Email Etiquette:
Keeping Your Foot Out
of Your Virtual Mouth
How is it spelled?
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email
Email
eMail
EMail
e-mail
E-mail
e-Mail
E-Mail
How is it spelled?
Gregg, Microsoft, and AP: e-mail
 Wired: email
 Email Experience Council:
email is standard
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Email etiquette is evolving too
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E-mail has quickly become a
communication standard and the
Internet’s most popular application.
Both the number of e-mail users and
the usage rates are continuing to grow
exponentially.
Mischelle Davis, V.P. of marketing communications at NewWorldIQ
Where are we now?
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Right now
online writing
is pretty much
in its Wild West
stage, a freefor-all with
everybody
shooting from
the hip and no
sheriff in sight.
O’Conner & Kellerman (2002)
If you were sheriff…
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What would be your rules?
Madlantern Arts
What makes email different?
Difference: No nonverbal cues

No nonverbal cues, which
account for ___________
percent of message
Nonverbal cues
No nonverbal cues, which
account for 65 - 93 percent
of message
 Only words and :-)
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Difference: Tone
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No nonverbal cues
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Tone becomes crucial
Difference: Tone
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No nonverbal cues
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Tone becomes crucial
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In Germany and Britain, 23 percent
and 14 percent respectively [of
respondents to a Daily Mail survey]
admitted confrontations with
colleagues because of e-mail
misunderstandings.
Criticisms are harsher
 Messages meant to express
mild displeasure can come across
as tirades.
Louise Dobson, Avoiding Email Catastrophes (2006)
Tone: Example One
To:
From:
Re:
Date:
Female employees
H. Honcho
Dress code
1 July 2006
Clients will be visiting next
week. Halter tops and jeans
will not make the right
impression. It’s time you
started dressing for the
office instead of the beach.
Leave your flip-flops at home!
Tone: Example Two
To:
From:
Re:
Date:
All staff
H. Honcho
Reminder about what to wear to work
1 July 2006
During the summer, our dress code is
business casual. We think “business
casual” means clothes that feel
comfortable and look professional.
Men
Women
•khaki pants
•casual pants and skirts
•leather shoes… •leather or fabric shoes…
Tips: Tone
 Avoid terseness, which can
be misinterpreted
 Use face-to-face
communication if issue is
sensitive
 Read your emails aloud,
looking for ambiguity
For want of a smiley…?
 Rob Glaser asked to meet
with Bill Gates
 Gates said no, in a “cold and
flip email”
 Glazer denounced Microsoft
at anti-trust hearings
Difference: Humor
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Humor is riskier
Humor: Riskier
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Nearly a quarter of employees have
suffered problems with colleagues or
clients because their use of humour in
an email has not been understood or
appreciated, according to a survey.
Robert Jacques, “Email Jokes Backfire
for UK Workers” (2004)
Humor: Often misinterpreted
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Participants [in recent studies] were
able to accurately communicate
humor and sarcasm in ________
percent of the emails they sent.
Louise Dobson (2006)
Humor: Often misinterpreted

Participants [in recent studies]
were able to accurately
communicate humor and sarcasm
in barely half -56 percent -- of the emails they
sent.
Louise Dobson (2006)
Tips: Humor
 If in doubt, don’t send it.
Chevron was forced to pay $2.2 million
to settle a harassment case based in part
on emails with such subjects as “Why beer
is better than women.”
 Reread for ambiguities.
 Signal the joke.
One emoticon or <grin> per email is plenty.
Humor: Tips in action
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If you [ignore these rules], the great
list guru will expel you into the gloomy
dimension without email and your
days will be long and lonely after you
have made a permanent impression in
print for many to keep and repeat
forever <grin> (see how the use of
email "emoticons" aids the
assimilation of that last paragraph!).
Bonnie Dalzell, Welcome Message
Difference: Levels of formality
 Most people view email as
 more formal than a phone call
 less formal than a letter
Meeting request: Informal
From: Bob Anderson <anderson@rand-unix>
Date: 21 Dec 84 11:40:12 PST (Fri)
To:
randvax!anderson, randvax!gillogly,
randvax!norm
Subject: meeting ...
we need to setup a meeting bet. jim you
and i -- can you arange?
i'm free next wed.
thks.
Meeting agenda: Formal
Subject: MEETING ON FY86 PLANNING, 2PM
12/28/84, CONFERENCE ROOM 1
There will be a meeting of the FY86
planning task force in Conference Room 1
on December 28, 1984 at 2pm. The Agenda
for the meeting is:
--------------------------------------Topic
Presenter
Time
--------------------------------------Strategic Business Plan
Budget Forecast for FY86
New Product Announcements
Action Items for 1st Qtr FY86
John Fowles
Sue Martin
Peter Wilson
Jane Adamson
30 min.
