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Electronic Communication:
ComposingProfessionalEmailsto Professors Emailisafantasticmediumforrapidcommunication.Butlikeallmediums,ithasitsdrawbacks. Becauseemailallowsforquickresponses,itistemptingtowrite informally.However,emailsthat ignoreformalconventionsofwritingandetiquetteoftenannoyprofessorstotheextentthattheymay neverreplytoyou.Writingprofessionallycanbeadauntingtask,butthefollowinginformationwillhelp youwriteemailsthatpresentagoodimageofyourselfandincreaseyourchancesofreceivingapositive response.

AcknowledgetheRhetoricalSituation
Studentswhounderstandthecomplexitiesofrhetoricalsituationshaveanincreasedlikelihoodofmaking effectivecomposingdecisionsaswriters,and[inturn]whenreading,canidentifytherhetorical decisions authorshavemade(GrantDavie1997).Understandingthedocumentsrhetoricalsituationcanhelpyou makeeffectivewritingchoices.Adocumentsrhetoricalsituationcanbedefinedasitspurpose,audience, andcontext. 1. Purpose Anemailspurposeshouldbeclearinthesubjectline andatthebeginningofthee mail.Clearpurposestatementsmakeinformationaccessible,andsavethereader time. Statingyourpurposeclearlyallowsyoutoincludeonlythenecessary informationyouraudience needstoknowinordertorespondtoyourrequest.Once youdecidewhichinformationtoinclude,youmaythenorganizetheorderofyour discussionaccordingly. Analyzeyouraudienceandmakewritingchoicestailoredtoyourteachers expectations.Misaddressingaudienceinemailisnotuncommon.Marjorie SarbaughThompsonandMarthaS.Feldmanshowthatmanyemailauthorstend nottobeasawareofthesocialhierarchyandmaybeapttoassumeequalityine mailcommunication (1998).Anexampleofthisassumptionoccurswhenastudent addressesateacherliketheywouldapeer: informally.Ifyouhaveeveruseda teachersfirstnameinanemail,orwrittenanopeningthatsays,Hey,youhave disrespectedyouraudienceevenwhenyourteacherisaTAwhoseageseems closetoyourown,orwhomayhaveacasualstyleofteaching. Makerhetoricalchoicesthattakeintoaccountthecontextofthecommunication, suchasthetimingofyourresponse,thedegreeofformalityinyourrelationship withyourprofessor,theseverityoftheissue.Inallcases,itsbesttoerrontheside offormality,ratherthanriskmisaddressing,andthusalienating,youraudience.

2. Audience

3. Context

UnderstandtheFeaturesofProfessionalEMails
Herearesomebriefguidelinesyoumayusetocomposeprofessionalemails. CreateClearSubjectLines Thesubjectlineshouldprovideadetailedandbriefdescriptionofthenatureoftheemailand,preferably, thepurposeoftheemail.Avoid leavingthesubjectlineblankorusinggeneralwords.Forexample,you couldwriteClarificationoftheResearchAssignmentratherthanClassorResearchAssigment.

