<No subject>
hiiii ms k!!
i got 64 on my final lol. coud make it 65??
tysm
Almost every year, professors at Mississippi State University receive an email like the one above. As one could imagine, these emails get sent straight to the trash with no response.
How can students improve their technical writing skills to excel both academically and in the workforce?
Despite the constant communication in the current digital age, some MSU students still do not know how to properly write and respond to emails. While it is easy to blame digital messaging apps like Snapchat and Instagram for Gen Z’s lack of professional writing experience, the underlying problem remains.
And while other students know how to use the right language, they still lack knowledge of proper email principles. Knowing the appropriate subject lines, who to carbon copy and what context information to include are all parts of making emails more informative and easier to read.
Writing proper emails not only shows that one respects the person they are writing to, but it also reflects how much the person sending the email wants to be respected.
Where to start
When drafting an email, either to a professor, fellow student or workforce member, the first step one should take is knowing who to include in the conversation.
For example, if Kaitlyn is emailing her club president about an idea for a recruitment event, she should be sending that email to both her president and the club’s recruiting officer. This way, multiple people are informed of Kaitlyn’s idea. Emailing multiple people also increases the chances of getting a quicker response.
The purpose of carbon-copying, or “cc-ing,” someone in an email is to make sure that this person is informed, but does not need to respond to the conversation within the email.
The purpose of the blind carbon copy section (“bcc”) is to include someone, but without letting the other people within the email chain know.
For example, if Cassy wanted to email everyone in her sorority, but wanted to avoid having a series of reply-all responses, she would use blind carbon copy.
The subject line is one of the most important things to include when drafting an email. Having a subject line that is too long or too short could lead to the email being overlooked. An optimal subject line should be somewhere between five to nine words long.
The subject line should be a summary of the main topic and talking points within the email. This way, when the recipient wants to go through their inbox for the email, they can find it without trouble.
Writing the email
Every email, casual or formal, should begin with a formal greeting. Common greetings for emails can include “Dear”, “Hello”, “Good morning/afternoon”or simply the receiver’s name/title.
Karen Schmidt is the assistant director of the MSU Writing Center and teaches the Writing for the Workplace class to help students advance their technical writing skills.
“One thing students often lack is an introduction in their email. Some professors teach multiple classes, each with a hundred people in them,” Schmidt said, “And when students don’t specify who they are and what class they are in, the professor can have no idea who is emailing them.”
So before drafting the body paragraph(s) in their emails, authors should be sure to let their recipients know who they are.
The body of an email contains all of the essential information about the topic(s) the author wants to address. To make the body of an email as neat and professional as possible, avoid formatting the body as a single paragraph.
“Another mistake students make is that they expect a response without actually asking a question,” Schmidt added.
If people sending emails expect a response, they should be sure to specify what they expect from a response, whether that is in the form of a question or a request.
Closing statements
Every email should end with a formal closing. Closing statements can include “Sincerely,” “Thank you,” “Regards,” “Wishing you well” or simply the author’s name/title.
Authors should also include their phone number or alternative contact information in their closing statements so that the recipient has an easier time getting in contact with them.
To be extra professional, authors can include signatures, which contain information about themselves, including contact numbers, place of employment or school and any additional roles they have.
For more information about how to write emails professionally, visit sites like Indeed or speak with workers at the MSU Writing Center located in Mitchell Memorial Library.
