Write It Well

Effective E-Mail



Are you spending far too much time slogging through the e-mail messages of your staff? Are you copied on messages you don’t need to receive? Do you receive inappropriate messages full of type-o’s and other errors? Do you find yourself reading to the end of a long, long message just to find the main point? Write It Well’s Effective Email is the answer.

One of our most popular courses, this half-day workshop is designed for anyone who communicates through e-mail.

Participants learn practical, immediately useful techniques that help them write clear, concise, messages from the readers’ point of view; organize information logically; present a professional image of themselves and their organization; and work more productively.

Our Approach:

• To ensure that our training meets the participants’ needs, we customize the curriculum after assessing writing samples and reviewing objectives.
• During training, we encourage active participation through discussion and practice.
• Participants apply concepts and techniques by evaluating, editing, planning and drafting job-related e-mail messages with one-to-one feedback from the instructor.

Depending on the needs of your group, participants will learn the criteria for effective e-mail communication and how to:

• Decide whether e-mail is the appropriate choice for a specific message.
• Determine who should receive an e-mail message.
• Look at an e-mail message from the reader’s point of view.
• Identify the primary purpose of an e-mail message and formulate a clear, concise statement that expresses the most important point(s).
• Determine what information to include.
• Organize information so readers can follow points easily.
• Control the tone of an e-mail message and the image the e-mail conveys.
• Write subject lines that convey useful information and get readers’ attention.
• Send attachments.
• Use e-mail time efficiently and manage both incoming and saved mail.
• Know when to reply to an e-mail and when to end an e-mail “conversation.”
• Use concise, active, specific language and plain English that communicates clearly and professionally.

Course Materials

Book: E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide

 Facilitator Kit: Effective E-Mail

Write It Well’s e-mail effectiveness workshops were just what the doctor ordered!  The 650 people in our department rely on e-mail to communicate throughout a number of different research labs, hospitals and clinics.  In the workshops, our staff and faculty learned how to use the right tone, get to the point quickly, present a professional image, and avoid legal risks.  The workshops were engaging and relevant. 

–Habib Tannir, M.S. Administrative Director, Imaging Services, Emory Healthcare.