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CHECKLIST FOR EFFECTIVE E-MAIL

COPYRIGHT 1997 BY THE WRITING CENTER, INC., 129 Willowbrook Lane, West Chester, PA 19382-3300. All rights reserved. This article or any part thereof must not be reproduced or used in any form without the written permission of the authors.

Use the following checklist to ensure that your e-mail reflects your professionalism and increases your credibility within your company:

1. Company e-mail is the appropriate choice for this document. The e-mail, which may reside in your system's memory and be accessible to people other than the intended reader:
   • Contains information that pertains only to your job responsibilities or to Company-approved functions. You followed Company guidelines for using e-mail for personal communications.
   • Contains no confidential or sensitive information. It could be made public or subpoenaed without embarrassment to your Company or you, the writer.
   • Is not a way of avoiding talking to someone in person or by telephone. Don't let e-mail replace human interaction that builds relationships and allows you to observe or hear people's reactions to what you are saying.
   • Contains no reprimanding or emotional wording. Constructive criticism is received best in one-to-one, in-person coaching sessions.
   • Requires immediate response.
   • Is not information required by the reader for long-term reference.
2. The distribution list is appropriate:
   • All those who should receive the information have been copied. For example, you have not relied upon the primary reader to distribute the information to his/her direct reports if you require them to have the information.
   • Those who do not need to know the information have not been copied.
3. You have respected your reader's time and edited the e-mail for clarity. You:
   • Eliminated wordiness; eliminated any "streams of consciousness."
   • Used short words, sentences, and paragraphs.
   • Used precise, factual wording.
   • Translated technical jargon and acronyms as appropriate for the distribution list.
   • Deleted any unnecessary "document trail."
4. You have used professional presentation, tone, and courtesy. You:
   • Used simple format that will convert well to all computer systems/programs.
   • Used upper and lower case letters rather than all capitals. Upper and lower case letters are easier to read; using all capitals sounds like yelling. The rule of thumb is to put no more than eight words in all capitals; you have saved all capitals for emphasis or headings.
   • Have written the e-mail from your reader's point of view. Your wording is considerate and polite; it is objective and direct without being abrupt.
   • Used words that are appropriate for a business environment.
5. You have organized the e-mail strategically. You ensured accurate and complete content. You:
   • Provided a subject heading and opening purpose statement that predict the document's content.
   • Anticipated and answered your reader's questions, providing background information when it helps your reader understand your message.
   • Double-checked the accuracy of facts and figures.
   • Clearly and explicitly asked for action or described what you will do next.
6. You have proofread the e-mail. You:
   • Used correct, consistent punctuation.
   • Used your spell checker. Double-checked the spelling of people's names and of Company products and services.
   • Replaced "brief hand" abbreviations such as "w/" and "info" with standard spellings.
   • Ensured your precise use of all vocabulary, especially of any unfamiliar vocabulary gleaned from your computer's thesaurus.
   • Checked grammar (especially subject-verb agreement) and usage (for example, commonly confused words such as "there" and "their").
   • Checked sentence structure (especially to correct any fragments or run-on sentences).

About the authors: Carol Klein and Sandra Nutting, founders of The Writing Center, Inc., West Chester, PA, provide training in Effective Business and Technical Writing to major corporations and organizations worldwide. For more information about our writing courses, contact us at writing@writingcenter.com or call us at 610-436-4600.