Presentation Tips and Netiquette:

Email Etiquette

 

General Advice on Email Etiquette

Use a Meaningful, Short Subject Line

  • Use a subject line that quickly summarizes the content. If it is for schoolwork, mention the course number and you name if it is not evident from your email address.

Be Concise

  • Get to the point of your email as quickly as possible, but don't leave out important details that will help your recipient answer your query.If you want your email to be read, keep it short and straight to the point. If you have additional information that might not be relevant or necessarily useful, include it as an attachment and briefly describe the contents in your email.

    Be Professional

  • This means, stay away from abbreviations and don't use emoticons (those little smiley faces). Don't use a cute or suggestive email address for business communications...however...
  • For personal (not professional emails), remember that when a person reads an email they can't see your facial expressions. Add a smile face :) or a frown :( or an explanation so that the reader can tell your mood when you wrote something. For example, "That Linda is something else" can be clarified by adding a smile face if you mean it joking or with a frown if you are trying to convey that Linda is a disappointment or you just might want to use a different phrase).

CAPITAL LETTERS

Do not write in CAPITAL LETTERS. IF YOU WRITE YOUR EMAIL IN CAPITAL LETTERS, IT IS GENERALLY REGARD AS SHOUTING VIA TEXT. This can be highly annoying, and might trigger an unwanted response in the form of a flame (rude) mail. Using the bold or underline function to emphasize a point, but use it sparingly.

Use Correct Spelling and Proper Grammar

  • Use a dictionary or a spell checker (usually F7 on the keyboard in many applications)— whichever works better for you. Read your email before you send it!

Don't use Unprofessional Elements

  • Avoid email "signatures," avatars, or images unless they mention professional or relevant information. Background images or colors can make text difficult to read for some.Black text on white background is best.

    Formatting issues

  • Be careful with formatting. Remember that when you use formatting in your emails, the recipient might not be able to view your formatting, or might see different fonts than you had intended. Make your email as simple as possible!

File Attachments

  • Some people will not open attachments because of the virus risk. Mention in your email that you've attached something, and describe briefly what it is- this is also useful because many times, people fail to actually attach a file to an email- if your recipient sees that there's no attachment when you've mentioned one, they will contact you and let you know.
  • Remember that your attachments are created using applications that everybody else might not have. If you are sending a text attachment, save it as a .txt (text) file. That way, if you wrote it in Microsoft Word and your recipient only has Corel Wordperfect, they will still be able to open it. Other common attachments are .jpg/.jpeg (for pictures)and .mp3 (for sound files).
Don't Send Huge Files, or More Than 3-5 at Once
  • People on slow dial up connections may be get upset if you send a big 2.5 MB file. On a slow connection, a file that size takes around 15 minutes to download. If plan on sending attachments, try to send the smallest file possible. Large files might be stopped by firewalls and mail delivery systems and not get through.
  • Multiple attachments might not get through either- even if each of them is small, they seem to have a cumulative effect. It's better to send a couple emails with attachemnts rather than all-at-once.

Use The BCC Option Whenever Possible

  • When sending an email to a group of people, use the BCC (blind carbon copy) option instead of CC option so that everyone won't see the long list of email addresses on the email. This should be done for safety reasons, as well as privacy. If the BCC option isn't available in your email program, enter each address separately.
Replying, Forwarding, and Forwarding With AOL
  • Don't endless forward or reply to a document. Multiple replys and forwards add junk symbols to a document. After 2 replies or forwards, it is best to create a new blank document, and cut-and-paste the essentials into it rather than continuing to use the original.
  • If you use AOL and you plan to forward an email, copy and paste the forwarded message into a new email. When a person using AOL forwards a message it sends it as an attachment. A person has to open each attachment by clicking multiple times. A piece of mail that has been forwarded four times will take approximately 12 clicks to be able to read it.

    Remember that Email is Permanent

  • Watch out what you write or include in email. An email is essentially permannent and it can come back to haunt you. Never say in an email what you wouldn't say in person.

The Golden Rule: Keep Emails Simple!

(Summerized from http://familyinternet.about.com/cs/email/a/aaemailetiquett.htm and http://science.kennesaw.edu/~hmattord/email.htm)

 

Directory of Email Etiquette Resources