Writing effective emails can be difficult when you’re not sure how to convey your messages. From my 16 years of living on this Earth, I have gathered at least some inkling of how to write these mystical, mysterious, and ritualistic digital scrolls…
Before we begin even thinking about your email, it’s important to acknowledge the BASICS—the ESSENTIALS, the STANDARDS—for writing emails. The simplest email comes in the following form:
Opening (Dear, To Whom it May Concern, Hi, Hey, etc)
Body (I’ll speak more on this later)
Closing (Sincerely, Best Regards, Thanks, etc)
I’m sure you’re already with these rules, but just make sure I’m covering all grounds here… don’t be rude, don’t use stupid gen z words, and no LOL or OMG or YOLO. You’ll come off as cringe and unprofessional.
Opening
Your opening isn’t as important as the body, but more I’m important than the closing. Although these are not steadfast rules, there are a couple things to remember: tone, attitude, and your degree of friendless.
For example, ‘Dear’ is professional in tone, but a bit cold and over the top. Is this the vibe you want?
‘Hey’ complete opposite 180, very casual but friendly. How’s this vibe?
‘To Whom it May Concern’ professional in tone, but very cold and unfriendly. Kind of shows that you’re not bothered to find. Instead of this, I personally would omit the name.
‘Hi’ a classic, cliche. Boring and vague. You can’t tell if this is friendly, professional, or cold. Safest option, and the one I personally use.
‘Greetings & Salutations, Good Sir…” No.
All openings are fine though, they really don’t make that much of an impact (as long as you’re not saying greetings and salutations)
Body Text
The MOST important part of your email! Don’t slack on this part!
Let’s go break down the body text further.
Introduction (My name is [Jessie Zheng], and [any relevant information here])
Background information (I received your contact information from [] because I don’t want to alarm you or seem creepy)
Ask and request (yo can you sign up me for the AP exam?)
Repeat if needed, say thank you and close it out
To me, the most relevant and vital thing to writing good emails is providing good, logical, and chronological context. Remember why you’re writing this email… essentially, you have a request that you want to ask.
But then what’s all the rest of the fluff for? It’s to make the landing of your request as soft as possible.
Let me explain a bit more through examples:
The reason why you have an introduction is to 1) personalize your message so that your request doesn’t seem rude and 2) to make sure that it’s not like a complete stranger requesting something
The whole reason you have so much context is to prepare for your request. All of it should be relevant and effectively set up your request
The “thank you” is to not seem like an asshole for asking
Additionally, I personally like to fluff out my request to again, not seem like an asshole:
Do you have internships for high school students —> [Blah blah context]. Thus, I am humbling requesting information on internships for high school students. Please let me know if you have any programs or opportunities for me, thank you so much. If you have any further questions, I’d be happy to answer!
Once again, I’ll stress this:
Everything in your email is to set up your request (this can go before or after context). Make sure your context information is relevant and efficient at this! This means having effective, relevant, and logical information.
To expand on logical—what I mean by this is to place your information in a natural order. For example, you wouldn’t ask your request before introducing yourself. Same thing applies to the information about yourself—generally, it’s context then question. Additionally, you can choose to give more context after your question, but it should be extra information that aids the reader in understanding who you are and your request.
FAQs
❓ How long should my emails be?
This is difficult to answer… I’m gonna have to give you the annoying answer of it depends. It should be however much you need to effectively ask your request.
❓ What if my email is too long?
Once again, see my answer above. If there is extraneous information that doesn’t benefit your request, you can cut it if you want. I don’t think you can have a too long email. People can be scared that if your email is too long, they’ll skip it.
This just isn’t true at all. I don’t know about you, but I don’t care for long emails. I kind of like them. But honestly, reading is apart of daily life and no one cares if your email is on the longer side. It just makes it more personalized and sincere. In fact, I’ve had people thank me for taking the time to write long emails.
Point is: Reading is a part of everything. Eventually, people will read your email. If your cold-emailing someone and you don’t get a response, then that person wasn’t for you. If it’s a teacher or counselor, then they HAVE to read it. Write to your heart’s content.
❓ When do I use exclamation marks? How many do I use?
I wasn’t actually asked this question, but I wanted to include this since it’s something that I particularly struggle with. Anyways, my answer is I’m still trying to figure this out too…
Generally, I like to use one exclamation mark at the end of my email. If it’s a longer one, I like to have one at the beginning, and one at the end.
If my responder uses a lot of exclamation marks, I like to match their tone. Instead of one, I might use—GASP—TWO EXCLAMATION MARKS!!
But why exclamation marks? Because they make you seem so much nicer. I think all high schoolers and people in lesser power asking those with higher authority should all use at least one exclamation mark. You seem much more respectful and nice.
Though, if you think that you’re a strong, serious, macho man, then feel free to use no exclamation marks. Highly suggest using one though!
❓ Ms, Mrs, Mr, Mx vs. just normal name??
Again, if you’re emailing someone of higher position and generally requesting something out of them, show your respect and use a title. If it’s a gender ambiguous name, search them up. They generally have a LinkedIn. If you REALLY don’t know or they’re gender nonconforming, just use Mx.
Though, my only warning is to be careful of using Mx. if you’re talking to Republicans or Conservatives…
❓ Should I send follow-up emails? When should I send them?
YES! Send follow up emails. Most of the time, people just forgot to respond. That’s what happens with me. I appreciate email follow-ups. Other people do as well, and you’re not bothering them.
My rule: send ONE follow-up asking for updates after 5 days. Don’t send anymore after.
❓ What is your biggest advice/tip?
Don’t be scared to cold-email and be proactive and finding new people to email! Follow up with whoever you spoke to during an event! Update people! Create an email list form for people, and send regular emails with updates on your life to them! Build your network and contacts up.
✉️ If you have more questions, feel free to contact me! My email is jessie.zh190@gmail or text me at (203) 654-9888
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