0: Hi, I'm Greg. From englishwithgreg.com. Are your business emails getting the results you want,

7: or are they just causing more problems? Well,

11: let's have a look at an email from one of Kevin's business English students and find out. Example: A bad business English email

28: Thanks, Greg. It's great to have you with us today.

31: We have 5 tips that'll help your business emails sound more professional and get results.

38: To do so, let's take a look at an email that one of my students wrote and improve it. Here it is.

45: Hi Bill, I don't feel ready to work alone with clients yet.

49: The problem is I wasn't properly trained. Honestly, I wasn't trained at all.

55: Sarah just told me to take notes on my first 3 calls. However, when she reviewed them,

60: she asked me what I sold. She later clarified the expectations, but it's not enough.

67: When I started this job, I thought I would be shadowing an experienced Account Executive.

72: I feel very unprofessional, not knowing what exactly I need to do. Tip 1: Always use a space between paragraphs

76: Now, looking at this is probably overwhelming. It's a lot of text in one big blob.

85: When emails look like this, your reader probably won't want to read them and will ignore them.

91: So this first tip is so easy and will instantly make your emails 100% more effective.

99: Just add a space in between paragraphs.

107: This simple act makes your emails much easier to skim and read.

112: Now, there's a big problem in this email with tone. My student Tip 2: Don't repeat complaints + include a positive

117: wrote the same complaint multiple times, which isn't the best idea.

123: What do you think, Greg?

125: Yeah, I mean, completing a complaint multiple times just makes you sound like you're whining

132: and complaining too much. It doesn't set a very nice tone for the email. So, look

139: at that example where it says, "The problem is I wasn't properly trained. I wasn't trained at all."

145: You don't need to repeat that. If you repeat it,

149: it just sounds whiney. It sounds like you're complaining too much. So I would

154: delete this second part of that. Just say, "The problem is I wasn't properly trained."

160: And again, at the end, "I feel very unprofessional,

164: not knowing what exactly I need to do." You don't need to repeat yourself. Just get rid

169: of one part of that and just make your little complaints short and sweet. And just say it once.

177: And another thing I really recommend you do is always include a positive in

183: that sentence too. It just makes the whole tone of the email much more pleasant to the

189: reader. And gives you the opportunity to complain but also keep a positive aspect

196: and a positive feeling to finding a solution rather than just being like, "blah blah blah."

203: So, instead of saying, "She later clarified the expectations, but it's not enough."

209: You could say something like, "She later clarified the expectations. While this was helpful..."

217: That's a bit positive, "it's not enough."

220: While this was helpful, it's not enough. Tip 3: Think about your reader's perspective

223: Okay, Kevin. Listen, I'm not 100% sure that the person who's receiving this email is going to be

230: 100% sure what the person who has written it actually wants. What are they asking?

238: Are they just writing to complain? Or are they actually asking for something?

242: So, how can we clarify the ask? What are

246: they actually wanting to say and get and achieve with this email?

252: Honestly, I don't know. Right now, this email is just one big complaint.

258: So, tip number three is to think about your reader's perspective when you write an email.

267: What do they care about? What's important to them?

270: In this email, my student was writing to their boss. So, what does a boss care about?

276: They might care about the budget. They might care about how effective people

282: are. Or they might care about how quickly new employees are trained.

287: So, we can add a line like:

289: I feel like this would help future new hires hit the ground running.

292: This shows your boss why they should care about your complaint. Your suggestion to

298: "shadow" or "watch" more experienced employees will help future new hires be successful faster.

307: By the way, if you "hit the ground running," you are successful from

312: the very start of an activity. Exactly what your boss wants. Tip 4: Always have a clear ask

317: Now, tip 4, and probably the most important tip, is to have a clear ask for your reader.

326: You want this ask to be easy to say "yes" to.

330: You don't want your reader to do a lot of work if they don't have to.

334: A simple yes or no question usually works great.

338: Here, we could ask, "Do you think something like this is possible?"

342: After seeing your complaint and how seeing how your suggestion can help

346: future new employees as well, it'll be easy for your boss to say "yes" to this question.

352: The next step might be a quick phone call with your boss or an opportunity

356: to shadow a more experienced employee. Exactly what you want.

361: This email is starting to look much better. So Greg,

365: what are some things we can do to put the finishing touches on this email? Tip 5: Professional ways to end an email

370: Kevin, you can't end an email without saying goodbye. It's just good manners;

377: it's just expected, especially in a professional setting. So,

383: you need to choose one of the many, many options we have to end an email,

389: and the one you choose really depends on what message you want to convey.

395: Do you want to hear back from the person? Do you want them to act on something

400: urgently? Do you simply want to say thank you? Here are some options depending on the message,

407: the final message, that you want to convey to the person who is reading your email.

413: So, "thank you for your help," or slightly less formal, "thanks for your help," is just a really

420: nice, friendly way of ending an email. And this is fine in the professional world. You are expressing

428: your gratitude. You are acknowledging that the person who is reading that email is busy. And

435: you are grateful that they have spent the time to read your email and act upon it.

441: So, "thanks for your help" and "thanks for your time" are both great choices.

446: Now, if you want to give a little message that you want a reply,

452: then you would say, "looking forward to hearing from you."

456: Looking forward to hearing from you. In other words, BAM!, there you have my email, and now

461: it's your turn. I'm looking forward to your reply. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

467: And if you want to add a subtle message that this is urgent, you could include the word "soon."

475: Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

479: "Thanks in advance" is a good one if you are asking the person to do

484: something. If you say "thanks in advance," you are almost implying

488: that you know they're going to do it. And, hey, in advance, thank you.

494: When somebody says this to me, I always get the impression like,

498: "Ooh, okay. They are already thankful. So, now, I have to do it." Thanks in advance.

505: And then I have two that I very, very often use.

509: "Kind regards." This is semi-formal. It's not super formal like,

514: "yours sincerely," but it's business formal so,

519: "kind regards," is a great way to end an email and it's great for many, many, many situations.

527: And a less formal one, which I tend to use more than anything is,

533: "thanks a lot and speak soon." "Thanks a lot, and speak soon."

537: I'm thanking the person for acting on whatever I have asked them to do and

543: I put a little friendly, "speak soon" at the end to express that

549: we'll continue this conversation and this relationship very soon.

554: Okay, Kevin, anything you want to add?

557: Personally, I always use the expression "Talk soon" in my emails. But, in this case,

564: I think a simple "Thanks for your help" works great. You were asking them for help after all. Review: The 5 tips to write emails clearly and professionally

570: So, as a review, our 5 tips for writing more professional emails are:

576: One: Add spaces in between paragraphs to make your email more readable.

583: Two: If you have a complaint only say it once, and also try to include a positive statement as well.

593: Tip three is to think about your email from the perspective of your reader.

600: Why is your complaint or your ask important to them?

606: Tip four is to make sure that you have a clear ask that is easy to say yes to.

613: And finally, tip five: make sure you include a simple professional greeting at the end.

620: If you want more videos that'll help you speak clearly and understand easily,

626: check out Greg's YouTube channel, "English with Greg."

629: Greg, thanks again for helping me out on this one.

633: Thanks for having me, Kevin. It's been a pleasure to help you and your

637: students learn how to improve their business emails and we'll speak soon.