How to compose a professional email.

Professional email correspondence should not be taken lightly. Email is one of the most common forms of communication and should not be considered a text message type of communication. As a professional you will be using this form of communication with many different employers and personnel working in the entertainment business. How you communicate with clients can have an influence on the project you may work on, it may affect the working relationship and could even affect your ability to get paid.

If you know and understand the basic rules for composing a professional electronic mail, you will be a step ahead of everyone else and will look professional while doing it.

Below are the major points you need to know when sitting down to write a professional email.

Professional Address:

This is the first thing the recipient will be reading when the email is delivered. If your email address has weird spellings, profanity, and lots of numbers and/or characters in it, they are most likely to do the following.

o   Not open it for fear of spam or virus files.

o   Open it but not take the email seriously and think of you unprofessionally.

What should your email address have in it?

It should have your first and last name. This will help them identify whom the email is coming from and also help them feel more comfortable with opening any attached files.

Bad Example: kitcat88@yahoo.com, is not professional and would most likely get caught in the spam filter or ignored if it does make it to their inbox.

Better Example: BobSmith@yahoo.com, this works for most employers and is considered very professional.

Subject Heading:

Create a subject heading for your email that is relevant to the conversation. The subject heading gives the reading an understanding of the main topic that you are going to discuss in the email.  This is considered a very important part of the composition process. Many professionals use email everyday and knowing the subject will help them work through emails with ease and minimal effort.

Addressing your email:

Ever wondered what the CC: and BCC: are used for in your email? Obviously we know the TO: means whom we are addressing or writing our email. The CC: and BCC: are used in different ways and can be a very helpful part to the composition process. The CC: referrers to the term Carbon Copy and will copy any recipient to the email chain and reply all if needed. The CC: includes that person in the conversation but doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to respond to the email.  

If you include and email address in the column designated as BCC: they know you are including them in your email, but also knows that the other readers that are in the TO: and the CC: will not be aware that you have included them in the BCC: column.  Any address listed in the Blind Carbon Copy will not be visible to the other recipients.

Example:

To:  sue@domain.com (recipient, seen by all and part of the reply all function)

CC:  bob@domain.com (seen by all and part of the reply all function)

BCC: joe@domain.com (not seen by all readers, not included in the reply all function)

Composing an email:

When starting the composition of the email, consider how you address your reader in your opening greeting or salutation. It is professional to start with a greeting that is appropriate to the relationship you have with the reader. You might consider the following as the most professional opening and use of punctuation:

Dear Mr. Smith, A common can be used if you know your reader personally.

Dear Mr. Smith:  A colon should be used if you do not know your reader personally.

Hello Mr. Smith, This greeting would be used in a personal email to someone you already know.

Mr. Smith No salutation or punctuation to your reader is expectable, but can be seen as rude.

Once you have opened your email with a proper salutation, you will not need to repeat your greeting in a response to your reader in the email chain. Your first greeting will be acceptable as the chain of the email conversation continues. If you are the recipient of the email, you should respond to the writer with an appropriate greeting for your first response in the email chain. Once you have responded with a professional greeting it will not be necessary during multiple responses in the conversation and email chain. However, if another reader, perhaps in the CC or BCC column replies to the email, you will address them in your response. Keeping multiple responses organized by responding with the reader’s names allows multiple readers and responders to understand the chain more effectively.

Be careful with the reply buttons. Understanding these could keep you from sending a response to the wrong person or multiple people. There are a few options you have to respond to an email. Reply, reply all and forward. When you hit “reply”, you will only be replying to anyone in the TO: column. “Reply all” will reply to everyone in the TO: and CC: columns. Forward will send the email conversation to a new recipient; a new email chain and email composition starts over with a new greeting.

Other options in this bar are the meeting function. This can be used to create a calendar invite to be sent to your readers. Let’s say you have emailed a client to discuss when he or she would be available to meet and discuss your project. After you replied with an agreed upon date and time, you can use this function to create a meeting reminder that will automatically add to yours and their calendar. These will also allow you to see who has agreed to meet with you and who has not.

Please see the example below. At the point this email is sent it will do two things: create a meeting in the senders calendar and send an invite to the recipient/s asking them to accept or decline the invitation. Their response will be sent to the creator of the meeting letting them know if they will attend. This is a very helpful function when planning projects and meetings.

The body of the email

Always keep your reader in mind while writing them a message. Professional emails should get a clearly stated point a crossed and as briefly as possible.

Be sure to address any attachments you have added to the email. Making sure the reader knows to look for any attachments. Just because you have attached it does not guarantee they will know to look for it. 

Your name and signature

Before you send your email, you should be sure to end it with a professional closing and signature. Keep in mind that your name is most likely in your email address but that doesn’t confirm who sent the email.  It is very professional to type your name and signature after a strong closing statement. Here are a few options that can be used:

Professional options

Regards,

Best,

Sincerely,

Thank you,

Respectfully,

Not professional, more personal/friendly

Peace,

Word,

Love you,

Yours truly,

With love xoxo

By taking the time to consider your reader, and the way you are choosing to communicate with them, will help anyone view you as a professional. When sitting down to compose your next email, I hope you keep these simple steps in mind.

-The Career Coach

P.S. You should respond to any emails you have received within 24 hours, even if you don't have an answer for them just yet. Let your reader know you have received it but need time to consider their request. Let them know when your will be getting back to them.