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GreetandCloseFormally Establishandmaintainaformaltonethroughtheuseofgreetingsandclosings.GreetingsandClosings allowyoutoestablishaconnectionwithyouraudiencebyclarifyingthecontextimmediately. Greetings andClosingsshouldnotbeinformal(e.g.,Hi,Hey,Whatsup,Later,andsoon). BadNewsisPersonalEmailisImpersonal Asarule,badnewsshouldnotbesentviaemail.Peoplewillperceivebadnewsviaemailasafailureto adequatelydemonstrateconcernfortheissueathand(Timmerman&Harrison2005).Aricher mediumfacetofaceisabettermeanstodeliverbadnews,evenifyouareshyaboutdeliveringbad newspersonally. ImplementGuidelinesforEstablishingaFormalTone Createaformaltoneby: 1. Usingpropertitles.IfyouraudienceisaPhDholdingprofessor,usethetitlesProfessoror Doctor.Ifyouareunsureofyouraudiencestitle,researchitbylookingatwebsitesorcalling youraudiencesdepartment. 2. Avoidingcontractionsandslang. 3. Choosing formalwordswithoutbeingstuffy.Askingtomeetwithorvisityourteacheris moreclearthaneitherconveningorconferencing(whichmayhaveadditionalmeaningsthan youintend). 4. Keepingyourrequestsimple,andwritingblocksoftext,ratherthanonelongparagraph. 5. UsingSpellCheck.Whenyouexamineyourspellingandgrammarbeforesendinganemail,you arelikelytocatcherrorsbeforeyouraudiencereadsthem. 6. Requestingspecificactionrespectfully.AstheclichgoesCourtesyCounts.Besuretosay thankyouwhenyourealizeyourmessagerequiresyourreadertotaketimefromtheirschedule torespond.However,dontsay,thankyouwhenyouthinkyouraudiencemayrejector respondoractdifferentlyfromyourrequest,becauseitmightbeseenasarrogantorpresumptive. 7. Allowingtimeforaresponse.ElaineCassel(2003)explainshowmanypeopleexpectteachers tobeavailable24/7.Whenteachersrespondtoemailquickly,thatresponseisduetotheir availabilityatthetime,ratherthanbeingavailableallthetime.Ifyouhaveanemergency,itis bestsimply toinformyourteacherofyouremergency,andthenfollowupwithyourteacherby presentingproperdocumentationafteryouremergencyhaspassed.Ifyouhaveanimportant question,sendyourteacheranemail,butexpectthatyourteacherwilladdressitwhentime becomesavailable.Ifyouhaveaquestionthenightbeforeapaperisdue,itisreasonableto assumethatyourteachermaynotseeyouremailuntilafteryourclassisoverthenextday. 8. Showingyouhavereadyourcoursematerialandattemptedtomakesenseofit.Consultantsat theWritingandMediaHelpCentercanevenhelpyoudevelopspecificquestionsaboutcourse materialifyouareunsureabouthowtoapproachyourteacherwithquestions.

References Cassel,E.(2003,January).Teachingandlearninglawonline.ModernPractice.RetrievedOctober6,2006from http://practice.findlaw.com/archives/teaching_0103.html GrantDavie,K.(1997).Rhetoricalsituationsandtheirconstituents. RhetoricReview,15,264279. SarbaughThompson,M.,&Feldman,M.S.(1998).Electronicmailandorganizationalcommunication:Doessayinghireally matter? OrganizationScience9,685698. Timmerman,P.D.,&Harrison,W.(2005).Thediscretionaryuseofelectronicmedia:Fourconsiderationsforbadnewsbearers. JournalofBusinessCommunication,42,279389.

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Electronic Communication:
Examplesofineffectiveand effectiveemails Perhapsbecauseofemailsnatureasaquickmediumofcommunication,weoftensendmessages withoutreviewingthem.Itishelpfultogetinthehabitofreviewingyourmessagebeforeyouclickthe Sendbutton. Bydoingso,youaremorelikelytocatchtypos,andyoumaydiscoveryourmessageis differentthanwhatyouhadintended. Thefirsttypeofinformalemailiswhatweliketocall GettingitAllWrongin3Lines
Hey,Ihadtomissclassforaninterview.Couldyoutellmeifwewentover anythingimportantinclasstoday. IsitokayifIturntodaysassignmentinon Monday.

Multipleaspectsofthisemailcouldbeimproved. 1. Thesalutation,Hey,isinappropriate. 2. Missing classisatypeofbadnews,andisbestcommunicatedfacetofaceand/oraheadoftime. 3. Askingiftheclasswentoveranythingimportantisdisrespectfultotheteacherandthecontentof thecourse,becauseitassumeslearningingeneralisnotimportant. 4. Youareaskingthe teachertotaketimetoexplaincontentinanemailthattookatleast50 minutesofclasstimetodeliver. 5. Didyounoticetheincorrectpunctuation? 6. No,itisnotokaytoturninanassignmentafterthedeadline.Teachersarewithintheirrightsnot to allowstudentstoturninlateassignmentswithoutadvance,officialnotification. Animprovedversionofthisemailwould 1. Takeinitiativeforturningintheassignment. 2. showresponsibility forcompletingworkbeforehand. 3. proposesometypeofactionthatrecognizestheteacherstime constraints. 4. usespellcheck.
Mr.Wonka, Iwillhavetomissclasstomorrowforajobinterview,butwillprovideyouanote atournextclassmeetingfrommyadvisor,peryoursyllabusabsencepolicy.I havemyassignmentfinished.MyfriendAugustasGloobwillturnitintomorrow, andIwillcontactmyclassmatestofindoutwhatImissed.Idliketoschedulea meetinganytimeafter2pmonThursdayorafter1onFriday,becauseIhavesome questionsaboutChapter18. VerucaSalt

