HOW TO WRITE A FORMAL EMAIL

1. Use a professional email address.

 Ideally, your email address should be a variation of your real name, not a
username or nickname. Use periods, hyphens, or underscores to secure an
e-mail address that's just your name, without extra numbers or letters, if
you can.

 For instance, coolguy0127@theemail.com will seem unprofessional.

Meredith.Athena.Calhoun@theemail.com, however, is suitable.

2. Stick to a professional font.

 Most email services now allow you the option to write using a variety of
fonts and text styles. For a formal email, however, keep things
conservative, with fonts like Times New Roman and Arial. Avoid decorative
fonts like Comic Sans or Old English.

 Write your email in a legible font size, such as 12 point type.

 Avoid special styles like italics, highlighting, or multicolored fonts unless

they are warranted by the content and purpose of the email.

 Do not use all caps. These make it seem like you are shouting at the

recipient.

3. Use a short and accurate subject line.

 Use keywords in the subject line that suggest exactly what you are writing
about, in just a few words. This helps make sure that readers don’t
overlook your email because the subject line is missing, is too vague, or
suggests the email is unimportant.
  Subjects like “Quick question,” “Contacting you,” or “Email about an
important matter” are too vague or obvious to be useful.
 “Schedule, Guest List, Lunch Requests, and Meeting Overview for March
12th,” on the other hand, is overwhelmingly long and covers several topics.
 “Meeting RE: damaged escalator on March 12th,” however is short and to
the point. It alerts your recipient to a single primary topic and a specific
date.

4. Use a proper salutation.

 Always open a formal email with a salutation. Addressing the recipient by

name (if known) is preferred. Include the person's title (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr.,
etc.) with their last name, followed by a comma or a colon. You can
precede the salutation with "Dear..." if you like.
 If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to, use a salutation
like “Dear Sir/Madam,” “Dear Sir or Madam,” or “To whom it may
concern.”
 Do not use “Hello,” “Hey,” “Hi,” or other informal salutations.

5. Introduce yourself in the first paragraph (if necessary).

 If you are writing to someone you don't have an existing relationship with,
such as a new customer, hiring manager, or government official, tell them
who you are and why you are writing. Do this in the first sentence or two of
your email.
 For example, when writing to a potential employer, you might say: "My
name is Earl Rivers. I'm contacting you to apply for the administrative
assistant position listed on CareerXYZ.com."

6. Prioritize the most important information.

 Once you’ve introduced yourself and the general reason you’re writing, you
can follow up with the body of your email. Put the most important content
near the top. This respects your recipient’s time and makes the purpose of
your email clear.
  When writing to a government official, for instance, you might start by
saying: "My name is Arlene Rivers. I obtained your email address from the
Westchester County Clerk website. I am writing to contest the traffic
citation I received on December 31, 2009. "

7. Get to the point.

 For a formal email, it’s ok to be direct, as long as you are polite. Beating
around the bush will only lose your reader and make it harder to figure out
what you want or need from them.
 For instance, when writing to a professor, don’t waste space with
unnecessary padding like: “This is Darlene Frankreich. Do you know me?
CHEM 221 is my favorite class right now. I love the way the lectures are so
organized. I can always follow along and know what will be on the tests.
Speaking of tests, I was thinking about the next exam.”
 Instead, it would be much clearer to write something like: “This is Darlene
Frankreich. I’m a student in your CHEM 221 class, and I'm writing about a
potential exam time conflict.”

8. Keep it brief.

 There’s no set length for how long an email should be. However, it’s a good
idea to keep an email to about one (laptop or desktop size) screen length.[6]
 If your email is relatively lengthy, break it up into short paragraphs. Insert a
line break between each paragraph instead of indenting.

9. Use formal language.

 Since formal emails are written for professional contexts, you’ll want to
give a good impression. Use complete sentences and polite phrasing. Avoid
things like:
 Slang
 Unnecessary contractions
 Emoticons and emojis
 Profanity
 Jokes
10. Use a proper form of closing.

 As with salutations, there are a variety of closings that are acceptable in

formal emails. Make sure to follow up with your full name and job title or
other signature (if you have one). Examples of potential closings include:
 "Yours sincerely,"
 "Yours cordially,"
 "Respectfully,"
 "Best,"
 “Your student,”

11. Include any necessary attachments.

 If you need to include any attachments, make sure to mention them in the
body of the email to let the recipient know that they are included. Be
courteous by trying to keep the number of attachments and their file size
down, and by using common or widely compatible file types.[9]
 For example, include a note like “I am attaching a copy of my resume and
portfolio, in PDF format.”

12. Proofread your message for content, spelling, and grammar.

 Don’t just rely on your email service’s spelling or grammar checker. Reading
your email aloud or asking someone to proofread it is a great way to catch
any typos, mistakes, or unclear phrases.

13. Make sure that the email does not contain any sensitive information.

 Always keep in mind that email is not a secure communication system.

Remember that email servers can be hacked, or that your recipient might
intentionally or unintentionally share information that you didn’t want to
be divulged.
 Avoid including things like passwords, account numbers, and confidential
information in an email.
UNDERSTANDING THE TO, CC, BCC SECTIONS

When you send an email to a number of people, should you put the addresses in
the 'TO:', 'Cc', or 'Bcc' field?

What are the TO, Cc and Bcc meant for?

When you send an email to more than one person, you have three fields for their
email addresses.

Section 1: TO
The obvious place, labeled 'TO:'. You can put one address in that slot (called a
field), or many. Some systems insist one address goes in this slot; others let you
leave it blank.

Section 2: CC
Add Cc: this means Add carbon copy, or copy this letter to the following
addresses. Anyone can see who you sent this email to.

Cc: (Carbon Copy) - Put the email address(es) here if you are sending a copy for
their information (and you want everyone to explicitly see this)

Section 3: BCC
Add Bcc: this means Add blind carbon copies, i.e. send these people the same
letter, but don't let them see any of the other addresses. Only you can see who
you sent this email to.

Tthe Bcc field (Blind Carbon Copy) is used when you want other people to receive
the message, but you don't want the other recipients to know they got it. When
people get an e-mail, they'll also see all the people in the To and Cc lines - but not
Bcc.

The importance of understanding the options:

Protecting privacy: it's not wise to share people's addresses without their
permission. It may not be legal. It can certainly cause embarrassment.
Visual clutter: all the other email addresses are listed above the message.
Sometimes you can't even see the message until you scroll down.

Spam filters. Spammers and other baddies love the Bcc field, because they can
send spam to hundreds of people at a time, who think they are being addressed
personally. Consequently, one systematic way of blocking spam is to block all
emails sent to addresses in the Bcc field. I believe many workplaces, especially in
government, do this.

UNDERSTANDING THE SUBJECT SECTION

The subject line of and the first sentence of your email are the first thing you
notice when you receive an email and consequently the most important factors
when deciding about opening it or not. Email subject line is the first criteria that
anyone sees and this is what drives them to open your email or send it directly to
trash because they may assume it as not important or may contain viruses.

The subject section has to be interesting and unique. Your subject section has to
convince the recipient that the email contains information or messaging that are
more catchy and convincing, leaving the recipient curious about what’s inside
and persuading him to open the email.