Photo Credit: rakka_pl

Here’s the second part in my series about how to write an e-mail. Last time I wrote, I covered whether or not you should actually write an email in the first place. This time around, I’ll assume that you’ve decided that you really need to communicate your message via email. Today I want to tell you about formatting – I know, I know, formatting is probably not your idea of a SUPEREXCITINGTOPICOMG!, but I’m telling you, formatting can easily make the difference between you communicating your message effectively and professionally, and coming across as a Crayola rep who had a little too much Kool-Aid that day. This is an important distinction, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Okay, so here it goes – 5 formatting tips to make sure you get your message across:

5 Formatting Tips

1. Chose a font and stick to it – Sticking to a single font for the body text of the email. This makes it much easier to read. It also helps the aesthetics of your note, which is actually important. You never know who might see what you’ve written – it’s really easy for an email to get forwarded a dozen times in a half hour. Just like you’d make sure that what you wore to work coordinated so that you looked professional, make sure your text is consistent.
2. Use the “Enter” key – This one drives me especially nuts. It happens at least three times a day that I get an email that looks like a wall of text. No paragraphs. No spaces. It’s impossible to get through. Remember, everyone is busy and everyone has to process far more information than what’s reasonable in the span of a day. If you organize your text into bite size chunks, it’ll be much easier to digest.
3. Use Lists – I heart lists. Lists are an excellent way to organize information into short, digestible pieces. All too often, series of information get placed into the body of a paragraph, making it much more difficult to tease out the elements. Remember, your goal is to get your ideas across – make it as easy as possible for the reader to see your train of thought. This goes for instructions or procedures too. If you are trying to explain to someone how something should be done, try a numbered list.
4. Colours are for rainbows, not emails – Think about the last time you received a letter from someone, maybe a your school or your professional engineering association. How many colours were used for the text? Just black?! How boring is that? Answer: it’s not boring, its effective. Your goal isn’t to be pretty, it’s to get the message across. Random colours aren’t cute – they’re distracting. There’s a reason the newspaper is written in black ink – because it’s easiertoreadthanthis.
5. Capital letters are just fine… at the beginning of sentences – There’s this phenomenon I’ve noticed that especially prevalent in the technical world. Its where people’s CAPS LOCK BUTTON IS ALWAYS ON. I don’t like it. Don’t do it. It doesn’t do anything for your cause. It simply serves to show your reader that you don’t know how English works, or how your keyboard works. Or both. Neither is desirable with respect to your future prospects.

Moving Forward

I hope these were a help! In the coming days I’ll be posting more in my little How to Write an Email series. Here’s what you have to look forward to:

• Should you even write an email?
• Punctuation – Use it, but use it carefully
• Capslock and other formatting woes
• Full Sentences and why the English Language has “Grammar”
• What you write and how it reflects you as a professional
• Attachments
• Replying
• CC/BCC – who to copy, why, and when
• Subject lines
• Email signatures

What about you?

What formatting drives you nuts when you see it? What tips do you have? Let me know in the comments section below!