Writing s To make sure your messages get read…

Large part of modern communication, particularly in business Ability to send and receive messages over great distances at an incredible speed Meant for QUICK, SIMPLE communication Has the potential to be abused due to ease of use

Meaningful Subject Line Recipients scan the subject line in order to decide whether to open, forward, file, or trash a message Write a subject line that accurately describes the content Never leave the subject line blank Vague titles – indicator of virus laden spam The more specific subject-line, the more likely the recipient's spam-blocker will let the message through

Class Activity Subject: "Important! Read Immediately!!“ Subject: "Emergency: All Cars in the Lower Lot Will Be Towed in 1 Hour." Subject: "Quick question.“ Subject: "Follow-up about Friday" Subject: "That file you requested." Subject: "10 confirmed for Friday... will we need a larger room?"

Class Activity Subject:“Check out Kensington piece” Subject:“Marketing collateral on Kensington project draft needs your approval” Subject: Revisions For Sales Report Subject: Meeting! Subject: Reminder of 10am Meeting Sched. 10/05 on PASS Process

Class Activity "thx 4 ur help 2day ur gr8“ ??! LOL ;-) ??! Hi - I'm the Vice-President of Legal Affairs with Itty Bitty Machines. Could you please send me the latest abc catalog? I'm thinking of buying(?) stock in your company OR

Class Activity “There is 50 people with machien guns on Main Street abt 1 mi aways wallking north and they not friendly so getcher butts outta here protno!!!!! ” ibm.com, aol.com??!! Dear Chris:, Dear Project Managers:, Dear Ms. Sherwood:

Class Activity I said that I was going to go last Thursday. I *said* that I was going to go last Thursday. I said that I was going to to go last *Thursday*.

Class Activity “Hi - when did you want to go to lunch?” Rebecca P. Snodwhistle Thromblemeisters Direct, Inc. 666 BeastStreet Styx, HI (959) voice +1 (959) FAX W (personal)

Signature File – Class Activity Rebecca P. Snodwhistle Chief Executive Officer, Thromblemeisters Direct, Inc. +1 (959) voice OR Rebecca P. Snodwhistle Thromblemeisters Direct, Inc. 666 BeastStreet Styx, HI (959) voice +1 (959) FAX W (personal)

Greetings & Salutations In the United States, it is a bad idea to use "Sir" or "Mr." Safer to use "Ms." instead of "Miss" or "Mrs.“ "Good Morning“, "Good Afternoon“, “Good Day” don't make sense with

Points to Keep in Mind Get the main message explained in the shortest possible space Make messages look professional – avoid poor spelling & grammar Skip lines between paragraphs cc (carbon copy): to those who need to know about the subject but now required to act on the content bcc (blind carbon copy): useful where discretion is required Use asterisks (*) to show emphasis

Points to Keep in Mind To keep s readable at all times, plain text is the way to go If in business one should almost certainly attach a signature file to every outgoing message Use of formal language communicates one cares about the message Linguistic shortcuts & non-standard punctuation and spelling can be used for informal situations Limit the to three paragraphs word tops

Thank you!