Business Email
Two Formats of Emails:
Friendly - emails are a means of communicating with someone you have a relationship with: parents, family member, friends, penpal etc. Usually, the purpose is to entertain or inform.
Business - A means of communication that is formally written, with a purpose and expectation of persuading or informing someone else of a situation.
Reasons for Writing a Business Email
Inform: Inform them about:
how well/poorly a product worked.
a compliment/complaint to a business.
thank a company/person for something.
an event or service that you are providing.
Persuade: Persuade them to:
hire you for work
share your opinion
apply for a scholarship/tuition
convince a company to help a cause
What is Persuasive Writing
A persuasive piece of writing tells your opinion about something.
It tries to get your reader to agree with you, or at least try to understand your point of view.
Back your opinion up with strong reasons and interesting examples.
Tone
Business emails always have a formal tone
In almost all cases, you are writing to a complete stranger. You want this person to take you seriously, so be professional.
Avoid:
Contractions (you are rather than you’re)
Slang (Our product is excellent rather than our product is lit 🔥)
Abbreviations (people rather than ppl)
Symbols (three rather than 3)
Fancy fonts (Times New Roman rather than Comic Sans)
Elements of a Business Email
To
Cc
Subject line
Salutation
Body
Closing
Name/Signature
To
The email address of the recipient of your business email an @ is required.
Format is as follows:Cc
carbon copy
Not necessary but any email address that is in this line will receive the email as well. The purpose is to keep this person in the loop or to share the email with them.
Format is as follows:
Subject Line
A subject line specifying the topic of the email.
This is to be written like a title - using uppercase letters appropriately.
is to let the person know the topic of your email. You want the person to think “tell me more.”
Format is as follows:
Subject: Safety and Wellbeing of Mountain View Students
Greeting or Salutation
The greeting is the part of the email that begins with Dear. The only option for a greeting is Dear. Do not use anything else!
You should almost always use the person’s title (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., etc.) in your greeting
If you do not know their title, just use their full name
If you do not know their name or gender, use “To Whom It May Concern” or “Sir or Madam”
Capitalize all words in the greeting
End the greeting with a colon (:), NOT a comma
Leave one blank line after the greeting
Format is as follows:
Dear Mr. Smith: Dear Mrs. Brown:
Dear Ms. Black: Dear Miss Green:
Body
The body is the main part of the email. Be brief, but include enough detail so the recipient can understand the situation.
State your purpose for writing
Give the necessary information and details
State what action, if necessary, you would like the recipient to take.
Business emails are usually formal, so the language that you use should also be formal.
Organizing Body Paragraphs
Organize your body using the acronym BP DOG
BP - Background Purpose
DO - Details/Organization
G - Goodwill Closing
Closing
This is where you sign off. Appropriate complimentary closes include:
Thank you,
I hope to hear from you soon,
Thank you for your time,
Regards,
Sincerely,
Thank you in advance for your response,
The closing ends in a comma, not a period.
Name / Closing
Type your first and last name or insert an auto-signature.
If you are writing on behalf of a company, club, or organization, also state your position.
Do not use any punctuation.
Format is as follows
Devon James