Newsletter 002
Emails 2/4: Intro & Outro + The Signature
The first part of any email is (usually) the shortest, yet somehow the most disputed. Over the years, we have seen the introductory greeting change from the most neutral ones — Dear Sir or Madam and To whom it may concern — to those that end up in the spam folder, such as Dearest and Greetings, to currently most popular Dear, Hello, or simply Hi!
The latest changes in email writing standard result from the world-wide need to neutralize greetings and not address gender at the same time, which is why To whom it may concern might be the safest option. However, if you want to directly address the recipient whose name you know, it is advised to use the following ones along with Dear:
- Mr — for all men, regardless of their marital status.
- Ms — for all women, regardless of their marital status (pronounced as /miz/).
- Mx — for everyone, regardless of their gender or marital status (pronounced as /miks/ or /maks/ or /em eks/ — now widely accepted in the UK, but still not used that much globally).
To cut the long story short, here are some examples of how to start your email:
- Dear Ms Smith, / Dear Mr Smith, (without the dot, UK English, formal)
- Dear Ms. Smith, / Dear Mr. Smith, (with the dot, US English, formal)
- To whom it concerns, / To whom it may concern, (formal)
- Good afternoon, / Hello Michael, / Hello, Michael! (semi-formal)
At the end of your salutation, you can choose to put a comma at the end — salutation format — or to place a comma before the name, with an exclamation mark at the end — sentence format (see the last two examples above).
When it comes to finishing your email, it is important to remember whom you are writing it to, because, based on the introductory salutation and the level of formality, you will need to choose a proper closing line.
Here are some examples of how to finish your email:
- Yours sincerely, / Sincerely, (formal)
- Respectfully, / Yours truly, (formal)
- Kind/Best regards, / Regards, (formal to semi-formal)
- Many thanks, / All the best, / Take care, (semi-formal to informal)
The closing line is followed by the signature which should be pre-set in the options, especially if you are writing on behalf of your company or if you are writing as its employee.
Let us now look at the improvement by using the same example email from Newsletter 001:
Before:
After:
Now, it’s fair to say that Mr. Pacino does not work for our company; but if he did, he would probably take care of the smallest details himself. Capisce?
Lastly, should there be any additional information that stands out from the rest of the text or that you forgot to insert while writing the email body, it can simply be added at the end of the email as a postscript, e.g.:
- P.S. Please find attached the files from our previous project.
- P.P.S. Send the files back to me once you have edited them.
- P.P.P.S. Should you need help with them, do let me know.
Next week, Newsletter 003 brings a text about the mandatory subject line, along with the optional parts — brief pleasantry and signing out.
Keep working on details — they really make a difference; and if we truly want to raise our skills onto a higher level, these simple tips and tricks will most certainly help us.
Take care!