15 "
20 "
25 "
-----------------------------------------------------------
Tip: Spelling still counts
This is an actual email.
Purposal
I can beat almost anyones price
and almost promise you success
and if I don’t reach it,
we wont charge you after the
time we say we can achieve it
until we do.
Tip: Spelling still counts
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Sloppiness is one of “seven deadly e-mail sins”
Bad grammar, misspelling and disconnected
arguments gave 81 percent of the survey
sample "negative feelings" towards the senders.
41 percent of senior managers said badly
worded e-mails implied laziness and even
disrespect.
CNN.com
Tip: Level of Formality
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When in doubt, err on the side
of formality.
Tip: Level of Formality
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When in doubt, err on the side
of formality.
Usually the problem is that we treat
[e-mail] too much like a phone call
and not enough like a letter.
O’Conner and Kellerman (2002)
Tip: Level of Formality
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When in doubt, err on the side of
formality.
16% [of email users under 25] sign every
message with love and kisses, even when
addressing their boss
MSN survey
Tip: Level of Formality
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Be conversational.
An overly formal e-mail message
alienates the reader. Don’t adopt a
cold, remote, or superior tone in an
attempt to sound professional.
Angell and Heslop (2002)
Difference: Level of Formality
Questions to which answers are evolving:
Do I need a subject line?
 Should I email a thank-you note
after a job interview?
 Should I communicate bad news
via email?
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Difference: Electronic
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Hit Send and it’s gone
Hit Reply All and your career
may be gone
Deleted emails live on
Messages can be forwarded
without your knowledge or consent
Tip: What not to do
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One of the officers convicted of beating
Rodney King sent this email:
Oops. I haven’t beaten anyone
so bad in a long time.
A transcript of the message was used
at his trial.
Tip: Electronic
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Colonel David Russell’s rule:
Never say anything in an electronic message
that you wouldn't want appearing, and
attributed to you, in tomorrow morning’s
front-page headline in the New York Times.
Tip: Email is never private
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Pillsbury assured employees that emails
were private.
Michael Smyth was fired after sending an email
calling his bosses “backstabbing bastards.”
A court held that he had no reasonable
expectation of privacy.
Tip: Keep confidences
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To cope with many questions about
vacation policy, an HR minion emailed
a copy to all employees.
Attached was salary information.
Within weeks, 20% of the workforce
was gone—including the hapless minion.
Tip: Electronic ≠ Instant
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Many expect a phone call to alert them
to an email labeled Urgent.
Allow a reasonable time (two days – week)
for a response.
Respond before senders have to follow up
or business is delayed.
When would you use email?
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To send confidential salary information
To address a personal hygiene issue
To get an immediate reply
To settle a conflict between two team members
To request a manual for the new phone system
To recap a conversation about a pending order
To set up a meeting next month
To keep people updated on a project’s status
When would you use email?
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To send confidential salary information
To address a personal hygiene issue
To get an immediate reply
To settle a conflict between two team members
To request a manual for the new phone system
To recap a conversation about a pending order
To set up a meeting next month
To keep people updated on a project’s status
Difference: Where’s audience?
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People who wouldn't dream of burping
at the end of dinner post offensive messages to
international forums.
Middle managers inadvertently send romantic
email messages to the
company-wide email alias.
People at computer terminals forget that there
are real live people on the other end of the wire.
Virginia Shea, Netiquette (1994)
Three manners mavens: Shea
 Virginia Shea is
“Miss Manners
of the ’Net”
 Pioneered netiquette
in 1994
 Book available online at
http://www.albion.com/
catNetiquette.html
Three manners mavens: Shea
Typing in all capitals in electronic
communications means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Nothing special--typing in all caps is normal.
You are shouting.
It’s OK to forward this message to others.
This message is very important.
Three manners mavens: Shea
Typing in all capitals in electronic
communications means
(B)
You are shouting.
Typing in all capitals in online communications is
the equivalent of SHOUTING! Only type in all caps
if you really mean to shout.
Three mavens: Booher
 Communications
consultant
Dianna Booher is
“Miss Manners
of memos”
 Good tips for
writers
 Blog available online at
http://www.amazon.com/
Three mavens: Kallos
 Judith Kallos is
“Miss eManners”
 Best source
for specific advice
on business email
etiquette
 Site:
NetManners.com
Style mavens: O’Conner
Email’s “very structure … encourages
curtness.”
 The blank subject line staring you in the face
is a signal to state your business and get on
with it….
 The To and From fields seem to make
salutations and signatures redundant or
unnecessary.
 What we have here is the ideal breeding ground
for rudeness.
