Global Business Emails

1Professor Dave Jaye

www.davejaye.com 82-19-807-9024

Global Business Emails

Powerful Business Email Skills for English as a Second Language (ESL) Writers

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Welcome to Global Business Emails

Professor Dave Jaye

www.davejaye.com

[email protected]

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Benefits of Emails

Emails break down barriers Email eliminates phone tag

and charges associated with phone calls

Speed of communication 24-7

24 hours a day 7 days a week

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Benefits of Emails

Email accelerates Team Work

1. Using email you and your co workers easily can work together and collaborate. You can send files with text, graphics, photos and sound.

2. You can keep different people updated on your progress.

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Benefits of Emails

Email keeps businesses in touch with customers

1. Electronic newsletters, price changes, e auctions, product changes, e shopping, e billing

2. Education and training like our class.

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Email concerns

Lack of Privacy You can be fired for emails and Blogs with

unflattering messages about bosses SPAM: Unsolicited junk email Too much wasted time playing games and

surfing the internet sending/check SMS

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Keep separate Academic, Business and Personal Emails

You must establish a separate English Yahoo, Hotmail or Google account for this class with an English Name header.

Keep your personal emails outside of your company’s email net work.

Your Boss can legally read all your emails, even employing key word searches!

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Why is email etiquette important?

People interact with printed words as though it has a personality. That ‘personality’ makes positive and negative impressions upon us.

Your document can easily be misinterpreted by your reader, so it is crucial that you follow the basic rules of etiquette to construct an appropriate tone.

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The elements of email etiquette

General format Writing long messages Attachments The curse of surprises

Flaming Delivering information Delivering bad news Electronic Mailing Lists

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General Format: The Basics

Write a salutation for each new subject email.

Try to keep the email brief (one screen length).

Return emails within the same time you would a phone call.

Check for punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors

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General Format: The Basics

Use Capital Letters when appropriate. Format your email for plain text rather than

HTML. Use a font that has a professional or neutral

look. Many Westerners use Times Roman 12 point.

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General Format: Get English email

For this Business English

class and Global Business

communications, use

English Search Engines.

Many Asian internet sites

screen out my emails as

spam. Yahoo! Does not service Korea any longer.

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General Format: Character Spacing

Keep your subject line length at 80 characters or less.

If your message is likely to be forwarded, keep subject line to 60 characters or less.

Set your email preferences to automatically wrap outgoing plain text messages.

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General Format: Lists and Bullets

When you are writing directions or want to emphasize important points, number your directions or bullet your main points.

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For example,

You should start this project by placing paper materials in the drawer labeled A. Then after you place the paper materials in drawer labeled A, you should then go and click the button labeled green to start the machine.

1. Place the paper in drawer A.

2. Click the green “start” button.

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We have to major corporate goals this year. Firstly, to improvecustomer satisfaction is our goal.Secondly we should empower ouremployees so they feel ownershipand commitment.

• Improve customer satisfaction.

• Empower employees.

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General Format: Tone

• Write in a positive tone

“When you complete the report.” instead of “If you complete the report.”

• Avoid negative words that begin with “un, non, ex” or that end with “less” (useless, non-existent, ex-employee, undecided).

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Do not use smiles , winks ;), and other

graphical symbols one business letters, only

personal letters.

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In every form of business writing your tone is your personality on paper. Email is a serious business tool. Conduct your academic emails to Professors the same formal way of business writing.

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Keep the message short and simple Use active tone, not passive Select positive words Be courteous, direct, brief

You will learn more about tone of English language later.

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Best way to deliver the message?

Sometimes you should

not write, especially if

you are angry or very

tired. A phone call or

personal visit

sometimes is better.

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When is it best to deliver message

Some messages are too late. If it is noon and a meeting is at 1pm don’t email, phone call people.

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When is it best to deliver message

Some messages are too early and people will

forget or won’t give the issue much consideration.

