英语邮件撰写 | WpEmail笔记 + Additional Resources

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Write Professional Emails in English

Basic Email Writing Structures

Professional Email Basics

Subject Line
Greeting
Email Text
Closing

Subject line
Poor examples:( Hello / Dear Gerry

Better examples:) Requesting a Meeting / Canceling My Order

Greeting
Genders / Titles
Recommendations 4 Stu / addressing a company:
To whom it may concern,
Addressing a group:
Dear members of the committee
Dear marketing group
Dear sales team
Email Text
Remain brief, 2 paragraphs, each with 3 or 4 sentences
Ask: 1-2 requests
Self-blaming:
Perhaps … was incomplete.
Perhaps I left something out …
Always add words of thanks
Closing
Regards,
Best Regards,
Add signature
Contact info
Tel / fax number

DO & DON’T

DO:

Professional email address
Subject line = Clear & Brief
Words of Appreciation
Consider Culture

DON’T:

Don’t make mistakes:
- Spelling
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Capitalization
Don’t write long emails
Don’t complain or blame
Don’t send until Checked

Organization, Style & Editing Basics

The best way to be BRIEF:

Use your OWN WORDS
Use your OWN MESSAGE
Say ONLY what is needed

Compared:

😃 We often add adjectives and adverbs and filler words which are not necessary.

😦 Very often when we write, we put lots of extra words, like adjectives and adverbs, which, when you really think about it, are very much unnecessary.

DO:

Focus on PRECISION

DON’T:

Don’t use PASSIVE voice (NOT PASSIVE, but PRECISE!)

e.g.

😦 Powerful emails are written by people.

😃 People write powerful emails.
Words to avoid: must / should / demand / require / necessity

Common Errors

in Punctuation

6 Common Errors:

apostrophe ’
exclamation point !
comma ,
semicolon ;
quotation marks " "
emoticons ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡

Apostrophe '

POSSESSION

Suzi’s laptop Gerry’s address
CONTRACTION (not use!!!)

can’t wouldn’t

Exclamation point !

Don’t use more that 1 time

Comma ,

FANBOYS - for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

I like tea, but he likes coffee.
LIST - for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

Moscow, Russia / Paris, France
DATES

October 10, 2011
TITLES

Philip Hollingsworth, MD

Semicolon ;

SERIES

Recent Olympic sites are Athens, Greece; Beijing, China; and London, UK.

Quotation marks " "

DON’T use for emphasis

😦 I would “really” like to meet you.
Use for direct SPEECH only

He said, “I would really like to meet you.”

Emoticons ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡

DON’T use in emails

in Capitalization

If you don’t capitalize …

You may offend your readers
You may give a bad impression of yourself

Rule #1

Use a capital letter at the beginning of every sentence. Also, use it after you end with a period.

Rule #2

PROPER NOUNS

Great Pyramids / Tokyo, Japan

Adjectives: French wine / Italian sports cars / Colombian coffee

Rule #3

PEOPLE & TITLES

The Pope | Pope Francis

The Queen | Queen Elizabeth

President Obama | The President

When the word is the job, not the person’s title, no capitalization

The president will travel to California.
coach Ellis
team owner Malcom Glazer

Rule #4

DON’T capitalize prepositions e.g. Lord of the Rings

*Exception: Capitalize prepositions at the beginning of the title

Additional Resources

Resources for Punctuation & Capitalization

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) website
Punctuation (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/566/01/): This page includes great descriptions of how and when to use the major punctuation marks. Some of them even have links to separate videos on YouTube.
Capitalization (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/592/01/): This page has a good basic list of how to use capital letters. It also shows some of the points I mentioned in the lecture. There are many useful examples included. You can see exactly what the rules are talking about.
The Period (http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/periods.asp): This page explains the most common uses of the period, such as at the end of a sentence, in English.

Practice Games for Punctuation & Capitalization

Start Writing

The Subject Line

CATCH reader’s eyes
be BRIEF

50 characters or less
be CLEAR
be DIRECT

Use ACTIVE verbs
CAPITALIZATION

50 characters = 5-7 words
25-30 characters = 3-5 words

Include KEY WORDS
Put important words at BEGINNING

Introduce, Introduction

Introduction - Chris Chang
Introduction from Chris Chang

Applying for a job

Job Application - Chris Chang
Job Applicant - Chris Chang

Job Application - Chris Chang, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher - Chris Chang, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher, No. 1234 - Chris Chang, Ph.D.

