email

It’s Dr. Seuss Week

February 27, 2012 by Art of Eloquence

Dr. Seuss’ birthday is this Friday. He would have been 108 years old. As many of us did, I grew up with Dr. Seuss books and so did my children. They were a fun way for kids to want to learn to read. They had two of the things kids love most: rhyme and nonsense. Silly words with silly pictures, odd situations and strange creatures enticed us all.

This week on the Art of Eloquence Communication FUNdamental’s blog, we will be celebrating silliness and creative play that fosters better education (specifically communication) and remembering Dr. Seuss.

Part of the reason Dr. Seuss was so effective was because he included humor and creative play into the learning process, an idea Art of Eloquence incorporates into its communication studies. Almost all of my articles use humor. Some share how humor is important to communication. One article shares how to use creative play to teach communication skills. Check them out and have some fun learning the Communication FUNdamentals of the Art of Eloquence!

Join us on Facebook for even more Communication FUNdamentals throughout the week!

If you liked this post, please subscribe to our RSS feed and share the link…

Share this:

Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News Tagged With: communication, customer service, Dr. Seuss, email, FUNdamentals, humor

Is it acceptable to email a thank you?

January 30, 2012 by Art of Eloquence

This coming Friday is the anniversary of the death of Johannes Gutenberg, the man who invented the printing press and revolutionized the communication of God’s Word and much more. In celebration of his life, I was planning to share some information about the importance of various communication technology and how it has changed our lives.

Then, last week someone emailed me with a question about thank you cards in the Information Age. It fit right in with my plans this week so I thought I’d share my answer today and expand on it a bit to include the role of technology on thankfulness. On Wednesday I’ll share more about communication technology and on Friday I have a fun video that will help celebrate the day in style.

The original question was if a formal, hand written thank you note was still necessary in the Information Age and if there were lessons children could still learn by writing formal thank you notes. I found there really were four parts to this question and so I took them one at a time.

1. Are thank you notes necessary or, to save time, can we simply call or email a thank you?

It really depends upon your recipient. The idea of a thank you note is to express appreciation for what you have received. It’s not a matter of what you do as much as it is how the other person feels when you do it. I doubt Aunt Martha, who is 96 years old, will feel the appreciation as much over email—if she even HAS email. If Aunt Martha always sends YOU a thank you note, then it’s probably best to do the same for her. You may also need to consider how often you actually see Aunt Martha. If she lives far or you don’t see her but three times a year, it’s best to be more formal in showing your appreciation. If your five year old receives a birthday gift from his best friend who lives next door, a call or thank you at the time may be all that’s needed. Billy knows just how much Bobby loves his truck because he plays trucks with him every day!

2. What can kids learn from writing thank you notes?

PLENTY! Writing thank you notes or anything else, for that matter, will help children’s penmanship, communication skills, manners, spelling, grammar, writing skills, and much more.

3. Is penmanship all it’s cracked up to be in the Information Age?

Actually, yes! Most SAT tests and colleges still have blue books for essays where your penmanship is essential for the poor dear grading the tests. Additionally, notes are still used at various places of employment as well as on the fridge telling Mary that Betty called.

4. What really shows appreciation?

Sending a thank you note once really doesn’t show appreciation. It simply says thank you…ONCE! To truly show appreciation, we should take every opportunity to show the giver that we appreciate their gift. I talk about this extensively in an article I wrote a while back. Here is the link: http://artofeloquence.com/articles/power-of-thank-you/

As technology changes, the way in which we communicate has to change. Some of that is a good thing–a very good thing. If it weren’t for the internet, I’d not be able to talk to all of you good people. What needs to be remembered is the purpose of our communication. If our purpose is to make someone feel good or appreciated or supported, then the how of it may become vital because it implies not how convenient it is for us to share, but how it will be interpreted by the one we seek to influence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com

If you liked this post, please subscribe to our RSS feed and share the link…

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: email, Gutenberg, printing press, technology, thank you note

How to Contact Someone

January 9, 2012 by Art of Eloquence

How to Contact Someone

By JoJo Tabares

This issue came up the other day and I thought it would make a good post. I have written on this before, but it wasn’t the focus of the article and I can’t seem to find it amongst the many I’ve written (that have yet to be posted on the AOE website) anyway. Lol

If you have ever had a situation come up in which you wanted to contact someone to address an issue, find out more information or thank them for all their hard work on something, you may have run into trouble obtaining an email address. It is surprisingly easy in the Information Age and here are a few suggestions:

1. Website Contact Page

If the person is a business owner, Google their business name to find their website. Most websites have a Contact Us page that will either list their email address or supply a form where you can email them directly from the website.

