0: Translator: Carol Wang Reviewer: Peter van de Ven

12: I'm going to teach you how to write an email.

16: No, seriously.

18: You probably think that you're an expert emailer.

22: You‘ve been writing emails for years, decades.

25: You spend most of your workday

28: composing, sending, receiving and replying to emails.

32: You live in your inbox.

34: But I'm here to tell you you're probably doing it wrong.

39: Don't worry

40: because in the next 15 or so minutes,

42: I'm going to guide you through a whistle-stop tour

45: of the latest in email etiquette.

49: First, let's rewind a little bit.

52: Why do I care so much about what happens in your Inbox?

57: For many of us, email has become the default way

60: that we communicate with each other at work.

63: And for good reason:

64: It's quick. It's easy. It's convenient.

69: But here's the thing.

72: Although email is ostensibly the easiest way

75: to communicate in a work context,

78: it's also intensely stressful.

82: It may well be the fastest way to get things done,

85: and yet it just feels as if it takes up so much time.

89: You rarely hear of anyone complaining that they have too few unread emails.

95: As a result, my email-etiquette philosophy

99: is guided by one fundamental principle:

104: reducing the burden of email as much as possible.

110: At its simplest,

112: this can mean cutting down on the number of emails you send

115: and sending them to fewer people -

117: "Reply All" at your peril.

120: And when you do send an email,

122: you should make it as quick and easy as possible

125: for your recipient to deal with. Greetings

128: So with that golden rule in mind,

131: let's write an email together, starting with "The Greeting."

137: Hi and a first name is probably fine.

140: It's 2019. We're all friends here.

143: Email behavior has evolved.

146: Once upon a time, it may have been customary

149: to treat email like a digital version of a snail-mail letter

152: and to address your recipient with "Dear."

156: But nowadays, most emails, especially in a work context,

159: are more like post-it notes than a lengthy missive.

163: In fact, email started out that way.

166: The very first messages,

168: sent from computer to computer on the ARPANET network in the 1970s,

172: before the Internet as we know it today,

175: were more practical updates from colleague to colleague

178: than perfectly worded letters.

182: So save "Dear" and using someone's title

185: for more formal situations,

187: such as an official briefing or an invitation.

191: You also don't need to keep saying hi

193: every time you email someone on an ongoing thread,

196: particularly if it's very active.

198: If you're having a back and forth conversation, treat it as such.

202: You don't need to keep interrupting with hi, hi, hi, hi -

209: My rule of thumb is to follow the sun:

211: if your conversation spans several days,

214: then say hi again after each new sunrise. The Body

218: So that was the easy bit.

221: Let's get down to business and into "The Body" of our email.

227: Now obviously, you could be emailing about all sorts of different topics,

230: and trying to communicate all sorts of different sentiment.

233: So there's a lot of leeway here, but there are still some rules.

239: First, let's revisit our number one goal:

243: reducing the burden of email, reducing the stress of email.

248: That means "Keep it to the point" -

250: concise and precise is your mantra.

254: When it comes to email,

255: good etiquette is not about the fancy flourishes,

259: it's about respecting other people's time.

263: When I was researching my recent book on digital etiquette,

266: one of the people I spoke to

268: was an American writer and podcaster Merlin Mann.

272: He's the person who coined the term Inbox Zero.

275: If you haven't heard of it,

277: it's basically a method for staying on top of your unread emails.

280: I won't get into it here,

282: but if you have an overfull inbox, it will change your life. Email Etiquette

287: Anyway, when I asked him

288: what he thought constituted good email etiquette,

292: he said, "Assume that everyone you're communicating with

296: is smarter than you and cares more than you

299: and is busier than you."

302: I think that's excellent advice.

304: So no waffling. No jargon. No small talk.

310: You do not have to ask after your recipients health

313: every time you email them.

316: That said, it is possible to be too concise.

320: There's a line where brevity crosses over into rudeness.

325: Have you ever received an email like this,

327: perhaps from your boss or a superior at work?

331: [OK.]

333: Or maybe one like this?

334: [Received.]

336: Or like this?

337: [Agree.]

338: The classic one-word email.

341: And if you think that's bad,

343: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is apparently known

346: for forwarding messages from customers to his employees

350: with not just one word, but one character:

353: [?]

355: the question mark.

357: Can you imagine receiving that email?

360: In these cases,

362: brevity has almost certainly crossed the line into rudeness.

366: No one is too busy to say please and thank you.

370: Instead, these emails seem more like a power play.

373: Someone who emails like this

375: is trying to show you how busy and important they are.

378: And that's not very polite.

381: Another problem with this is the lack of useful information.

385: The email is short, but it's not necessarily easy to deal with.

388: What are you supposed to do with that?

390: As a recipient,

391: are you expected to respond, to take some sort of action?

395: It's really not clear.

398: When you email, to reduce the burden of email,

401: you should be putting all the relevant information

404: and make sure it's included the first time.

406: Double emailing is a big faux pas. Emotional Information

409: As well as a lack of practical information,

412: the problem with the super succinct email is the lack of emotional information.

419: This is a major problem with email

421: as with many forms of digital communication.

424: Because it's conducted by text, it's very difficult to convey sentiment.

430: You don't have any of the nonverbal cues that we use

432: when we're speaking to each other in real life

435: to communicate your intent,

436: like facial expressions, tone of voice or body language.

441: And that makes it easy for email to be misconstrued.

445: Is that "Okay," happy, sad, begrudging, angry?

450: It can be hard to tell.

452: So when you write an email,

454: read it back and check that it can't be misinterpreted,

458: and make use of all of the language tools that we do have

461: to try to communicate our emotional intent.

465: Even a simple punctuation mark can make a big difference.

469: Take a look at these.

471: Which of these would you most like to receive

473: and which would you least like to receive?

