What Real Email Communication Is
Communication, the art of getting your point across, is constantly evolving and has found its challenges in the virtual marketplace in the form of email. Most communication experts are probably familiar with the 7%-38%-55% rule. Albert Mehrabian, a renowned American Psychologist, was the first one to demonstrate the relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication. The rule states that words or a persons vocabulary covers 7% of the total communication pie while tone of voice and body language share the larger piece with 38% for tone of voice and 55 % for physiology or body posture. Although Professor Alberts rule has proven to be extremely helpful to us in the physical world, the rules in the virtual world are entirely different. Since email relies solely on written content as a form of communication, it is necessary to give the quality of your email communication attention.
Victory loves preparation. This means that the more prepared you are to write, the better your email quality is. To effectively communicate using email, it is vital to take the time to reflect about what you intend to write. And since it is often much easier to simply rush to click that reply or send button, it is important to realize that being in too big a hurry will never improve the quality of your email. So prior to composing your email message, it is a good idea to write an outline of your thoughts and then prepare a first draft. Your outline should cover all the essential aspects of your message with the purpose of breaking it down into pieces to make it easier for your reader to digest the content. Sometimes it is pays to stop, look and listen. Stop means to pause before writing and to reflect on what to write. To look means to look at your draft and search for any grammatical and spelling errors while you are listening to it personally when reading.
Other proven ways to enhance the quality of your email communication is by putting what you want to emphasize in your email in bullet point form. This is helpful because you are clarifying the matter at hand for your recipient, minimizing wasted time in interpreting the subject. For added strength in your email communication, you can add emphasis in your text by using asterisks, underlines and capitalized letters. You can even use emoticons and tags to enhance your content. Used in appropriate situations, emoticons are good enhancers to your email. Imagine what difference may make if someone sends you a reply with a smiling emoticon in it.
As for some guidelines for writing the content, we suggest that you use the PASS method. P stands for Purpose. In this beginning stage, the writer must ask what the purpose of the email is. A stands for Action: this stage talks about the desired outcome for writing the email. In short, it compels the reader to act. S stands for Support: here, you can consider attaching the necessary documents to make your message clearer. Lastly, the last S represents the Summary: before hitting the send button, we recommend that you check that the subject line fully represents your email content.
Victory loves preparation. This means that the more prepared you are to write, the better your email quality is. To effectively communicate using email, it is vital to take the time to reflect about what you intend to write. And since it is often much easier to simply rush to click that reply or send button, it is important to realize that being in too big a hurry will never improve the quality of your email. So prior to composing your email message, it is a good idea to write an outline of your thoughts and then prepare a first draft. Your outline should cover all the essential aspects of your message with the purpose of breaking it down into pieces to make it easier for your reader to digest the content. Sometimes it is pays to stop, look and listen. Stop means to pause before writing and to reflect on what to write. To look means to look at your draft and search for any grammatical and spelling errors while you are listening to it personally when reading.
Other proven ways to enhance the quality of your email communication is by putting what you want to emphasize in your email in bullet point form. This is helpful because you are clarifying the matter at hand for your recipient, minimizing wasted time in interpreting the subject. For added strength in your email communication, you can add emphasis in your text by using asterisks, underlines and capitalized letters. You can even use emoticons and tags to enhance your content. Used in appropriate situations, emoticons are good enhancers to your email. Imagine what difference may make if someone sends you a reply with a smiling emoticon in it.
As for some guidelines for writing the content, we suggest that you use the PASS method. P stands for Purpose. In this beginning stage, the writer must ask what the purpose of the email is. A stands for Action: this stage talks about the desired outcome for writing the email. In short, it compels the reader to act. S stands for Support: here, you can consider attaching the necessary documents to make your message clearer. Lastly, the last S represents the Summary: before hitting the send button, we recommend that you check that the subject line fully represents your email content.
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