chain they should be on, so the safest bet is to CC people.
Be mindful when adding people to a chain.
Conversely to the point above, don’t add someone to a chain unless there’s a good reason for them to be on it.
BCC unneeded people with an explanatory note.
If someone is no longer needed on a chain, do them a favor and move them to BCC with a note explaining why. It’s a polite way to reduce their inbox clutter.
“Moving Bob to BCC because I don’t think this is relevant to you, please let me know if otherwise.”
Other tips
Enable “Undo Send” to prevent errors
If you’re on Gmail, you can easily enable “Undo Send”. Please do this!
Undo Send gives your emails a small buffer of time before they officially leave your inbox. If you don’t like the way you said something, or catch an error, you can move the email back into “Drafts.”
Use Boomerang (or similar) to delay-send emails.
For when you're composing emails towards the end of the day, but don’t want them to hit people’s inboxes until first thing in the AM.
Boomerang is an extension that allows you to schedule emails. You can hit send at 7pm, but set it to go out at 10am the next day.
And yes, you can make it look like you’re sending emails at 6:30am.
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