Anatomy of email: To
To:
From:
Re:
Date:
My Entire Address Book
H. Honcho
Nothing important
1 July,2006
Anatomy of email: To
To:
You mad mustachio purple-hued
maltworm
Bcc: Henry IV, part 1
From: I. Rate
Re:
So-called service at your crummy
excuse for a store today
Tip: Use BCC wisely
 To keep addresses private, put
your own address in the To: line
and paste your mailing list in the
cc: line
 BCCs within an organization
can create distrust
Tip: Leave address blank
 If you’re furious and must answer
an email right away, leave the
address line blank.
 If you hit Send before you’ve had
a chance to cool down, the email
won’t go through.
Anatomy of email: From
Would you open mail from
 Vampyra@Goths_’R_Us.net
 Boogers2007@hotmail.com
 Dunno dunno@yahoo.com
Anatomy of email: From
E-mail recipients put more weight
on who the e-mail is from than
any other item when choosing
which e-mails to open
which to delete
which to complain about
Chris Baggot, ExactTarget
Anatomy of email: From
Be complete and be recognized.
Kathy Towner, WIN Communications
Anatomy of an email: Subject
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Your subject can answer any of readers’
four key questions:
1. What’s this about?
2. Why should I read this?
3. What’s in this for me?
4. What am I being asked to do?
Anatomy of email: Subject
To:
From:
Re:
Girrrl friends
Ima Ditz
Change of plans
Anatomy of email: Subject
To:
From:
Re:
Sara Bellum
Gray Matter
Marketing meeting rescheduled
for 12/15/06
Anatomy of email: Subject
To:
From:
Re:
Sara Bellum
Gray Matter
Marketing meeting rescheduled
for 12/15/06 (EOM)
EOM = end of message
Tips: Subject
 Lead with the main idea
Browsers may not display more than first 25-35 characters
 Create single-subject messages
 Keep track of threads
Subject: New Year’s Party Plans
(was: New Year-End Bonus Structure)
More Tips: Subject
Double-check the address line before sending.
Insulted by a general email from the boss,
an employee sent an angry comment to a
colleague (she thought): “Does she think
we’re stupid?”
 The reply (from her boss): “Yes, I do.”
Anatomy of an email: Body
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Before you type anything into a new message,
have explicit answers for two questions:
1. Why am I writing this?
2. What exactly do I want the result
of this message to be?
43 Folders (2005)
Anatomy of an email: Body
Before you hit Send, review and delete
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Negative comments about management
Criticisms of staff or performance issues
Bonuses or salary issues
Product or liability issues
Gossip
Humor or other ambiguities
Booher
Anatomy of email: Body
 Write so emails are easy to read
 Make paragraphs 7-8 lines
 Insert a blank line between paragraphs
 Use headlines, bullets, and numbers
 AVOID ALL CAPS; THAT’S SHOUTING
 If a message is longer than 3 screens,
send an attachment
Anatomy of email: Body
Subject: Noise level in the break rooms
How can we satisfy everyone?
Many of you have told me about the growing tension
you feel around using the break rooms. Some of you
use them to work and socialize; others need a quiet
place to work.
Your ideas are welcome
What do you think we can do about this? Should we
designate one room as a lounge and another as a quiet
area?
D. Dumaine, Write to the Top
Tip: Balance formal/informal
 Like our work clothes,
the preferred writing style
has become business casual.
 Avoid extremes
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Not too pompous
Not too passive
Not too careless or flip
Diana Booher
Tip: Avoid brusqueness
 Brief is good. Blunt is not.
 Question: Should I pursue an
advanced degree?
 Response 1: No.
 Response 2: I don’t think an
advanced degree would have
any effect on your potential
for promotion here.
Diana Booher
Tip: Write business casual
 Strive for a style somewhere
between stuffed-shirt and t-shirt.
Diana Booher
Question: Do I need a greeting?
 Consensus: Yes.
Otherwise, you can seem
brusque or unfriendly.
Question: Which greeting?
 Opinion: Divided
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Some say “Hi, Steve,” is too
informal.
Some say “To whom it may
concern” is stilted.
For external communication, use
same greeting as in letter
For internal communication, some
use Myra:
Question: Which closing?
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Consensus
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Match greeting in tone
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Formal: Sincerely, Best regards,
Cordially
Informal: Thanks; All the best,
Talk to you later
Use a sig line that gives your
name, title, and contact information
Omit a P.S.
(if the email is longer than a screen,
a postscript could be missed)
Question: Email thank-you?
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36 percent of employers on
Monster prefer thank-you notes
sent by email
29 percent prefer traditional
letters
Why netiquette?
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The electronic equivalent of a set
of fussy rules that tell you … which fork
to use with the salad course?
Netiquette does not consist of a set
of rigid rules.
It encourages you to adopt a certain attitude
of thoughtfulness.
Gregg Reference Manual, 10th ed.
Suggested resources
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Available at http://word-crafter.net/email.html
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Articles
Best practices for email marketing
Grammar help
Test your netiquette