Writing Professional Emails: A Step-by-Step Guide

“Poor email communication slows down business, delays orders, results in mistakes, and decreases productivity,” warns corporate consultant Swann (Teen Mothers) in this straightforward guide to writing more effective emails. To prevent such blunders, she identifies 38 pitfalls to watch out for. Some emails try to accomplish too much, Swann argues, suggesting that senders stick to one topic per email or, if necessary, break down different points into an enumerated list. Subject lines should be punchy and brief, ideally between three and eight words. When it comes to the structure of an email, Swann urges readers to use frequent paragraph breaks to prevent overwhelming recipients with dense blocks of text. Discussing how to write with appropriate formality, she asserts that exclamation points are okay for informal messages but should be omitted from more professional ones, and that emoji aren’t suitable for formal emails but can help to soften “requests, corrections, rejections and complaints” in certain contexts. The advice sticks to conventional wisdom, but office workers concerned about proverbially dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s will find the thorough coverage reassuring. This is worth a look for early career professionals. (Self-published)