2. Facebook Private Message

If you are both on Facebook, but do not have the person’s email address, you can simply send them a private message through Facebook. You usually don’t have to be friends with someone on Facebook in order to send them a private message.

3. Facebook Fan Page:

If you need to contact the owner of a Facebook fan page privately, the best way to do that is to look on the Info tab of the fan page to find if an email address is listed there. If not, usually the website is listed and, as I talked about previously, you’ll probably find their email address on the Contact Us page. If no website is listed, you might try to see if the fan page lists the Page Owners down on the bottom left. Then, as I talked about in the previous point, you can go to their personal Facebook wall and contact them through a Facebook private message.

4. Twitter Message

If you are both on Twitter, you can send them a Direct Message. I’m pretty sure you need to be followed by that person in order to send them a DM, but you might give it at try. It may be a matter of settings. I’m not as familiar with Twitter as I am with Facebook.

5. Yahoo Groups

If you know each other from a Yahoo Group, you can find the person’s email by looking at their group post. Usually, the sender’s email address is listed somewhere on the post. Depending upon the group settings, if you don’t see it, you may be able to click “reply” and then it will become visible.

6. Google their Name

If you don’t have any connection to them through a group or other social media, you can Google their name and see what information pops up. Remember that there may be several people with the same name so you’ll want to look for information that will help you identify that person before you attempt to contact them.

There are so many options available to us these days. The information you need may only be a few keyboard strokes away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com

If you liked this post, please subscribe to our RSS feed and share the link…

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: contact page, Dr. Laura.com, email, Facebook, Google, homeschool, Internet, keyboard strokes, message, name, the old schoolhouse magazine, Twitter, Yahoo groups

How to email customer service and get results!

October 19, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

I hope you have enjoyed this series on effective email. I’ve talked about the importance of choosing a good email address, your subject line, given you some tips for a more effective body of text in two parts. Last week, I talked about your signature line and some “Other Stuff” important for effective email and today I conclude my series

No article series on effective email would be complete without a section on how to email customer service and get results! This is a very different kind of email and, as such, it requires a little different approach. Here are some tips:

1. Make sure you are emailing the correct department.

If you are asking about an order, you probably want sales. If you are asking about a problem with a product, you probably want their customer service department. If you email the wrong department, you slow down the process.

2. Be respectful.

Resist the temptation to “go off” on the poor, unsuspecting recipient of your product performance nightmare. It’s not Connie Customer Rep’s fault and she’s only trying to help you. Allow her. The more disrespectful we are the worse our treatment will be.

3.Give whatever background is necessary.

If the problem requires a little background, provide a BRIEF background in order that the representative has enough knowledge to direct you further. Not including a background when one is needed, will only delay your resolution. If the customer service rep is savvy enough to ask you for it, it will require another email. If he isn’t, it may require SEVERAL!

4. State the issue clearly.

Leave out feelings, extraneous info, and minute details, but do state the issue clearly and as briefly as possible.

5. Use numbers or bullet points.

Customer service reps are people too and most people find it difficult to read too much in an email. Make it easy for him to read:

“I have a few questions: 1) how many weeks does it take to deliver? 2) what colors do they come in? and 3) How long do I have to return it if it doesn’t fit?”

6. Provide any further info that might help plead your case.

If you are returning an item after the date their policy allows, you might want to explain that your mom bought it in July as a Christmas gift and you didn’t open it until December. If you are returning a wrong personalized item, you might want to mention that the sales rep told you this was the item you needed. It also helps if you kept a record of the date, time and name of the person you spoke with.

7. Be prepared to clarify.

If you think you are going to send off your perfect email and receive a reply that addresses all your issues or even ANY of them, you will be sorely sore. lol Be prepared to clarify.

* Be prepared for a canned email that asks for you to pick a canned reply from the multiple choice questions.

* Be prepared to have to call because none of the multiple choice responses suit your issue.

