[OA Staff Member]

In my position at OfficeArrow, I end up writing a lot of emails. A lot of those emails have very specific information that I need to make sure is clear and to the point. It’s a tall order when you are trying to describe something that doesn’t even exist yet! I have a few simple rules that I try to stick to (and struggle with!):

1. Get to the point fast
2. Keep the SAT words where they belong - in a teenager’s vocabulary book
3. Create a compelling subject line

Even if I manage to stick those, I know that I still stand a good chance of losing the reader by paragraph one. So it was nice to come across Brian Zafron’s article about the Art of Email Writing. In it he writes: “strong email writing will inevitably make a positive impression over time and produce meaningful results for your business.” He’s right too. Think about how much you rely on email to communicate. It’s a skill that we all should really work to master.

Brian goes on to further define 3 main aspects to an email that should be done properly to get your email read - content, style and form and/or technicals. It’s a great article in that it made me pause and think, ”have I been doing this?” Just because I am a prodigious email writer, doesn’t mean that I’ve been doing it well. Yikes!

What are some rules you employ to get those important emails read? Do you find yourself struggling to get emails opened? Any tried & true techniques?

[Chrissy Scivicque]

I think the subject line is one of the most important parts since it’s the first thing the reader sees. Personally, there’s nothing that bugs me more than an empty subject line or one that says re: question. It’s too common and generic. I think it’s so helpful for titles to be specific but short at the same time - something that helps the reader identify at a glance what is being discussed and how important it is. An email titled “question re: today’s planning meeting” will get my attention faster than just putting “question”.

I think titling is definitely a delicate art. I haven’t mastered it but I have a few rules for myself: be specific, never leave it blank, avoid using one word that everyone else is probably using already (like “question”).