477: I'd most like to receive the second one. That's a very enthusiastic thanks.

482: I'd least like to receive the third one.

485: There's something so final seeming about that full stop, isn't there?

491: And by the way, this is why I'm very pro-emoji in email,

496: provided it's not a very formal context.

499: Emoji are great at communicating sentiment;

501: they're basically a digital stand-in for facial expression, after all,

505: and all the tools that we do have to make sure that we're not misunderstood,

509: we should be making use of. Sign Off

512: Next, let's get on to one part that so many people get wrong:

518: The Sign-Off.

521: I'll keep this one simple.

523: There is a correct way to sign off an email.

527: It is "Best wishes."

532: "Best" and "All the best" are also acceptable.

535: Anything else?

537: Sorry, no.

539: "Yours sincerely"?

541: Too formal.

542: "Yours"?

544: Too intimate.

546: "Cheers"?

548: Okay for friends, but too casual for a professional context.

552: "BW"?

553: Tacky.

555: "Kind regards"?

556: Just a bit pompous.

559: Those are all terrible,

561: but my absolute least favorite email sign-off is

566: "Thanks in advance."

571: What's wrong with "Thanks in advance"?

574: It's incredibly presumptive -

576: you can't thank someone for doing something

579: before they've agreed to do it.

581: That's not how gratitude works.

584: When you say "Thanks in advance" in an email, you're basically saying,

587: "Hey, by the way, you have no choice whether to do this or not."

591: (Laughter)

593: So stick to "Best" or "Best wishes," and you can't go wrong.

597: And you do need to write it out every time.

600: Relying on your automated signature to do it for you

603: is the height of laziness.

605: Plus, it won't show up in some email clients.

608: While we're on email signatures, actually,

611: if you do decide to use one, keep it classy -

614: no colorful word art,

616: no JPEG logos that are going to confuse everyone's antivirus,

621: and no deep and meaningful quotes.

624: Just your name and, if necessary, your contact details. Finishing Touches

629: So we've got our email, a few finishing touches:

633: the subject line.

635: Keep it simple.

637: It should do what it says on the tin, or in this case, in the email.

641: Summarize your email in a few key words.

644: Don't write a full sentence because it will get chopped off.

647: Don't try to be funny

649: and do not overplay the urgent card.

656: "CC."

658: There may come a time

659: when you want to send an email to multiple people at once,

662: at which point you may wish to make use of the "CC" feature.

666: Now, if you take one thing away from this talk,

670: let it be the "CC" rule.

673: I didn't come up with the "CC" rule.

676: In fact, it's so important

678: it's even included in the go-to etiquette bible, Debrett's.

683: The "CC" rule states

685: that primary recipients of an email, who are expected to respond,

690: should go in the "To" field.

692: Other recipients of an email, who are not expected to respond

696: and who are included as a courtesy or for their information,

700: should go in the "CC" field.

703: Next time you receive an email that's been addressed to multiple people,

707: take a look:

708: Are you a primary recipient, or are you on "CC"?

711: Do you need to respond?

714: What I love about the "CC" rule

717: is it makes the expectations on your recipients so clear.

721: If you're in the "To" field, you should respond;

724: if you're on the "CC" field, you should not respond.

728: And it also reduces the burden of email

731: by hopefully cutting back on the number of emails sent.

735: Those people on "CC" don't have that awkward moment

737: where there wondering, "Am I expected to pitch in here?"

741: The "CC" rule will change your email life.

746: What about your other option, "BCC"?

749: Now, "BCC" can be a bit sneaky,

752: so there's only a few specific cases where you should use it.

756: One is to protect your recipients identity

759: if you're emailing sensitive information to multiple people, for example.

764: Another is to avoid a reply-all-pocalypse.

768: We've all been there: someone sends an email to too many people,

771: people all start hitting "Reply All" -

774: chaos.

775: Good use of "BCC."

777: And for extra credit,

778: an absolutely top email etiquette move

782: is to move someone to "BCC" if their input is no longer required

786: on an ongoing thread.

788: How this works is if the thread's getting a bit out of control

791: and you know someone is not needed to respond,

796: you send one last message moving them to BCC.

800: They're blissfully removed from any future chaos.

804: And you are an email etiquette superhero -

806: you've just selflessly saved their inbox from unnecessary emails. Sending an Email

813: We're just about ready to send our email.

817: Or are we?

820: I've saved probably the most important thing till last

823: because when you send an email

825: should be as much a consideration as what you put in it.

829: First things first,

830: if it's a work email, stick to work hours -

833: no 2 a.m. emailing in your pajamas.

837: One of the major causes of email stress

841: is that we can't get away from it.

843: It demands so much from us,

845: especially now that we're all walking around

847: with mini computers in our pocket.

849: We can check email anywhere and anytime.

853: But instead of feeling free, we feel trapped.

857: We're expected to be always contactable.

860: We can never leave.

862: The only way to buck this trend is to start setting boundaries.

867: Unless you're a heart surgeon,

869: you really probably don't need to be on call all the time.

873: In fact it's probably better if you're not -

875: I've checked my work email in some incredibly inappropriate places.

879: So just stick to work hours.

883: Now, you could say that it's on the recipient to decide

885: when they check their email.

887: You can send an email at 2 a.m.

888: but they don't have to answer until the following day.

891: The problem is

893: that's a lot easier said than done.

895: When you've got an unread email notification

897: burning a hole in your pocket,

899: it's very tempting to check it.

902: Therefore it's on the sender to set a reasonable norm

907: and exhibit good email etiquette in doing so.

911: So that's our email completed.

913: I hope you'll join me in spreading good email etiquette

917: and making our digital lives a little bit easier and friendlier.

923: So all that's left for me to do then

925: is to sign off.

927: Thank you!