John Schnobrich
Think twice and proofread at least once
*E-mail or email is both appropriate and correct, but choose one of the spellings and use it consistently.
Sources: Grammar Girl writes a good explanation for the use of email/e-mail as well as Grammarly explains it on their website.
Emails are part of our daily lives. Nine out of ten times, most of our day, consists of checking and replying to emails. For this reason, I decided to do a check list regarding writing, replying and sending emails. No matter if the recipient is a professor, colleague and/or future employer.
Check List
- Have an informative subject line
- Be concise
- Be formal and use the correct title: Dear Dr/Prof. Smith
- End the email in the same style/register: Sincerely/Regards/Kind regards, Your Name (other contact details if necessary)
- Use the appropriate or chosen register
- No slang, abbreviations, or emoticons
- Proofread your email twice
- If replying on an email:
- Address any asked questions or statements, before stating your question
- Demonstrate that you have efficiently read the previous email
- If asking a specific question:
- State specifically your interest/research field/module
- Explain the reason for asking the question
- Ask to schedule a meeting in the person’s office hours
The following article was written by Natalie Tindall, Associate Professor at Lamar University, USA. The article addresses key points regarding email writing and discusses the above check list in more detail.
Helpful article: Aspects to bear in mind when writing an email