Next,wehavethedreadedemailknownas

WaitingUntiltheAssignmentisDuetheNextDay
ProfessorWafflebauble, Imtryingtofinishtheassignmentthatsduetomorrowmorning,andImreallynot surewhatyoumeanbyanalysis.Isthisdifferentfrominterpretation?

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Examplesofineffectiveand effectiveemails
CodyRoflcopter

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On onehand,Codyhasalegitimatequestionthatanyprofessorwouldbehappytoanswer.Ontheother, Codywaitedtoolongtoaskthisquestionnottomentionthisisabigquestionaboutthenatureofthe assignment.OnceCodyunderstandsthedifferencebetweeninterpretationandanalysis,itmayverywell changehisentiredocument.So,inthiscase,thecontentoftheemailislegitimate,butthetimingislate. Bothformalityandrespectinemailsare justasmuchamatterofyourclassroombehavioras are the wordsyouuse.Youwillreceivetheresponseyoudesireifyousendthistypeofemail (attheverylatest) threedaysbeforeyourassignmentisdue. Anotherexamplethatissuretocauseyourteachervisualpainistheemailknownas

ThinkingEmailingaTeacherisLikeTextMessagingFriendsor Family
Smmith, iwontbeinclasstodayb/cIgotthefloo Ifucouldexcusemethatdbegr8 illgetyouanotenexttimekthx!

Youmayforgiveyourteacherifshedisregardsthismessageentirelynotsimplybecausethewriter forgottheteacherstitleandspelledhernameincorrectly,butalsobecauseconfusingthegenreofemail withthegenreoftextmessaging breaksjustabouteveryguidelineofformalcommunication. Finally,nodiscussionaboutstudentteacheremailetiquettecanbecompletewithoutdiscussingthe informalemailknownas

IHaveSomethingtoSay,butImNotTelling
ProfessorMaplewillowlarch, Ihaveaquestion.ImnotsurehowtheKrebsCycleworks.Imreallyfrustrated. Kelly

Thisisagoodemail,becauseKellyfeelscomfortableenoughtoexpressherfrustrationtoherteacher. However,Kellyhasntmadeherrequestclear,andherteacherwillnotknowexactlyhowtorespondto heremail.Eventhoughyourstruggleswith understandingmaterialwillbecleartoyou,thenatureof yourstruggleswillnotalwaysbecleartothepeoplewithwhomyoucommunicateviaemail.By acknowledgingthisparticularlimitationofemail,youwillbeabletoanticipateaskingdirectquestions.

ProfessorMaplewillowlarch, ImnotsurehowtheKrebsCycleworks,eventhoughwevebeenoverittwice. CouldyoutellmehowtocalculateATPthroughthecycleagain? Kelly

Kelly revisedheremailtoincludeadirectrequestwhichenablesherteachertorespondinafocused manner.Alternatively,dependinguponhowmuchtimeananswermaytake,ProfessorMaplewillowlarch mayadviseKellytovisitofficehours,seekhelpattheAcademicSuccessCenter,orevenconsultspecific portionsofthecoursetextbook. Clear,formalemailsenableyourteacherstohelpyoulearnmaterial andmeetcourserequirements. Whileyoumayevenfeelmorecomfortablecommunicatingwithateacherofasmallclassversusone

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whoteachesalargeclass,theidearemainsthesame:beingformalandrespectfulwillbuildgoodwill,and willrewardyouwithclearresponsesinreturn.