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Delivery

Who should receive a copy of this message? Do you send copies because they need to see your paper or because you are Covering Your Anatomy (CYA), defending yourself against future criticism.

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Information Overload

Be considerate and send messages only to people who need to receive them. If you send people only the information they need to do their jobs well and don’t contribute to their overload, they will approach your messages with respect.

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Your Subject line is Key

The subject line determines if the reader reads your message. If the subject lines doesn’t jump off the screen and shout READ ME, your message may not get read. Make your subject lines informative, direct and brief.

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Telling a story with Email Headlines

Take over by Ken-San Company

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The subject line of a letter, memo or email message is the most important headline because it gives your reader the big picture.

Subject: Sales soar 25%

Subject: Yes we can honor your request for 25 SM& cars

Subject: HR Staff Meeting 2/15 Room 214 10am

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Good news subject lines are easy

Subject lines are the main headlines. If your reader doesn’t have time to read your entire message, she can look at the subject line and get all the information they need to know.

Subject: Cean Ho, New VP of MIS

Subject: Employee annual bonus of 5% salary

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There are 80 spaces on the Subject line of your

email messages. Use the 80 spaces to convey information not:

Hello Professor! It’s Me! How are you? This is Kim

Better: Homework chapter 3 from Steven Kim

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Which would inspire you to read the message?

1. There’s going to be a meeting of MIS

2. MIS Meeting

3. MIS: Urgent Mtg. May/20/2013

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1. There’s going to be a meeting of MI

The last word got cut off. Even if the ‘S’ were visible, this subject line doesn’t give much information and wastes words

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2. MIS Meeting

This line is a little better, no wasted words. But this subject line gives little information and is not compelling.

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3. MIS: Urgent Mtg. 5/20

This subject line gives you critical information. You know the meeting is Urgent and the date. However a room number, location and time should be added.

3. MIS: Urgent Mtg. May/20/2013 14:00 Rm 303 HSBC HQ

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Subject Line Key Words

Using a key word at the beginning of your subject line helps when forwarding a message or trying to locate an old message.

IT, HR (Human Resources) Billing, New Products are key words.

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Subject Line Key Words

People who get lots of email messages often look for key words to determine what and when to read emails.

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Subject Lines can be the message

The staff meeting scheduled for 6/2 is being moved to 6/3. All other information (time, location and agenda) remains the same. Use the subject line:

Staff mtg chg to 6/3. All else same-END

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You want to remind your team about the kick-off meeting on Friday, April 3, at noon, 4th floor conference room. Use the subject line:

Kick-off mtg, 4/3/13 noon, 4th floor conf rm-End

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You’ve attached a 15 page report that outlines the sales forecast for the second quarter. Even though you’re sending an attachment, you use the subject line:

Sales to increase 15% Q2, 2005-End

The reader doesn’t need to read the report.

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What if your system won’t send a message that doesn’t have a message? Type a single character into the message section. The subject line will let the reader know your message is complete.

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Use English not Chinese as your personal header for Global Emails

RE: syllabus for Fall Business...

about tomorrow (Sunyoung Ahn)

This is Hopper in KHU

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Use English not Hangul as your personal header for Global Emails

Some Westerners will delete Chinese email as spam mail. Most Westerners cannot read Chinese and will wait until the end of the day to answer Chinese Prefix. Businesses have a choice with whom they do business with and they will choose an English message first.

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Use an English first name for business

Plus your Chinese Last Name. Or English name in quotes “Richard” Lee. If you use just your first initials Westerners cannot understand if you are a man or woman. Westerners have trouble pronouncing and remembering Asian names. Some confuse Asian first and last names. Use Mr. or Ms. In front of your first name.

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Many English Names to select

There are formal and informal and baby-Irish-Southern USA versions of the same name of men. An unusual cultural tradition in the West is for fathers to give their oldest sons their identical names!

www.babynames.com

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Girls are not usually named after their mother so there are fewer informal versions of the same female name.

