How to Make Email Warmer, Like a Phone Call
Email is extremely efficient. But if you take that efficiency to an extreme, your messages can come across as abrupt, bossy, and insensitive. Apply the tips below so your emails make your readers smile the way they would in a pleasant business conversation.
1. Greet your reader. You would not call someone and launch into your request or other content. You would begin with a greeting such as "Hi, Michelle" or "Hello, Jacob." In a conference call, you would say, "Greetings, team" or "Hello, everyone." Do the same in email.
When you email someone several times within a short time, compare that exchange with several phone calls. Just as you would probably not greet the other person repeatedly on the phone, you do not need to greet him or her over and over in an ongoing email conversation. But when you restart an email conversation on a new day, greet your reader again. After all, it is a new day.
2. Use the other person's name. Notice that the examples above include names with the greeting. Almost everyone appreciates being addressed by name on the phone and in email. In email, using a name normally indicates a relationship with the reader. It also conveys that you consider your reader as an individual, not as a job title.
Caution: Using a name without a greeting can come across as cool rather than warm. For example, this format does not convey warmth:
Neil:
"Neil--" as the start of a phone conversation might come across as "Attention, Neil!" Likewise, in email "Neil" with a colon after it may seem bossy or overly formal rather than friendly. However, "Hello, Neil" or "Hi Neil" communicates warmth instantly.
3. Add warmth to your email with words. On the phone, it is generally easy to express enthusiasm and warmth through your voice. You can smile, and your voice carries that smile to your listener. Not so in email, where tone has to come through words (and sometimes images) on a screen. Add warmth to your emails with words and phrases such as wonderful, terrific, hurray, please, pleased to, pleasure, glad to, happy to, excited about, looking forward, appreciate, grateful, enjoy, thanks, thanks a bunch, and thanks so much!
If your message needs a warmer tone and your reader appreciates a smiley face, use a smiley face to warm up your message. But be sure smiley faces don't appear indiscriminately in all your messages. They can become trite and meaningless, just like the filler words awesome and great cropping up everywhere in a conversation. I myself always use words rather than smiley faces to warm up a message and keep it professional, but I admit that smileys have their place when used intentionally--not unconsciously.
4. Avoid gushing. In a phone call, a long torrent of words without a pause can overwhelm and confuse a listener. The same is true in email. Put a period (full stop) after each idea. Don't let go with a flood of ideas. Rather than seeming warm and enthusiastic, a flood of thoughts can come across as immature or disorganized.
5. Ask rather than tell, if you need to soften a directive or a request. In a phone conversation, you can often sense when another person is offended or upset by something you have said. You can ask right away whether you have said something wrong or have come across too strong. Email doesn't offer that option. So if there is a chance that your directive or request will seem pushy, ask rather than tell. Write "Mr. Ho needs the information today. Can you send it to him please?" or "The client asked for a call back by 3 p.m. I was hoping you could handle it. Do you have time?"
Especially across cultures, asking rather than telling lowers the risk that you will come across as demanding, when you just want the job to get done.
6. Avoid bureaucratic, canned language. Rarely would anyone end a phone call with "Thank you for your attention to this matter." That sentence would sound stilted and even prerecorded. In email, avoid expressions like it for the same reason. Instead, share sincere thanks such as "Thanks so much for your help" or "I liked your ideas--thank you!"
7. Sign off courteously. In most business phone calls, you say goodbye to the person rather than simply ending the call. You might say "Thanks, Tarik. Bye." Similarly, end your email with a closing sentence or what is known as a "complimentary close"--or both. A sentence such as "See you next week," "Thanks for the information," "We appreciate your business," or "Please call with any questions" ends the message cordially. An appropriate complimentary close might be "Best wishes," "Best regards," "Warm regards," "Warm wishes," "Best," or, informally, "Ciao" or "Cheers."
Decide how much of a pleasant close suits your message. Just as you don't greet your reader repeatedly when you exchange several emails in a day, you don't need to repeat your closing sentence or complimentary close in every message. Vary your responses just as you would on the phone.
8. Think before you speak. In phone conversations, it is wise to pause and think before responding to an angry, accusatory, or otherwise provocative statement. The same is true in email, only email offers you added time.
Take that time. Before banging out an email you may regret, take time to think about the big picture and your goals rather than the small email communication and your annoyance. Breathe, walk around the office, refresh yourself, and then craft a professional reply.
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