* Be prepared for the fact that very few customer service emails are really read in their entirety.

* So be prepared to write another email with virtually the same text.

* Be prepared to have only SOME of your issues answered in the reply.

* Be prepared to keep sending replies to clarify…

* Be prepared to go in to the store or call them on the phone to resolve.

8. Rethink emailing if your issue is in any way complex.

Sometimes it’s best to communicate the old fashioned way: by phone!

Emailing is a virtual convenience that is used by virtually everyone! It’s deceptively difficult but can be exceedingly effective. The key is to know how and when to use it.

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: effective email, email, email address, resutls, signature line

Effective Email Pt 6-Other Stuff

October 12, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

I hope you’ve been enjoying my article series on effective emailing. So far I shared about the importance of choosing a good email address, your subject line and given you some tips for a more effective body of text in two parts. Monday, I talked about your signature line. Today I’d like to share some “Other Stuff” important for effective email and then I will conclude the series on Monday.

Other Important Stuff About Sending emails:

1. When to reply

Have you ever gotten an email that was just dripping with disdain or riddled with ridicule? Some emails don’t warrant a reply. If it’s too negative, opens a can of worms or you don’t want to discuss that, why not just let it go? If this is something more delicate, it might be best to handle it in person or over the phone. Since email carries with it the capacity to rip a friendship to shreds, it may be better handled over another medium of communication.

On the other hand, if this is a customer question, Aunt Millie asking you to help her move or a request for information about an item you had in the Pennysaver, it’s impolite to leave it sit too long before answering. Customers generally expect an answer within 24-48 business hours. Aunt Millie may be sitting on her plans until you respond and someone who really needs a washer/dryer may be holding out false hope because you never cancelled your ad.

2. What not to forward

Jokes, known scams, urban legends, things that sound like they are scams, embellished propaganda…it’s always a good idea to check something out BEFORE you forward it. Here’s a clue. If it sounds too incredible to be believable, it probably is! Forwarding things like this communicates that you aren’t careful at minimum. NEVER forward anything like this in a business setting and if you own a business and are found forwarding these types of things to a list where you may find some of your customers, it can reflect on your business.

Here’s another reason to be careful not to pass email along before checking it out. The liberal media loves to show conservatives up as embellishing the truth. That makes us vulnerable to being considered lunatics and for our arguments to be dismissed as silly or dangerous. The more we pass things around that aren’t or probably aren’t true, the more we spread the ammunition they can use to discredit a larger group of conservatives.

Another type of email not to send is the chain letter. They all start with the most beautiful or amazingly uplifting stories and end with, “Please forward this to every living soul you know. If you do, you will inherit a bagillion dollars tomorrow. If you don’t, your nose will fall off!”

I don’t care how lovely a story it is, I don’t want to be told to forward it to everyone who ever lived. Take off the chain letter part at the end and send it to me if you must, but don’t click send until you do!

3. She doesn’t love me! Translation: She never answered my email!

Unfortunately only 70% of emails make it to their intended destination. You know what that means? About 30% don’t! Some don’t because the recipient didn’t notice it wound up in their spam filter. Some don’t because it was eaten by their virus protection. Yet others don’t make it for reasons that are unknown to mankind. Any way you slice it, you need to give grace when you don’t get a response.

What do you do if you haven’t received a response from Mabel? Email her and sweetly say that you sent her an email and hadn’t heard back yet so you’re following up. If you do decide to email Mabel and say, “Hey! Don’tcha love me? I sent you an email six seconds ago and you never bothered to answer me!” do make sure you put a lot of little smiley faces and LOLs after it. ;D

That’s it for my Other Tips. Check back on Monday for my final part on effective email when I’ll be discussing how to email customer service and get results!

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: email, email address, signature line, subject line

Effective Email Pt 5-Sig line

October 10, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

If you are just joining this article series, here is a quick recap. Email has become a common form of communication in recent years, but so much of it is misunderstood that there are more communication issues with this form than there are with all the other forms put together. So much of how we communicate face-to-face is received through body language, facial expression and tone of voice. This is all lost in an email where we have to rely only on the words we choose. So far I shared about the importance of choosing a good email address, your subject line and given you some tips for a more effective body of text in two parts. Today I’d like to talk about your signature line.

What should be in your signature line?