Mary formal, Mary informal

Susan formal Sue informal Suzy little girl’s name

Many English Names to select

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Patterns of English Names

David Dave DaveyRichard Rich RichieThomas Tom TommyRobert Rob Robby Bob BobbyWilliam Will Willy Bill BillyJames Jim Jimmy (Jimmy Carter former USA

President)

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Always use MS Word not Chinese

Chinese Word processors and translate programs have some editing problems and not a complete English dictionary. Composing letters and messages on email boards is unstable. You may lose a lot of time retyping letters lost with system crashes. It is easier to store and documents on MS Word or Apple Pages than in email.

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List the Global time and date

Most of China’s economy is based on overseas sales. Therefore it is very important to list the location of a due date.

The offer is good up to 5pm Friday Sept. 9 China time GMT +8.

The offer is good up to 5pm Friday Sept. 9 EST

(Eastern Standard Time).

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List the Global time and date

Utilize this great free web site:

This site is the world time clock and time zones sorted by country and city name.

http://www.timeanddate.com

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Write out the full date

People can misunderstand urgent deadlines written in an abbreviated form. In order to save space people write April 5, 2013 as 5/4/13. Europeans and Koreans put the day of the week before the month. So the deadline was May 5, not April 4th. Americans put the month first MM/DD/YR. Japanese put the year first.

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Attachments

When you are sending an attachment tell your respondent what the name of the file is, what program it is saved in, and the version of the program.

“This file is in MSWord 2013 under the name “LabFile.”

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Attachments

Confirm your reader can receive the file. There are differences in English and Asian operating systems and different program versions. If unsure, send a test file to the reader to check for compatibility. Note many I pads and I phones do not have capability to read Adobe Flash Drive videos.

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Read your English Emails out loud

Reading your English emails out loud before you send gives you an extra chance to practice English. Your brain will self correct your grammar errors that it hears. Reading out loud exercises your mouth, tongue and lips in English. Reading a second language out load will not slow down your reading speed that much.

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Before you send that email

Print out a hard copy to proof read. Errors in format, type setting, layout and overlays of photos become more apparent. Spend the money and time to print out your documents. Your documents become your face, body and reputation.

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Always spell and grammar check another time.

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Make a copy of your important incoming and

outgoing messages. Students are responsible

for keeping copies of all your messages, not the

professor. It is so easy to hit the delete key and

loose valuable information and time.

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Before you send that Email.

Before you press the send button, ask yourself: Is my subject line compelling and revealing? Is my document visually appealing? Have I established the right tone? Have I proof read, proof read, proof read?

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Writing a Draft copy

It’s vital to always prepare a draft copy of your English email before you send a message. Spell and Grammar check must be completed on MS Word. The visual impact of your document must be checked.

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Short messages

A short message can be delivered on one or two screens. Give your reader the who, what, when, where, why and how on the first screen.

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When your message is long

Create an “elevator” summary. Provide a table of contents on the first screen

of your email. If you require a response from the reader then

be sure to request that response in the first paragraph of your email.

Create headings for each major section.

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Elevator Summary

An elevator summary should have all the main components of the email including purpose, scope, methods, results, conclusions, findings, next steps, recommendations etc. in 15 seconds!

“Our profit margin for the last quarter went down 5%. As a result I am proposing budget adjustment for the following areas…”

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Table of Contents for long emails

A. Budget projections for the last quarter

B. Actual performance for the last quarter

C. Adjustment proposal

D. Projected profitability

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Delivering Information About Meetings, Orientations, Processes

Include an elevator summary and table of contents with headings.

Provide as much information as possible.

Offer the reader an opportunity to receive the information via postal mail or fax if the email is too confusing.

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‘Good News’ letters are easy

Subject lines are the main headlines. If your reader doesn’t have time to read your entire message, she can look at the subject line and get all the information they need to know.

