6 steps to becoming an email superstar

Back in about 1997 I’m sure you read an article titled something like “Email Netiquette”. This is not a refresher.

Email has become a major part of our daily professional lives, but is often done poorly. Just by implementing a few simple rules, you can become a superstar!

1. Learn when to use To, Cc and Bcc

Using the right header field for your recipient addresses helps the recipient know what attention level they need to pay to the email.

The To Field

The ‘To’ field is where you should put recipients who are actively involved in the topic of the email. If you’re sending around meeting notes, these are the people who were at the meeting. If you’re requesting information, this is the person from whom you’re requesting it.

The ‘Cc’ field

The ‘Cc’ field is for sending a carbon copy: put anyone here who isn’t directly involved in the topic. Think of this as an ‘FYI’ field. Here you might put anyone who should be aware of the content, but doesn’t need to take action or be any more involved other than an awareness.

The ‘Bcc’ field

The ‘Bcc’ field is very similar, except that this is where you list people who need to be aware that you sent the message when you don’t want the recipient to know they are aware. For example, you make a request of someone and Bcc their boss. Now their boss knows you made the request, but you’re not saying to the person “you better do this because I told your boss”.

2. Use the subject line to make an impact

First impressions count, so use your subject line to summarise the entire email.

When you present yourself at the Emergency ward at a hospital, you’re seen by a person they call the ‘Triage Nurse‘. His or her job is to decide where in the queue your condition puts you.

It’s the same with email. We get so much of it that we need some way to decide which to open first, and which can wait until later, or even not at all. The subject line is our chance to get to the right place in the recipient’s consciousness-queue.

All four are designed to tell the story without requiring the recipient to open the email. The third example is especially important. I don’t need to open the message at all and I have every bit of useful information.

Now let me propose taking it up a notch, here’s the same four examples, but with superstar status:

See what I did there? I’ve put a tag in each subject line that conveys a pile of information just by itself — and I’ve given the recipient something they can use to filter their email.

3. BLUF: Put the Bottom Line Up Front

After a salutation (“Dear John” or “Great to catch up with you yesterday”), the very first thing in the email should be the summary. It should encapsulate the entire reason for the email.

There is no suspense writing in professional email. There is no building up a case before you make your point.

Let me use an example to demonstrate the problem. Notice how we don’t really get to the point of the email until the very end, and possibly not even then:

Dear Accounts,

Our department is in Building F. Building F was built in the 60s by a firm that was very competent at the time. It’s been well maintained over the years, but is showing it’s age (they replaced the gutters last March). I was in Building A last week and noticed it feels a lot fresher — though it’s a whole lot older. I got to thinking about it and realised that it’s because someone has brought in a plants. Now I have a brown thumb (I killed our only tomato last weekend!) so I knew I couldn’t do anything myself but my sister Rachel has a company come into her office to cycle and care for the plants on a weekly basis. I found out who they were and contacted them. They know where we are and could come here each week. As we haven’t done this before, there’s no room in the budget for them, but it’s only $50 per week. They can provide ferns or flowering plants — and even seasonals if we’d like.

What do you think?

Jane (Department X)

What was that email about? If it had started with a request for $50 OpEx per week, the recipient could read the remainder of the email with the thought that by the end of the email they should have a fair idea if the $50 could be approved. Instead, they will now have to re-read the rambling email to find the salient points in order to make the decision.

4. KISS: Keep It Short and Simple

If a busy person opens your email and is hit by a “wall of text” they’re likely to move along to a shorter email and think “I need to come back to this one” and then forget all about it. An email stands a lot higher chance of being properly read if it is short and doesn’t ramble.

Did you get bored by my example email above? There was so much information in there that just isn’t needed. Here’s all that was needed:

• We need a budget allocation
• This will be $50 per week OpEx
• It will be for Department X
• It is for office improvements
• You have sourced a supplier

This isn’t in any sort of random order either. Think about your audience and what they need to know and in what order. If you start with “we have a supplier” before talking about what you need and who you are you’re forcing the reader to get all the way through before they know the important details (see Superstar Action #3 above)

So now we have:

Dear Accounts,

Please consider an additional OpEx allocation of $50 per week to Department X for office improvements.

We would like to engage the XYZ Plant Company who can place and maintain plants around our office. We are happy to engage directly with XYZ directly and have them send the invoice to you.

We believe this will increase morale and therefore productivity.

Sincerely, Jane.

How much better was that? No waffle about your sister or the architect or even your building. Just plainly stating exactly what you need from the accounts department.

5. Learn when to use To, Cc and Bcc — Revisited

If you’re sending an email to a whole pile of people, be careful with your recipient list. If the people don’t know (and don’t need to know) each other, then use the Bcc field for all addresses and leave the ‘To’ field empty.

Recently the whistle-blower website “Wiki Leaks” sent out an email to their donors, but put all the names in the ‘To’ header. Now the confidential donor’s list is public. These weren’t people who needed to know that each other were donors, but the information was leaked by a simple problem: the addresses were all put in the ‘To’ field.

Again: use the Bcc field if the recipients of your communication shouldn’t know who the other recipients are.

6. Communicate how you communicate

It’s Superstar Action #6, but it’s really important. The best way you can become an email superstar is to spread the message.

Let people know how you tag your emails (and that they can use these tags to filter the messages). Let them know that if they’re not in the ‘To’ field of an email, you’re not expecting a reply. Let them know that the main point of your email will be in the first paragraph.

Hopefully your stardom will spread like wildfire. If it doesn’t feel free to send a BCC’d email with the subject “[Article] 6 steps to becoming an email superstar” and direct everyone to this article.

Update: Inc magazine has published an article title “25 Tips for Perfecting Your E-mail Etiquette” that’s a great follow up. So now you have 31 superstar ideas!