Email is an essential tool for both internal and external communications, but many emails are so poorly written that they fail to get their messages across. This causes misunderstanding, creates a bad impression and wastes time. More and more organisations are recognising the importance of helping staff to write good emails.
This course shows participants how to write clear, effective, professional emails. It is fully flexible in length and content. Some companies use a half-day version - covering the crucial skills - as part of their induction training. Others prefer a full-day workshop that includes using email for specific purposes, such as responding to complaints or promoting products and services.
Tell us what your needs are and we will design a course to meet them. This will including giving each of your delegates a year of ongoing support. During that time they will be able to ask their tutor an unlimited number of questions - by email, naturally.
Learning objectives
By the end of this course your staff will be able to:
write emails that communicate clearly and powerfully
use structure to ensure that key messages are not overlooked
prepare effective subject lines
understand the causes of ambiguity in email and avoid them
ensure that the tone of their emails is professional
judge the level of detail required by the reader
use email for specific purposes, such as complaint handling or sales
pass on techniques to colleagues, to increase the quality of email writing across the organisation.
Morning session
Group discussion
Does it matter if emails are unclear or poorly written?
What are the common mistakes in emails?
What can you do to make sure your emails are professional?
The challenge
How people read emails - skimmers and scanners
Getting your message across - the importance of structure and plain English
Planning what to say
Techniques for assembling your points
Techniques for writing effective responses - staying brief and focused
Structuring - best practice
Using the subject line well
Applying the inverted pyramid structure
Writing strong openings
Writing strong endings
Using headings effectively
Favouring Plain English
What is plain English?
Writing short, straightforward sentences
Using simple words where possible
Afternoon session
Favouring positive language
‘Warm’ words and ‘cold’ words
Finding the words that will help you achieve your objectives
Avoiding cliché, jargon and management-speak
Selecting an appropriate tone
Why do emails sometimes sound angry, sarcastic or casual?
How can you avoid this?
Matching your tone to the reader and the purpose
Applying a corporate tone of voice
Choosing the right salutation and close - options and guidelines
Keeping it short and sharp
Sticking to the point
Avoiding unnecessary words and phrases
Keeping it clear
The causes of ambiguity and misunderstanding
Techniques for ensuring that your emails make sense
Getting the grammar right
Why grammar and punctuation matter
Avoiding common mistakes
Further development
Reference sources
Post-course support
More information
The Email Writing course is available as an in-house course, which we would run at your premises. For more information,
click here.
Top of page...
“The course has made me think more about what I’m writing and so has helped me to communicate by email more clearly and effectively.”
David Wickens Royal Caribbean International
“The workshops have been very successful. We’ve had lots of good feedback.”
Jane Trout Executive Assistant Buro Happold
“Everyone found the email writing training very beneficial.”
Cheryl Casey PA to Operations Manager City Suburban Tree Surgeons
Running the Email Writing course in-house
The Email Writing course can be run as in-house training anywhere in the world. If you have a group of staff who need the same skills, this option is cost-effective and convenient.
Tailored to your needs
The length and content of this course can be tailored to match your needs. In addition to covering some
or all of the topics given in the
example programme, you may want to add topics that are particularly relevant to your
organisation.
Flexibility
An in-house course is fully flexible. Tell us what you want to achieve and we will work with you to design a course to match. Tell us when you would like to run it and we will find a date that suits you.
Free support
Every course we run comes with a year of free support for each participant. We recognise that people do not think of every question on the day of the training. Our support service gives them the opportunity to ask their tutor an unlimited number of questions in the year following the course. In this way they continue to build their skills and confidence.
Ask us for a quotation
The cost of an in-house course depends on a number of things, including its length, its location and how much preparation we need to do. We can readily give you a quotation, so please contact us to discuss your needs.
Email is an essential tool for both internal and external communications, but many emails are so poorly written that they fail to get their messages across. This causes misunderstanding, creates a bad impression and wastes time. More and more organisations are recognising the importance of helping staff to write good emails.
Learning objectives
Group discussion