Subject: Cean Ho, New VP of MIS

Subject: Employee annual bonus of 5% salary

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Include supporting materials

To support the subject line including who, what, when, where and how. Try answering the questions in the order that your reader would most likely ask the questions.

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Delivering Bad News

Create a buffer Explain the decision Avoid blaming

statements. Avoid hedging words or

words that sound ambiguous.

End on a friendly, positive note.

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Delivering Bad News

Avoid blaming:

“Please understand that unions, the weather, currency, raw materials and bureaucrats caused us problems. But what can I do to help?”

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Delivering Bad News

Avoid hedging. Examples of hedging are:

Intents and purposes

Possibly, most likely

Perhaps, maybe

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Sequencing for Bad news

Your intention is to keep your customer happy while sending unfavorable information.

Remember that you are trying to persuade the reader that your news is fair, even though contrary to her request.

Be diplomatic with your words.

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Diplomatic vs. Rude headlines

Diplomatic Headlines: Where to find Information

“The warranty is good for 30 days. However, on page 2 of the instructions you received…”

Impolite Headlines: The warranty expired

“If you had read the instructions that came in your package, you would have noticed that our warranty is only good for 30 days.

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Avoid mentioning company rules. Company policies won’t calm down the reader.

In order to keep health insurance premiums down for all customers, we cannot fund cosmetic surgery at this time.

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Customer benefit reasons will help.

Diplomatic headline: Timing is Everything

“Thank you for giving us a chance to consider a loan to finance your proposed home purchase. We regret, however, that we are unable to grant you a loan at this time. Perhaps at a later date…”

Rude Headline: Company Policy

“It’s against company policy to grant loans to people in your income bracket.

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Planning a Bad News letter

1. Begin with a buffer: We agree with you. Thank you for bringing this to our attention You have an excellent record We’re happy to grant part of your request

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2. Explain the decision This is how we may help you With your best interests in mind Won’t you accept this as a substitute? May we offer a suggestion?

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3. End on a friendly, positive note You’re a valued customer Won’t you try (possibly a sales promotion item) We look forward to being of help next time.

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Positive Spin Bad news Headlines

You’re a valued customer

thank them for their business

Mention the strength of your company Decisions aren’t always easy

We’d love to say “Yes” However… Keeping your costs down

Offer to be of help in the future

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Writing a complaint

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Writing a complaint

• You should briefly state the history of the problem to provide context for your reader.

• Explain the attempts you made previously to resolve the problem.

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Writing a complaint

• Show why it is critical for the problem to be resolved by your reader.

• Offer suggestions on ways you think it can be resolved or how you are willing to help in the matter.

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Writing a complaint

Briefly state the history:

“The current way we calculate hours worked does not include week days after 6pm and weekend work.”

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Writing a complaint

Show attempts made by you thus far to resolve the issue:

“I have offered two alternatives for compensatory time off and flex time working but both have been rejected by the executive board.”

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Writing a complaint

Show why it is important for your reader to get involved:

“We should all be concerned that the high level of employees quitting is robbing us of key talent and decreases morale and productivity.

Secondly, there have been a number of complaints from our customers about inexperienced case work, which weakens customer loyalty.”

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Writing a complaint

Ask for help and offer a resolution:

“Please let me know what other options I may have overlooked. I am willing to meet with the Department Head and the Executive Board to seek out a solution that is fair to workers, managers, investors and our customers.”

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Do not take your reader by surprise or press them to the wall

• Do not wait until the end of the day to introduce a problem or concern via memo or email.

• Avoid writing a long list of concerns that you have been upset about for a long time.

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Don’t send an email if you are upset

Always give yourself a day to cool down. Sometimes it is helpful to write a negative letter and then just throw it away.

When you send an email, it lasts forever and you cannot get the email back!

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Taking Professors By Surprise

Communicate with your professors and class president via email.

Complaints about grades and projects should generally be discussed in person.

Post your concerns or questions in a timely manner in both Chinese and English.

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Taking Professors By Surprise

There will be time for mid class speed and complexity adjustments after the midterm.We will schedule a class meeting before the Final Exam.Maintain class deadlines.

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Any strong objections to using your emails in class discussions?

If you strongly object to me using your emails and documents in class let me know immediately! Without written notice I will operate under implied consent from students about discussing their emails in the classroom.I will cover student names.

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Flaming in emails

• Flaming is a virtual term for venting or sending inflammatory messages in email, sometimes by USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS!

• Avoid flaming because it tends to create a great deal of conflict that spirals out of control.

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• Flame fights are the equivalent of food fights and tend to affect observers in a very negative way.

• What you say cannot be taken back. Your email messages last forever!

Flaming in emails

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Keep flaming under control

• Before you send an email message, ask yourself, “would I say this to this person’s face?”

• Calm down before responding to a message that offends you. Once you send the message it is gone.

Read your message twice before you send it and assume that you may be misinterpreted when proofreading.

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Responding to a flame

Empathize with the sender’s frustration and tell them they are right if that is true

Thank them for bringing the matter to your attention

Explain what led to the problem in question

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Responding to a flame

Avoid getting bogged down by details and minor arguments

If you are aware that the situation is in the

process of being resolved let the reader

know at the top of the response Apologize if necessary

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Complementary Closings

Close your email message

with Formal: Sincerely Yours, Cordially.

Or informal: Thanks,

or Regards.

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General Tips for Electronic Mailing Lists

Avoid discussing private concerns and issues. It is okay to address someone directly on the

list. Ex, “Hi Leslie, regarding your question” Change the subject heading to match the

content of your message. When conflict arises on the list speak in person

with the one with whom you are in conflict.

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Don’t Use all CAPITAL LETTERS

I OFTEN GET MESSAGES DELIVERED IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT? HAVE THEY PRESSED THE CAPS LOCK KEY BY MISTAKE? WHEN I GET A MESSAGE IN ALL CAPS, I FEEL AS IF THE WRITER IS SHOUTING AT ME!!!

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Don’t Use all small letters: wimpy

The effect of all lower case letters is weak and wimpy, opposite of SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS.

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Don’t use Underline too much

Be careful of underscores: underscores tend to cut through descenders, small g, j, p, q, and y, making the text difficult to read.

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KISS your email messages

1. Keep It Short and Simple

2. Use the active voice

3. Use positive words

4. Be courteous, direct

5. Be brief

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Start your Email with Person’s title

Do you say “hello” or do you introduce yourself and company name when you answer a business phone?

An email with a ‘salutation’ or formal greeting is

expected in business communications.

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Identify yourself

Identify yourself, your title,

department and

Company when sending

emails outside of your

company.

Is T.S. A woman or man?

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Use Abbreviations carefully

Only use if you’re certain the reader will know what the abbreviation stands for. Always spell out the Acronym first before using it. Point of Sale (P.O.S.)

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Urgency Overload

Some people designate every message as urgent because everything they send they think is urgent. Many people stop reading messages which are always labeled emergency.

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Urgency Overload

If something is truly urgent, consider making the phone call rather than risking the recipient won’t see the message in time.

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Don’t email nor call when angry

There are times when you need to take your discussion out of the virtual world and make a phone call.

If things become very heated, a lot of misunderstanding occurs, or when you are delivering very delicate news then the best way is still face-to face.

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Cut Information overload in Email world

“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.”

John Naisbitt, America writer and social researcher.

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Optimizing Delivery and Sending

Is there a more appropriate way to deliver the message?

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Am I a selective Emailer?

Only send emails people who need to receive them.

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Are my mailing lists up to date?

Delete names of employees who left the company. Promptly delete names of people who ask to be removed. Send messages to only those who need to read your messages.

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Maximizing Filing Capabilities

Do you use file folders effectively?

Do you clutter your metal file cabinets with papers that have no order?

Do you categorize the papers and place them in labeled file folders for easy retrieval?

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Put Emails into Folders

Rather than keeping all your e-messages in your inbox, create electronic file folders and label them as you do your paper file folders so you retrieve them easily. Filing electronically is quick and easy. You just drag and drop a message to the e file you want.

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Use Share File Capabilities

Many companies and Universities have intranet bulletin boards and web pages where you can post a document for electronic viewing.

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Don’t Email just for visibility

People haven’t heard from you for awhile and you feel it’s time you earned some ‘brownie’ or relationship points. Mistake, use the phone. People with non essential messages run the risk of no one paying attention even when you have something important to say.

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Risks Using Email Filters

Bozo Filters zap out unwanted email messages. Bozo filters demand that you preload names of people from whom you want to receive mail and the filters prioritize incoming messages from people you have entered. You risk blocking out valuable information from people not on your list. Information can change the course of your career and bring opportunities.

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Don’t just forward messages to save time

Before you forward a

message to someone else,

think! Even though you

didn’t write the original

document, you’re still

sending information that can add to overload.

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If you forward a message with a subject line is ‘Tomorrow’s Meeting Canceled”. Someone might make a mistake and take your scheduled meeting with them off the calendar. Just sending an FYI might not be enough to avoid confusion. Forwarding without modifying the subject line can send an inaccurate message.

Change the Subject line of forwarded messages

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Writing subject lines that limit Overload

Are your headlines action packed? Action requested, recommended, required Person to contact (full name) Deadline date How to… Next step(s)

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Do my subject lines shout: Read Me?

1. Does it get attention?

2. Does it provide key words?

3. Does it signal its level of importance?

4. Does it deliver the message?

Writing subject lines that get attention

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Creating Visual Impact

Headlines

for almost every paragraph to focus your reader on major ideas.

Sidelines

for extra emphasis for persuasion

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Create Visual Impact

Short Paragraphs (5-6 lines) to avoid overwhelming readers, to attract speed readers

Bulleted Lists to replace

lists with sentences●

●

●

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Use numbers, not bullets for lists of more than four

Numbered Lists:

Numbering steps in a procedure make referring to the list easy during discussion and searches.

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To frame your ideas in your emails and your papers

To improve readability

Use White Space and Indentations

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To present numbers, dates, money or data

Use Large Graphs, Chart or Tables

Bar Line Area

Pie XY

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With:Underlining

Bold

ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

Italics

Different Font Styles

Different Size Fonts

Single out Deadlines and Action Items

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Using asterisks ** or dashes –

Leaving double spaces

Box Information

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If your document is longer than one screen, put all the key information: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How on the first screen.

Prioritize the First Email Screen

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Include a table of contents or Executive Summary on the first screen

Send the document as an attachment if longer than three screens

Inform your reader if you use a compression program Post large documents to intranet bulletin board or web

page

Managing Long Document Emails

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Double Check Reply Lists

Check response lists and reply to only the person who needs to receive your response.

Consider deleting the original message unless you need it for clarity and details

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Ignore Chain Letters and Scams

The junk emails contribute dramatically to information overload. Don’t forward time wasting information people probably heard on the TV or read in the newspaper.

If you must forward a chain letter, delete the headers showing everyone else who received the message earlier.

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Home work #1

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses writing an email?2. Write the informal and Irish-Southern USA-youngster versions of

top 50 USA names 2012.3. Select an English name for this class.4. Register an English email account.5. What are the top 10 ways to reduce Email overload?6. Tell me how often each month you write English, speak English,

send or receive English emails?7. Do you have an electronic Chinese-English dictionary or app?

What are your plans to purchase one if you don’t?8. Do you think Chinese react differently to any colors than

Westerns do as described on page 107?

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For more information

Contact Professor Dave Jaye by email [email protected] and scheduled appointments. I will respond to most emails within 48 hours.

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Questions, comments, opinions?

Professor Dave Jaye

www.davejaye.com

[email protected]

Good Luck!

Documents

Global Business Emails