Write an effective Business E-mail in 10 steps

 

Audience. Think about who will read your e-mail. Do you know them personally? Is it a manager?someone on the same level as you in your organization? someone inside or outside your organization? Are they Arab? Are they western?

 

Purpose. What do you want them to do exactly? Do you want them to reply today or later? Do they need to find information for you? What information exactly?

 

Generate ideas. Take a few minutes to brainstorm ideas. Think about the subjects you need to include. What details do you need to include?

 

Focus ideas. E-mails should be short and clear. Now that you have lots of ideas, you need to choose only the essential information to include.

 

Plan the e-mail. Think about:

1) How should you address them? eg, Dear Sir, Dear All, Dear Muhannad, Dear Mr Muhannad etc

2) How should you greet them? Use this article to choose some common e-mail expressions.

3) Plan paragraphs. Use a separate paragraph for each idea. If your reader can read your e-mail quickly and understand it easily, they will be more likely to reply quickly.

4) How will you finish? This article will help you choose some common e-mail expressions.

Write the e-mail.

 

Use spellchecker to correct spellings.

 

 

Now read your e-mail and check that the ideas are clear.

1) Can you make the sentences shorter?

2) Can you use more simple language?

3) Can you make your paragraphs shorter (between 2 and 3 lines is best).

4) is the greeting and ending acceptable for the person who will read the e-mail?

5) Is the spelling correct? Be careful spellchecker often makes mistakes or changes words. Check the spelling yourself before you send the e-mail.

Write a specific subject line. Don’t write, “Hello!” Be specific, for example, “Re: Our meeting on Monday 15th Dec” This makes it more likely that the reader will read your e-mail and helps them (and you) search for it later.

 

Send.

 

 

Business E-mails

The mshf hvhdhd fhdhd dhd dhd dhd d dhdhdhd dhd wq diwnwjhe wsiwns wswiw.

Think about what their name is, where they are from…..

Business E-mails

The most important step is to think about, ‘Who will read my e-mail and what do they expect?’

Confidence in Communication

I was recently with a group of mid-level managers who work for international organisations, where English and Arabic are both used at work. They, like so many others, tell me that the usual working day is conducted in Arabic or English which is very defined by their work needs. E-mails on deliveries, contacting companies and employees and running timetables, all required them to use a simple, well-defined level of English skills in standardising communications and systems across the organisation. They all said they face one large problem at work.

Meetings.

Many of these managers are required to participate in meetings and presentations conducted in English. These meetings usually consist of a range of subjects and have lots of discussion and questioning. In this setting, amongst equals and people higher than them in rank, all of the managers felt unable and ill-equipped to manage with the meeting in English.

The group told me that this often leads to them not volunteering opinions, perspectives and expertise which are important to the discussion, through fear of looking foolish in front of colleagues and so potentially harming their career.

This is clearly a common case, where English actually holds back communication and the sharing of expertise. They had all decided to study English as a means to moving beyond this obstacle. However, they can speak English. Their abilities in English are capable of contributing on an effective level in those settings. Their most pressing need is an increase in confidence in their English abilities. The return on this growth in confidence means increased English levels, better communication and naturally better sharing of expertise across an organisation.

Body Language and Trust

Where does language end and culture start?

Modern studies tell us that 70-80% of communication is non verbal. Most of us can understand a person’s attitude, feelings and intent before we hear a single word they say. This body language often causes us to subconsciously judge the person and their message before we even hear it. We do this on a minute by minute basis and rarely think about it.

However, when a speaker of English as a second language communicates in a multicultural setting, much of their message and communication is “lost in translation.” It’s not the language which is foreign, but the body language. The way we hold ourselves, the way we use our arms and eyes, our tone and expression as well as with which hand we hold our knife and fork, all communicates or confuses our hearer, before a single English word has even been said.

This is on a personal level, but it is also true of an organisation. The message you wish to communicate is, more often than not, communicated by the way in which you communicate it, rather than by what it actually says. Whether it’s on billboards, facebook, long or short emails, the tone and level of the language and the time the message is sent and received, often communicates more about your organisation than the message itself.

In cross-cultural communication, the form and manner of the communication is at least as important as the English itself in persuading and building trust, or not, with your hearers. Only then will they decide subconsciously how to listen to your message.