* Your name…your FULL name!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received an email that was unsigned. Makes it difficult to address the reply. Dear 1234567@aol.com…

Even signing your first name may not be of great help. I may not have the brain cells at 49 to remember your email address letter for letter so I’m not sure if you are Mary or Mary. Mary Jones wanted to borrow my grey jacket but Mary Peterson wanted to come over for lunch at noon on Friday. I’m not sure how to respond to Mary if the only thing I have to go on is an email note that says “So, is it okay?” signed Mary. My brain immediately goes TILT as I try to remember if Mary’s email address is 6427@aol.com or is it the other Mary whose email address is 6247@aol.com. AHHHH!

Now if you email for business, use your full name. There may be other Bobs at ABC Company. After all, they do have 600,000 employees!

* Your title if you are in a large company

If you are emailing for business, always include your title in your signature line so folks will know what you do at the company. It tells them what questions they may ask, what answers they can expect and gives you an air of authority when you answer difficult questions.

* A clickable website address

If you put your business or blog url in your signature line, for pitty’s sake, make it clickable! I can’t tell you how frustrated I get as I to try to copy and paste it into a browser and have to put the “http://www.” on it. I know it’s not all that much work, but I’m 49. I’m going through menopause and I get a bit testy when I have to work harder than I feel I should! HELP ME OUT, will ya?

Now on the flip side, do you know the chances of someone clicking through to your website vs copying it and pasting it into their browser? Neither do I, but I’ll bet it’s LOTS! The easier you make it for people, the more likely they will do something!

* How else to get hold of you

If you are emailing for business and you have several ways your customers can get hold of you, list them! If you don’t mind being called, list your phone number. If you don’t mind being texted, faxed, or you can interpret smoke signals, list your call sign! That way if Mary doesn’t do well with email, she can call instead.

* Scripture or tag line

If you have a life scripture or tag line for your business, list it below your signature. That gives your recipient a bit more information about you. Always a nice touch to make an email a bit more personal and descriptive of you. Helps with rapport!

What shouldn’t be your signature line?

* Offensive words or negative comments

It pretty much goes without saying, that you shouldn’t put vulgar language in your email signature, but you wouldn’t believe the number of times I have seen negative comments in there! I’ve had personal emails come through with things like, “John Smith, waiting for the day when I don’t have to live with my MIL!” Uh…not good form.

* An ad

A tag line or signature verse is one thing, but don’t put an ad in there. The first thing I think of when I see that is, Don’t Push Me! lol

“Kim Berly,

http://www. I Want To Sell You Stuff.com

Buy three and get six free! No shipping! Sale ends in five minutes! Order NOW!

I SAID NOW!”

Yup… just a bit pushy…

* A book

Research shows that people don’t like to read long text copy on emails. If you’ve got that much information in your signature line, put it in a PDF, okay? I don’t need your biography, your credentials, your pedigree or the history and evolution of your rise to corporate power! I won’t read it. ANY of it!

Well, that’s it for email signature lines. Join me on Wednesday when I give you some tips for what to send and what NOT to send.

Until then…

Sincerely yours,

Me!

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: Ad, article series, company, effective email, email, email address, facial expression, negative words, scripture, signature line, subject line, tag line, text, url, website

Email Faux Pas

October 7, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Business Email Faux Pas

of the first magnitude…

Don’t be that guy…or gal!

Share this:

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: business, email, faux pas

Effective Email (Part 4)

October 5, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

So far, I’ve talked about the importance of choosing a good email address, your subject line and given you some tips for a more effective body of text. Here are the last five tips to help you form a more effective body of email.

6. Check spelling and grammar
This section may not be as critical when you are emailing a friend, but if even when emailing your best friend, spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes can result in miscommunication and hurt feelings: “Ill meet you at 7 am not coming at 8” Does she mean she’s meeting me at 7am because she is not coming at 8am or does she mean she’s ill and not coming at 8am but will meet me at 7am. Or does she mean that she is meeting me at 7 (pm) and saying “I am not coming at 8(pm)”?

7. Short emails are best
Most people don’t like to read long copy on the computer. Short emails are usually best not only so that you will keep your recipient’s interest but so that there is less of an opportunity to be misunderstood. The more involved or complicated an email, the more chance for it to be misinterpreted.

