E-Mail Best Practices for All E-Mail

E-Mail Formats

Keep the e-mail format simple. If the message is all text and relatively short, include the entire message within the body of the e-mail, rather than forcing the reader to open an attachment.

Subjects

Be sure to include meaningful subject text. This will let the reader know immediately if s/he wants to open and read the message—or locate it quickly if s/he wants to reread it.

Salutations

Always begin a message with a salutation. If you normally address a person as Miss/Mrs./Ms./Mr./Dr. Garcia, then address the person as Miss/Mrs./Ms./Mr./Dr. Garcia in e-mail. If you normally call the person by her first name, then use a salutation like “Dear Jennifer” or “Jennifer.”

Signatures

Just as you would close business snail mail with something like:

Marion Smith
Policy & Web Consultant
CSU Dominguez Hills
msmith@csudh.edu

it is a good idea to close e-mail with virtually the same information. It is true that Outlook automatically includes the sender’s address in the message, but sometimes that address is an abbreviation that doesn’t clearly identify you as the sender. Notice that a title, the university’s name, and an e-mail address are included in the sample signature. Most netiquette documents recommend four lines or less in a signature. In snail mail, this data would be included in a letterhead. In e-mail, letterheads are ordinarily avoided in the interest of brevity.

Brevity

“Brevity is the soul of wit [William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act ii, Sc. 2].” Shakespeare was right. On the other hand, avoid sending a message that is so terse that it can be misinterpreted. Have you ever received a reply that simply says “Sure”—then spent the next 30 minutes trying to figure out what you had asked in the first place?

Shouting

Writing messages in all uppercase is called “shouting.” Such a message format is less legible than an upper-and-lowercase combination and is disliked by a high percentage of readers.

Forwarding a Private E-Mail Message

In general, you should never forward a private e-mail message without the author’s permission. Two primary issues here are privacy and copyright.

See also Best Practices for Bulk E-Mail.