Email writing skills
邮件标题（subject）
The Subject Line is one of the most important parts of an e-mail. The subject line has three main purposes:
- Summarises the content of the e-mail
- Allows the receiver to determine how important and urgent the message is
- Allows the user to find the e-mail later on, without having to open it
If you can, try and fit in all the critical details of your message into the subject line. If you are arranging a meeting, put the date and time. If you have made a decision, put it in the subject line.
Examples of Good Subject Lines
- Subject: Weekly Meeting moved to 2pm this Friday
- Subject: Purchase of new printer now approved
- Subject: 5 Ideas for Joanna’s birthday present
称呼
不知道对方姓名及性别情况下的称呼：Dear Madam/Sir,
Dear Prof. Zhang, (professor缩写加点，然后有个空格)
Dear Dr. Zhang, (Doctor缩写加点，然后有个空格)
知道To, Cc and Bcc的使用情景
You should always make sure you e-mail the right people, in the right way. The To, Cc and Bcc fields allow you to indicate how your message should be read by the people that receive it.
- To People required to take action
- Cc Kept informed of the content, but no actions required from them
- Bcc Receive the message without any of the other recipients knowing. Also used for larger mailings (over 50)
To
The To field is for people that the message directly affects, and that you require action from. If you expecting someone to do something, they should be in the To field.
It’s also a good idea to include all the people you put in the To: field in your opener line. This lets the others know who is involved in the conversation.
If you are sending to more than four people, don’t bother with this and just start with Hi all or Hello team.
The To field can be used for as many addresses as you like - some people mistakenly think the Cc line is for multiple addresses.
Cc
The Cc (or carbon copy) field is for people you want to know about the message, but are not directly involved. It’s mainly for people that do not need to act or reply to the message, but to keep them informed.
The CC field can be used for a number of reasons:
- It keeps other people “in the loop” on certain issues (often used to keep managers up to date on issues).
- It lets people know if they are expected to take action, or if they are just being informed.
- It allows you to make the receiver aware that other people know what is going on (in case you want them to take the content more seriously, or treat it as more important or urgent).
Bcc
The Bcc field (Blind Carbon Copy) is used when you want other people to receive the message, but you don’t want the other recipients to know they got it.
When people get an e-mail, they’ll also see all the people in the To and Cc lines - but not Bcc.
One good use of Bcc is when sending an e-mail to hundreds of people. You don’t want them all to see each other’s e-mail addresses so you use this field, rather than the To or Cc lines.
邮件开头
- 在邮件开头表示感谢：
- Thank you for contacting us. 如果有人写信来询问公司的服务，就可以使用这句句子开头，向他们对公司的兴趣表示感谢。
- Thank you for your prompt reply. 当—个客户或是同事很快就回复了你的邮件，一定记得要感谢他们。如果回复并不及时，只要将“prompt”除去即可，你还可以说，“Thank you for getting back to me.”
- Thank you for providing the requested information. 如果你询问某人一些信息，他们花了点时间才发送给你，那就用这句句子表示你仍然对他们的付出表示盛激。
- Thank you for all your assistance. 如果有人给了你特别的帮助，那一定要感谢他们！如果你想对他们表示特别的感激，就用这个句子，”I truly appreciate … your help in resolving the problem.”
