LSS 1003 Life and Study Skills

Email Etiquette 1: The Basics

1. Always put a subject line
The subject line is the most important part of your email. Its how the reader
decides whether your message is spam or not. The other is the sender line, your
own name and email address. If youre writing to a friend who recognizes your
email address then you can use a subject line that says nothing, such as whats
happening? or hows it going? However, for important emails, avoid this sort of
unprofessional subject line and make sure the subject line is related to the
content and is easy to find later.
2. Start with a salutation
Your email should open by addressing the person youre writing to.
Business-like messages should begin with:

Dear Mr. Jones, or Dear Professor Smith, (for someone you dont know
well)

Dear Joe, or Dear Mandy, (if you have a working relationship with the
person)
If you know the person well, its fine to use Hi Joe, Hello Joe or just the name
followed by a comma (Joe,) ; writing Dear Joe to one of your team-mates will
look odd!
3. Write in short paragraphs
Get straight to the point. Divide your email into 2-4 short paragraphs, each one
dealing with a single idea. Consider using bullet-points for extra clarity, perhaps if
you are:

Listing several questions for the recipient to answer

Suggesting a number of alternative options

Explaining the steps that youll be carrying out

Put a double line break between paragraphs.
4. Stick to one topic per mail
If you need to write to someone about several different issues (for example, if
youre giving your boss an update on Project X, asking her for a review meeting to
discuss a pay rise, and telling her that youve got a doctors appointment on
Tuesday), then dont put them all in the same email. Its hard for people to keep
track of different email threads and conversations if topics are jumbled up.

LSS 1003 Life and Study Skills

5. Use capitals appropriately

Emails should follow the same rules of punctuation as other writing. Capitals are
often misused. In particular, you should:

Always capitalise I and the first letter of proper nouns (names)

Capitalise acronymns (UAE, HCT, DWC)

Always start sentences with a capital letter. This makes your email easier to read:
try retyping one of the emails youve received in ALL CAPS or all lower case, and
see how much harder it is to follow!

Never write a whole sentence (or worse, a whole email) in capitals AS THIS
GIVES THE IMPRESSION OF SHOUTING AT THE PERSON AND IS PERCEIVED AS
AGGRESSIVE AND RATHER THREATENING. (THIS IS ALSO TRUE IF YOU USE
MULTIPLE EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!)

YOU CAN CAPITALIZE WORDS THAT YOU WANT TO STAND OUT AND GET THE
READERS ATTENTION BUT BE AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING TOO
DIRECT.

6. Sign off the email

For short informal emails, you can just put a double space after your last
paragraph then typE your name. If youre writing a more formal email, its
essential to close it appropriately.

Yours sincerely, when you know the name of your addressee

Yours faithfully, when youve addressed it to Dear Sir/Madam as you dont
know/ forgot the name.
Use Best regards, or Kind regards, in most other situations.
Even when writing to people you know well, its polite to sign off with
something such as All the best, Take care, Have a nice day, or Thanks,
before typing your name.

7. Use a sensible email signature

Dont use quotes from your favourite TV show, motivational speaker or witty
friend.
Do include your name, email address, telephone number and postal address
(where appropriate). You may also put your Business card below your name for
reference.

LSS 1003 Life and Study Skills

Read the Email Etiquette Guidelines and answer the questions below:
1. What might the person who receives your email (the recipient) do if the
subject line is not clear?
-

the reader wont be able decides whether your message is spam or not

2. What is an appropriate salutation (greeting) for these people?

a. Your teacher :- Dear Mr , Dear professor
b. Your classmate :- hi , hello
c. The Director of DWC :- Dear Mr
d. The HR manager of a company you want to work for :-

Dear Mr

3. If you are writing a long email which includes a lot of information, what two
things should you do?
-

Always capitalize I and the first letter of proper nouns (names)

Capitalize acronyms (UAE, HCT, DWC)

4. You want to ask your teacher for an extension on your project, tell her youll
be late for class tomorrow, explain why you were absent last week and
request a time to meet her to discuss your grade on your last assessment.
You would send her one/two/three/four emails.
5. Whats wrong with this email? Can you correct it?
Hi Dear Maryam, Thanks for agreeing to come to DWC next Monday 5th
March to speak to a group of students about job opportunities at DEWA. Ill
see you In the mph at 10:00. bye for now. Laila
6. A teacher receives this email from a student. What is the teachers most
likely response?

LSS 1003 Life and Study Skills

MISS! WHY DID YOU GIVE ME GRADE D FOR THE LAST EXAM??? I AM VERY
UNHAPPY BECAUSE I STUDIED VERY HARD FOR THE EXAM!! DO YOU THINK
-

THIS IS FAIR??!!! PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE!!! REPLY SOON!!!

She wont respond

Re-write the email here

Dear Miss , Why did you give me grade D for the last exam? I am very
unhappy because I studied very hard for the exam, Do you think this is fair?

Please give me another chance, Reply soon. Kind regards.

7. What is an appropriate ending for email to these people?
a. Your teacher :- yours sincerely
b. Your classmate :- Take care , Have a nice day

c. The Director of DWC :- Yours faithfully

d. The HR manager of a company you want to work for :- Best regards , kind
regards

8. What should you not include with your email signature?

a. Your postal address
b. Any kind of quote
c. Your business card

LSS 1003 Life and Study Skills

Task
Send an email to your teacher to do THREE of the following:

Request an extension on an assignment (with a reason)

Suggest a field trip for the class with details of the rationale and
time/costs involved

Request a meeting task for an opinion/advice on a project/assignment

you are working on

Thank your teacher for taking your class on a field trip

Apologise for missing class yesterday, give a reason for your absence
and explain how you will make up the missed work.