Here is the perfect way to end an email - and 28 sign-offs you should usually avoid
Writing an email isn't so hard, but figuring out how to sign off can be a real challenge.
Is "cheers" too casual? Too pretentious? Too British? Is "sincerely" timeless and professional, or stodgy and overly formal?
Perhaps, as Matthew J.X. Malady persuasively argued at Slate, we should just call the whole thing off and ditch the email closer altogether.
But as anyone who has sat staring blankly at a screen, weighing "best" vs. "all best" vs. "all the best" knows, not signing off doesn't feel quite right, either - especially if the context is professional.
"Not closing seems way too abrupt," business etiquette expert Barbara Pachter tells Business Insider. "If you have a salutation, you should have a closing to balance it out."
Will Schwalbe, who co-authored "SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better" with David Shipley, agrees, pointing out that "we don't go around in life barking orders at one another and we shouldn't on email either."
And, manners aside, the email close serves a practical function. It helps "define the personality of the email's content," says Aliza Licht, author of the career guide "Leave Your Mark."
It's also an opportunity to define or redefine your relationship to your correspondent, Schwalbe adds. A shift from "love" to "best," for example, indicates that you may have a problem.
If we accept - at least for the moment - that email sign-offs are here to stay, the question becomes which one to use, and in what contexts to use it.
We had Pachter, Schwalbe, and Licht weigh in on 29 common email closings. Here are the ones they say to avoid in most situations - and which one to use when you're just not sure.
This is an update of a story originally written by Rachel Sugar.
- I got a $40K raise using this 30-second strategy. It made me realize loud work, not hard work, always wins.
- Qatar Airways' new CEO explains why it's sticking with the Airbus A380 as other airlines retire the costly superjumbo
- Prince Harry and Meghan found out about Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis on TV like everyone else, report says
- Sustainable Event Planning
- Ambani, Adani collaborate: RIL picks 26% stake in Adani Power project
- As back-to-office avatars turn casual, comfy sneaker sales pick up pace
- Fresh photographs of Milky Way’s black hole Sgr A* reveal strong, twisted magnetic field similar to M87*
- 8 Lesser-known places to explore in Himachal Pradesh