Writing business emails

 Around the world, email has become the most important form of communication for businesses. You can communicate internationally very quickly, without worrying about time differences between countries – and you can expect to get a quick reply. However, there are some problems with writing emails. Because it is so easy, it is tempting to write in the same way as you speak. This is not a problem with emails between friends, but when you are sending an email for business, there are some important things to think about.

The BBC World Service radio series Better Business Writing gives advice on improving your writing for business purposes, with each programmed focusing on a different type of written document. In this extract, business people Ruth Lee and Brett Smith talk about some of the problems with emails they receive at work.

5 top tips for writing emails for business

1. Always give your message a clear title by writing in the ‘Subject’ box.

2. Open your message with a greeting, e.g.‘Dear Ms Lee’. If you have spoken to the person before, it is probably acceptable to use his or her first name. However, if this is the first contact, it is best to use titles such as ‘Mr’ or ‘Ms’. If you do not know if the recipient is a man or a woman, you can write their full name after ‘Dear’.

3. Begin with a pleasantry. If you are replying to a message, you could say ‘Thank you for your message.’ If this is the first contact, tell them why you are writing (‘I am writing to inform you about…’).

4. Use complete sentences and don’t forget to use words like ‘please’ if you are asking the person to help you.

5. Let the person know if you expect them to contact you by saying ‘Please let me know…’.