Meeting Request

Requesting a Meeting Next Week
Meeting Request for Next Week
Meeting Request: Marketing Plan for New Product
Meeting Request: 11AM, May 10 in Room A

Meeting Cancelations

😦 Meeting Canceled
😃 Canceled: Meeting for 11AM, May 10
😃 Canceling 11AM Meeting on May 10

Making Announcements

Join Us for Our Grand Opening
Meet Our New CEO
Try Our Newest Product

Join Us for Our Grand Opening on April 1st at 3:00 PM (49 characters)
Grand Opening on April 1st at 3:00 PM (33 characters)

Meet Our New CEO
Meet ABC’s New CEO

Try Our Newest Product
Try ABC’s Newest Product

Start with Subject Line

Clear DIRECTION
Never leave blank

The Email Text

Introduction
Development
Conclusion

Introduction

WHO & WHAT → 1st sentence = 1st impression

WHO AUTHOR (Subject of 1st sentence)

name + position/organization
pronoun (I, we, he, she, …)

My name is James Brown, and I am the general manager at Goods and Services, LLC.

Controlling idea

I am delighted to inform you that we are now offering a 30% discount in our entire inventory.

Development

Our company is glad to hear about your interest in our catalog. We will send updated versions of our catalogs each month. The first section should be especially interesting to you since it has parts you were looking for. This is our most complete and updated version, so do not hesitate to contact us if you need new merchandise.

Conclusion

APPRECIATION

thank / appreciate / be glad about

hope / wish / look forward to

I hope you find our catalogs appropriate for your business.

Additional Resources

More complete list of general advice about emails in the 21st Century (http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/06/email-etiquette.html)

When you have some extra time, this writer’s advice about emails covers many things we do not have time to include in a MOOC Specialization Course.

**Job Application Email (**http://www.manchester.edu/OSD/Career/documents/EmailEtiquette09.pdf)

This page is more focused on a job application email as a specific goal when writing to someone. It also includes a sample cover letter for reference.

Emails

Introduction Emails

Subject Line

Poor Example:( Meet Sam Boyle

Better Examples:) Meet Sam Boyle, CPA Tax Specialist / Introducing Sam Boyle, CPA Tax Specialist
Showing skills

I am skilled at …

These skills will be good for …

e.g.

I am especially skilled at communication and time management.

My skills include using Microsoft Office, managing schedules, and communicating in Spanish.

Introduction Sentence

My name is Gerry Landers, and I am with the Georgia Tech Language Institute in Atlanta, GA.

My name is Sam Cook, and I recently received my Master’s Degree from University of ABC.

Controlling Idea

I am interested in learning more about Coursera, and I would like more information about creating an online course.

I am very interested in your product. I will be in your city, and I would like to visit your factory.

Development

Who can create an online course?
What is the process?
Where can I get more information?

I would like more information or links you have to help me in my process.

Introducing two people to each other:

Subject Line

Matt, meet Sarah. Sarah, meet Matt.
Matt, have you met Sarah?
Get to know Sarah.

Controlling Idea

Matt, I would like to introduce you to Sarah.
Sarah, this is Matt. He is the person I told you about in our last meeting.

Background

Current Job/Role

Additional Contact Information

Announcement Emails

Introduction Sentence

The Language Institute is pleased to inform you that we now offer Business Writing courses in the evening. If our daytime class schedule is not great for you, we will now be here in the evening to help you reach your English learning goals. Contact us at info@esl.gatech.edu to apply.

The ABC Company is opening a store near you. We will have a full selection of products from all over the world for you all at one store.

General information (e.g. Advertisement)
Specific information

Special directions / guidelines

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and other details

Example:

The Language Institute is pleased to inform you that we now offer Business Writing courses in the evening. These are Basics in Writing for beginners and Professional Writing for advanced learners. All courses will be offered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings from 6-9PM at our main building. So, if our daytime class schedule is not great for you, we will now be here in the evening to help you reach your English learning goals. You can apply directly online at esl.gatech.edu or contact one of our advisors at 404-888-5555 or info@esl.gatech.edu for more information. Our regular office hours are Monday to Friday from 8AM-5PM.

Request Emails

Write more POLITELY & SINCERELY

Please

Please send me your resume.
Could/Would …?

Could you send me your resume?
Could you please send me your resume?
Would you mind …?

