Mistakes, I've made a few

There were a lot of good points made in the text, so I didnt choose just one. Instead, I reviewed each point and added my own tips.(By the way, the title of the blog is a line from a Queen song).

text:

course site: Writing Effective Email: Top 10 Tips

1, Write a meaningful subject line

Regardless of who you are sneding the email to, do not forget to label it. I do not have a printer of my own, so I have to email my papers to myself and then open them up on a school computer with a printer. The problem is, I usuall forget to label them. Sometime I send myself 5 papers a week. There is never typically a problem unless I have to go back through my archive to find one to put in a portfolio or quote from. Thus begins the hours long process of sifting through the endless "no subject" messages.

As for emailing others, if there is no subject written in theheading of your mail, the recipient may feel that since you didn't take the time to label it, that the message must not be that important.

2. Keep the message focused and readable

I know that when typing on a computer, I tend to get long winded and ramble. This is ok for blogging, when your writing is supposed to be thoughful and inquisitive, but emails are supposed to be short and to the point. I really see no need for colored letters or different fonts. Save that stuff for facebook. The person responding to the message probably only cares about the message and not the aesthetics. There is a reason they are called "email messages".

And here is something my grandmother still has not learned, whether she is using aim or email: please type in short paragraphd. No one wants to read 3 pages of single spaced 10 point font. It seems like more of a chore to read when everything is bunched together.

3. Avoid attachments

Do so especially when emailing your articles to the Setonian. It saves time, because the editors do not have to open the file in a word document; we can just print it out.

If you are emailing a paper to your professor, fine. Otherwise, do you really think the person on the other end needs to read pages and pages? Condense your message.

 4 Identify yourself clearly

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten emails from people I have never even heard of. Typically, if I don't recognize the name, I delete the email immediately (how do I know it is not a virus or spam?). When emailing classmates and professors, especially if you are a new student, I suggest entering in the subject line: "This is_____ from EL ___"-you get the point. Professors have so many students. They cannot be expected to remember your personal address.

5. Be kind. Don't flame.

Let me put it this way (speaking from experience): we all need to vent. But do so in a word processing document. I was more than a little perturbed at an ex when I was in Paris this past summer. I typed a long and angry message about how I felt about said person, not intending to send it. Unfortunately, the keyboards in Paris are not the same as American keyboard. I hit where the tab button would have been on an American one (this is where the enter button is in France). The message got sent. Lookign back,  I don't regret anything content wise, because things needed to be said, but the moment I hit that button, my heart jumped into my throat. Don't take any risks. Just vent in a word processor and hit save.

6. Proofread

I'm sorry, but bad grammaer just bugs the heck out of me. I mean, we got taught the basics in elementary school. If a message is important and you want the recipient to respond, wouldn't you want to make it seem like you took the time and effort to make sure your message was the best it could be? There are spelling and grammar tools for email; you could also type in a word processor and then copy and paste the file into an email once you corrected it.

7. Don't assume privacy

Perosnal email does not translate to "private". Many of us have had our facebook/myspace accounts hacked into. It is just as easy to do so with email.

8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations

Just as I said in my blog on the roles we play in life: just remember who you are talking to, who your audience is.

9. Respond Promptly

I suggest checking your email every couple of hours. Respond quickly, because you never know if the person is sitting at their computer or not. Also, do not send someone an email at 11 pm about a class at 9 am, because you will most likely not get a response. Be aware of WHEN you are sending a message.

10 Show respect and restraint

I don't think I have ever used BCC or CC, so I've never had a flame war problem. Just picked out the person in charge. If a professor sends out a mass email to the class, respond to only him/her. Good to know that BCC keeps names hidden. I never understood what that function was before

know that you've listened to my ramblings, here's something entertaining: