Write It Well

Business writing that gets results

Learn about our books, self-study workbooks, and business writing training programs help people write professional business e-mail, letters, memos, reports, proposals, marketing materials, performance evaluations, technical documentation, user and procedures manuals, and other business documents that make sense, get results, and use professional grammar and punctuation.

“Most people could cut their email output by ten percent or so and maintain or even increase their productivity,” writes Art Carden. Messages to cut:

Questions you could answer for yourself. See what Google has to say before you send an e-mail that makes you look silly and wastes time.
Responses to e-mails that CC you. Often, these e-mails are just informative, and don’t need an answer from you.
Forwards. Yes, it’s a noble cause. So why don’t you take the time to compose your own personal, thought-provoking e-mail, and send THAT to your friends? They’ll appreciate it much more.

E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide has more great tips on boosting your e-mail effectiveness.