Too Wordy: “I was thinking about this the other day and wondering if w shouldn’t make a more convenient time for all of us to get together for the sales meeting but then I thought it should be after Christmas because some of us might be on vacation during that time of the year. We should be able to get together in January but I might have some work done on my house and you know how that can go so maybe we should make it February or even March but then that might be too late in the year unless you all think it can wait that long. What do you think would be a good month?”

Better: “It might be too difficult to get together over the Christmas holiday. When would you prefer to get together for this year’s sales meeting?”

8. But don’t be so brief that your message is vague
Be succinct, but do give enough information for your receiver to understand your meaning. When replying to Yahoo group posts, I notice many will keep all the previous replies. Others will delete all of them leaving no clue as to the question they are answering. Be as brief as you can without obscuring the purpose of the reply.

Too Brief: “March 2nd”

Better: “I’d like to take my vacation the week of March 2nd.”

9. Paragraphs and Bullet Points
Even when emailing a friend, it’s always better to create breaks in your thought process so that it is easier for people to scan your email. Many email readers are scanners. They will scan the email for keywords before reading the parts they are interested in. Some will scan and never read the email. Scanners don’t read full emails. They can get distracted and overwhelmed by too many words on a screen. Break up your email into paragraphs or bullet points making it easier for scanners to discern what message your email contains.

10. If a phone call is possible, do so
If your email is going to require several pages of detailed instruction or thoughts, it might be better just to pick up the phone and have a five minute discussion. In fact, I will usually pick up the phone if at all possible as a first resort and not the last! Phone conversations rate much higher on the interpretation meter because not only does your receiver have your words to help them decode your message, but they also have your tone of voice, and the ability to question in real time if they do not understand. What’s more, YOU have the ability to hear their voice and discern if they are having a hard time understanding what you are saying or if they flat out misunderstood you. This gives you the ability to correct any misunderstandings before they become full-fledged arguments!

You can’t do without email these days so it behooves us to be as efficient as possible when using this method of communication. These few tips can help you avoid common interpretation issues and save you time and trouble as well as friendships and business problems!

Stay tuned next week for part five of my series on signature lines!

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: bullet points, email, grammar, paragraphs, phone, spelling

Effective Email (Part 3)

October 3, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Several recent studies show that email is deceptively more difficult that most people are aware. Research reveals that 78% of people believe they are clearly communicating and 89% of receivers believe they are correctly interpreting an email. However, the unfortunate reality is that the receiver correctly interprets an email message only 56% of the time! Why the discrepancy?

Email is devoid of body language, facial expressions, vocal inflection, gestures, and other nonverbal cues which make up 93% of face-to-face communication! Though an email is easy and convenient to write, we often forget that the other person may not interpret what we type the way we meant it especially since the only things the receiver can use to interpret our email message are the words we choose to use. This leads to various misunderstandings as the receiver may misinterpret your intentions and tone by reading too much into the email.

While there is no perfect way to communicate and each receiver is a unique individual, there are some tips that will help you communicate more effectively over email.

1. Consider your audience
Before you begin to formulate your email, consider who it is you are writing to. How well do they know you and your thoughts on the topic you are about to discuss? What assumptions might they have about the topic that you may have to overcome? What terms might you use that they may not be familiar with? Which words or terms might be taken negatively? How many people will be reading this email and would they all feel the same about this topic? Knowing your audience is important if you are to relate to them or you will miss opportunities to communicate effectively and increase your chances of being misunderstood.

2. Read it over out loud before you hit send

It’s almost impossible to edit or proof your own writing which is why a good editor is worth so much, but it isn’t practical to hire an editor for a simple email. So what’s an emailer to do? You may, indeed, read right over your own mistakes when you read silently. I advocate reading your email over out loud before you hit send to catch the glaringly obvious “mis takes”.

3. Check for inflammatory words
As you are reading over the email, or even on a second read if the topic is controversial, keep in mind any words that might be interpreted as inflammatory. These are any words that are unnecessarily emotional or could be seen as rude. If you find one, try replacing it with a less emotionally-charged word.

4. Make sure it’s not accusatory
As you are reading, scan for any words or terms that might make the reader feel as if you are accusing them or even suggesting they have done something wrong-especially if they have not. Many times emails are misinterpreted because the receiver feels the sender is hinting that they have done someone wrong. Even if the recipient has done something wrong, it’s not always effective to tell them so-especially in a setting such as a public Yahoo group.

