E-mail Etiquette For A Total Executive Presence
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But executive presence is a “total skill”. Your effort to develop executive presence doesn’t stop once you’ve chosen the perfect power outfit or mastered confidence-exuding body language postures. It continues with every interaction you have in your professional life, and that includes your e-mails.
To help you lift the level of professionalism in your e-mails and achieve
1. Decide if you’re writing a formal or an
This choice really depends on whom you’re writing to and the relationship you have with that person. For somebody, whom you’ve never met, or somebody from a formal culture (e.g., Japan, France or China), it’s a safer choice to use a formal style e-mail. But if you’re writing to a co-worker whom you’ve just had lunch with, a
2. Choose a subject line that is short but descriptive
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3. Use the appropriate salutation to connect with your reader
Sometimes you may know that person well, and a simple “Hi Jane” is sufficient. Other times you might be writing to an important client, or somebody whom you’ve never met. In that case, using “Dear Ms Hutchinson” or “Dear Jane” is probably more suitable.
4. Know the difference between the US and the UK style punctuation
Yes, there is a difference. In fact, there are many differences between the US and the UK style punctuation. Why is this important for your e-mails? Because you want to tailor your e-mails to your reader and if your reader is not familiar with the style of punctuation you use, they may assume it’s incorrect and a mistake. The most common difference I’m asked about is: do you place a full stop (period) after “Mr” or “Ms”? Basically, in the US style, you do. In the UK style, you don’t. Head over to the Executive Impressions Facebook page where I’ve posted an image you can save to your desktop as a reminder of this punctuation rule.
5. Always sign-off
I know we can all get busy with our jobs or our
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What is your pet peeve for e-mails? Leave a comment in the section below.
Image: thinkstock
About the author: Kara Ronin is a business etiquette expert, and founder of Executive Impressions.
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