Would you mind sending me your resume?
would like

I would like to meet you at 3PM.

Making 2nd Request

Please send me your resume. Could you also include three references?

Thank you.
Sincere thanks.
I appreciate it.
Thank you for + your + NOUN

Thank you for your time and effort.
Thank you for your interest in our company.
I appreciate + your + NOUN

I appreciate your time and effort.
I appreciate your interest in our company.

Apology Emails

I’m sorry if + description

NOT sure of responsibility

I’m sorry if you didn’t receive the resume I sent.
I’m sorry that + description

100% sure of responsibility

I’m sorry that the correct file was not sent. I have included the correct file in this email.

I’m sorry that our meeting for next week needs to be canceled. Please check the new dates below at your convenience.
I’m sorry about + NOUN

slip-ups, errors (small mistakes)

I’m sorry about the confusion. I will send you a new document with the correct address shortly.

I’m sorry about the inconvenience/delay.

Additional Resources

Introduction email template page (http://lifehacker.com/this-template-makes-introduction-emails-easier-1716092031)

At this website there are some templates, or patterns, you can look at to see some of the ways people write emails to introduce themselves.

More on an announcement email (http://www.getvero.com/resources/guides/lifecycle-marketing/promotional-emails/)

This is a more general view of announcements. Included here are sample emails from some US companies that might give you some ideas to think about for your emails.

Making requests more polite (http://www.businessenglishresources.com/31-2/teachers-section/skill-based-lessons/business-english-lessons-softening-phrases-to-make-polite-requests/)

At this website you can find a variety of ways to soften or make your requests more polite and formal.

More general information about requests as well as some on suggestions (http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/modal5.html)

This website has some examples and exercises for making requests and suggestions more formal and polite.

Formal and informal expressions used for apologies (http://www.bloomsbury-international.com/blog/2013/10/18/how-to-apologise-in-english/)

This is a UK-based website, so the expressions may differ slightly from US-based sources.

Culture Matters

High/Low Context Communication

A BRAZILIAN TO AN AMERICAN:

Hello Rachel,

How have you been? The holidays are upon us again and so my vacation in January. I’ve got 30 days, so I’ve been considering to go to Europe or North America. I haven’t been overseas yet. My trip would be 50％ for tourism and 50 ％ for studies. I wanted to do a crash course to get certificate for EFL teaching. Can you tell me where I can find one? I am also interested in ESP. For the USA I was considering this itinerary: Brazil to Miami to Orlando to Jacksonville to Savannah to Washington D.C. to New York City. To New York City to Atlanta, GA, New Orleans to LOS Angeles, Texas, San Francisco，Miami，and then finally Brazil. So what is your opinion? I’m so confused. I don’t have a lot of money and so I’m afraid Of traveling in bad weather. Europe or USA?

Best,
Rodrigo

AN AMERICAN TO A KOREAN:

Hey Chung,

How are you doing? I wanted to touch base with you about the meeting we had last week. You mentioned your boss might be interested in purchasing our new product, and I wanted to know if you talked with him a bout it. Let me know the latest news.

Talk to you soon,
Sally

American Communication:

Low Context Communication
Straight forward Concise Efficient Logic Facts Directness

Brazilian (The Middle East, Asia, Africa, South America) Communication:

High Context Communication
Non-explicit Descriptive Longer Emails

LOW Context Writer + High Context Reader

Status & identity need acknowledgement
Building a relationship is important

High Context Writer + LOW Context Reader

Efficiency & effectiveness through tasks
Direct questions a re used for clarity

Age & Gender Considerations

DO:

Use RESPECTFUL words
Use official TITLES

DON’T

Don’t use SLANG words
Limit references to POP culture

Additional Resources

**High context / Low context (**http://www.culture-at-work.com/highlow.html)

At this website you can find a clear explanation with some useful graphics of some of the differences and distinctions between high and low context cultures.

More general information about high and low context traits that might affect writing emails (http://www.marin.edu/buscom/index_files/Page605.htm)

This website has a good list of some of the traits common to these two distinct culture types.

Formal and informal expressions you might use in an email (http://image.slidesharecdn.com/keyphrasesformalinformalforemail-131106220315-phpapp02/95/key-phrases-formal-informal-for-email-1-638.jpg?cb=1383775514)

This is a graphic of intended meanings with both formal and informal expressions for writing them. The printing is pretty small, so it may not be very useful on mobile devices.