- Thank you raising your concerns. 就算某个客户或是经理写邮件给你对你的工作提出了一定的质疑，你还是要感谢他们。这样你能表现出你对他们的认真态度表示尊重及感激。同时，你也可以使用，“ Thank you for your feedback”。
- 在邮件开头问候：
- Hope you have a good trip back. 祝旅途愉快。
- How are you? 你好吗？
- How is the project going? 项目进行顺利吗？
邮件结尾
在邮件开头表示感谢—般是表示对对方过去付出的感谢，而在邮件结尾处表示感谢是对将来的帮助表示感谢。事先表示感谢，能让对方在行动时更主动更乐意。
- Thank you for your kind cooperation. 如果你需要读者帮助你做某事，那就先得表示感谢。
- Thank you for your attention to this matter. 与以上的类似，本句包含了你对对方将来可能的帮助表示感谢。
- Thank you for your understanding. 如果你写到任何会对读者产生负面影响的内容那就使用这句句子吧。
- Thank you for your consideration. 如果您是在寻求机会或是福利，例如你在求职的话，就用这封邮件结尾。
- Thank you again for everything you’ve done. 这句句子可以用在结尾，和以上有所不同。如果你在邮件开头已经谢过了读者，你就可以使用这句话，但是因为他们的帮助，你可以着重再次感谢他们的付出。
邮件结束礼貌用语
| email的对象和情况 | 可用结束语 |
|---|---|
| 熟悉的朋友、同事 | Cheers |
| 请对方帮忙或协助 | Many thanks |
| 呼应信件的内容 | Have a nice day</br>Enjoy the holiday</br>To your success</br>Keep up the good work |
| 充满开心与祝福的感性结尾 | Best wishes</br>All the best</br>Good luck</br>Take care & See you soon |
Best regards意思是“致上我最高的问候”，比较正式的说法。
邮件签名 （signature）
Your signature should contain:
- Your name
- Your position
- Your company/organisation
- Alternative contact details (try to keep your address on one line, rather than 7)
- When you check your e-mail
- Any recent news
A template like this：
Best wishes,
John Smith
A-Team Vigilante Services
Tel: 111-222-3333
Address: Suite 334, BA Studios, California, 90210
Web: www.theateam.ba
E-mail checked Mon-Thurs at 10am, 1pm and 3pm
News: Please note, I’ll be moving office on 17th August. New details to follow.
附件 (attachments) 表达
- I enclose the evaluation report for your reference.
- Attached please find today’s meeting notes.
- Attach is the design document, please review it.
- For other known issues related to individual features, please see attached release notes.
Initiate a meeting 发起会议
- I suggest we have a call tonight at 9:30pm (China Time) with you and Brown. Please let me know if the time is okay for you and Ben.
- I would like to hold a meeting in the afternoon about our development planning for the project A.
- We’d like to have the meeting on Thu Oct 30. Same time.
- Let’s make a meeting next Monday at 5:30 PM SLC time.
- I want to talk to you over the phone regarding issues about report development and the XXX project.
Seeking for more information/feedbacks/suggestions 咨询信息/反馈/建议
- Should you have any problem accessing the folders, please let me know.
- Thank you and look forward to having your opinion on the estimation and schedule.
- Look forward to your feedbacks and suggestions soon.
- What is your opinion on the schedule and next steps we proposed?
- What do you think about this?
- Feel free to give your comments.
- Any question, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
- Any question, please let me know.
- Please contact me if you have any questions.
- Please let me know if you have any question on this.
- Your comments and suggestions are welcome!
- Please let me know what you think?
- Do you have any idea about this?
- It would be nice if you could provide a bit more information on the user’s behavior.
- At your convenience, I would really appreciate you looking into this matter/issue.
Give feedback意见反馈
- Please see comments below.
- My answers are in blue below.
Point listing 列表
- Today we would like to finish following tasks by the end of today ：1…… 2……
- Some known issues in this release: 1 ……2……
- Our team here reviewed the newest SCM policy and has following concerns: 1……2……
- Here are some more questions/issues for your team ：1…… 2……
- The current status is as following: 1 ……2……
- Some items need your attention: 1 ……2……
Raise question提出问题
- I have some questions about the report XX-XXX.
- For the assignment ABC, I have the following questions: …
Proposal 提议
- For the next step of platform implementation, I am proposing…
- I suggest we can have a weekly project meeting over the phone call in the near future.
- Achievo team suggest to adopt option A to solve outstanding issue……
Thanks note 感谢信
- Thank you so much for the cooperation.
- Thanks for the information.
- I really appreciate the effort you all made for this sudden and tight project.
- Thank you for your attention! / Thanks to your attention!
- Your kind assistance on this are very much appreciated.
- Really appreciate your help!
Apology道歉
- I sincerely apologize for this misunderstanding!
- I apologize for the late asking but we want to make sure the correctness of our implementation ASAP.