5. Look at email with the eyes of those who don’t know you
It might help to read the email over by trying to see it through the eyes of someone who doesn’t know you or the topic. If a green alien from the planet, Mift, was to receive your email and all he knew was basic conversational English, would he understand you? Do consider that some people you may email are not from the same country, culture, time zone or even hold the same world view you do. When inviting someone to an online event, do include the time zone or a few time zones to make it easier for everyone to attend. For example:

“Join us each month for free seminars here: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736” doesn’t tell them when they should join you.

“Join us each Monday at noon” isn’t much more helpful because noon to California is not noon to NY.

“Join us each Monday 12pm PST/3pm EST” is much more descriptive. From there anyone can figure out their own time zone. You can even post four US time zones so those in MST and CST will not have to go to the trouble of doing calculation.

Do remember, too, that there are people who live in other countries and time zones that may see your email post. Their noon may be your midnight. Allow them to be fully informed of the time zone or they are likely to become frustrated by trying to attend your online event while you are sleeping.

On Wednesday, I’ll share five more tips for the body of your email.

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: aucience, effective email, email, English, words

Effective Email (part two)

September 28, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

On Monday, I began a new seven part series on effective email with an in depth look at choosing our email address wisely. Today I continue the series with a look at the subject line.

Your Subject Line
Make sure your subject line is reflective of what you are going to say in the body of your email. If it sounds too much like spam, it will be deleted by the owner who things it IS spam. If it is blank, it may be deleted because it looks like spam. I get a lot of spam with nothing in the subject line. Another issue may be that the recipient may not realize this email is from YOU. I sometimes receive emails that have very odd abbreviated words in the subject line. Sometimes the subject line isn’t a complete thought or doesn’t sound like anything I would be interested in. I delete it thinking it was sent to me by accident only to find out later on that it was someone with information I was waiting for!

Aside from not leaving subject lines blank, not using trigger words that spam filters are looking to weed out and making sure that your subject lines are reflective of who you are and what the body of your email is about, here are some other issues to be aware of:

• The Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Part
Don’t allow the subject line to get to this point or it will cut off your subject line! LOL After a few “Re:’s” you might want to consider trimming your subject line down a wee bit! It will keep your message clear and succinct and allow your message a better chance of being read. Even if your friend knows it’s from you, but she is busy with six other things as a new mom right now, she may not answer for a while because it takes far too much time for her right now to read the email to determine what it’s about. If your subject line was shorter, it would have allowed Mary to see that you were asking her about her other daughter got your invitation to your daughter’s birthday party.x

• Typos and misspellings
If your subject line has too many typos or is misspelled, it has a greater chance of being deleted because it may say something completely different to your friend than you had intended. Remember that, while most email clients have spell check in the body of the email, there usually is no spell check for subject lines

• A very long email subject line which is so long that it gets cut of…

I sometimes receive emails with marathon subject lines that seem to go on infinitely in both directions. Lol Either they will get cut off or they will look so long to me that I won’t bother to read them in their entirety. I may delete the email not realizing it came from a friend or I might save it for when I have more time. (Hint: as a homeschool mom with a business and a dd away at college, I don’t have much of this thing called time!)

Your subject line is the most important part of your email because it’s the one thing that will either get your recipient to click on it…or not! An ineffective subject line can cause your entire email to be deleted without ever being read. It can give a bad impression or a false impression and it can set a tone for future email correspondence. Write it wisely.

I’ll be back on Monday with part three of my effective email series. Stay tuned! In the meanwhile enjoy the rest of my blog and take a look around the Art of Eloquence website for even more communication articles!

Share this:

Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: Article, blog, effective email, email, email address, spam, subject line

It’s Dr. Seuss Week

Is it acceptable to email a thank you?

How to Contact Someone

How to email customer service and get results!

Effective Email Pt 6-Other Stuff

Effective Email Pt 5-Sig line

Email Faux Pas

Effective Email (Part 4)

Effective Email (Part 3)

Effective Email (part two)

NEWEST From Art of Eloquence!

Subscribe to JoJo’s NEW Blog

Customer Comments

Recommended by HSLDA & TOS

Join us on Facebook

We take Visa, MasterCard & PayPal