The Elements of Email Style

Communicate Effectively via Electronic Mail

David Angell and Brent Heslop

     Acknowledgments
     Read Me First
     Chapter I

     Write Right for the E-mail Medium
     Benefits of the E-mail Explosion
     The Changing E-mail Message
     Use the 80120 Rule to Improve Your E-mail Style
     E-mail Etiquette and Politics
          Don't Flame
          Respect E-mail Confidentiality
          Watch What You Say in E-mail
     Protect Yourself against E-mail Break-ins
     Be Careful about Copyrights and Licenses
     Eliminate Sexist Language from Your E-mail
     Eliminate Masculine Pronouns
     Avoid Gender-specific Titles
          Be Culturally Aware for International E-mail
          Avoid Using All Capital Letters
     Avoid Using All Lower-case Letters
     Check Your E-mail Regularly
     When Not to Use E-mail

     Chapter 2

     Structure Your E-mail for Impact
     Anatomy of an E-mail Message
     How and When to Use To, Cc, Bcc, and Receipts
     How to Survive E-mail Triage
             Make the Subject Line Compelling
             Make a Good First Screen Impression
             Keep Your Reader's Terminal in Mind
    How to Shape Your Message
       Add a Greeting for a Friendly Touch
       Write from the Top Down
       Put Yourself in the Recipient's Shoes
       Make Responding Easy
       Develop Focused Paragraphs
       Use Short Paragraphs
       Lists Deliver Information Efficiently
         Emphasize Key Points with Bullets
         Use Numbered Lists for Sequential Item,,
         Save Space with Embedded Lists
       How to Structure a Long Message
          Headings Break Up Long Messages
      How to Reply to an E-mail Message
      include a Simple Closing
      When to Attach Files with Your E-mail

     Chapter 3

     Choosing the Right Words

     Use Vivid Verbs for Vibrant Writing
     Keep to the Present Tense
     Watch Your Irregular Verbs
     Choose Concrete Words for Solid Prose
     Use Simple and Familiar Words
     When to Use Jargon
     Use Cliches Sparingly
     Don't Be Redundant
     Eliminate Deadwood Modifiers
     Eliminate Wordy Phrases
     Don't Confuse Your Words
     Watch Me, Myself, and I
     Avoid Shifts in Person

Chapter 4

Tone, Rhythm, Persuasion-and Flame Control

Create a Friendly Tone
     Use Contractions to Make Your Message Friendly
     Avoid Hedging
     Write Positively
 Keep the Rhythm of Your Message Lively
     Create Sentence Rhythm
     Make Smooth Transitions
     Use Parallelism to Create Rhythm
How to Write a Persuasive Message
How to Respond to a Flame

Chapter 5

Build Better Sentences

Use the Subject and Verb Foundation for Most Sentences
Use the Active Voice Most of the Time
Make Your Subjects and Verbs Agree
Know the Four Sentence Types
Use Variety in Your Sentence Structures
Manage Sentence Length for Readability
Avoid Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences
Control Your Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
Use Parallelism in Sentence Constructions
Should You End a Sentence with a Preposition?
Should You Start a Sentence with a Coordinating Conjunction?

Chapter 6

Mind Your Mechanics

Check Your Spelling
Abbreviate to Save Time
Capitalize Correctly
Communicating Numerical information


Chapter 7

Punctuation Adds Expression to Your E-mail

Use Commas for Clearer Prose
Be Divisive with Semicolons
Use Colons to Introduce Something
Add a Dashing Thought
Use Slash Constructions
Connect Words with Hyphens
Take Possession with Apostrophes
Use Parentheses for Sideshows
Mark What You Didn't Say with an Ellipsis
Don't Overuse Exclamation Points
Mark Quotations with Quotation Marks
Punctuate Emotions with Smileys
Don't Use Two Spaces after Punctuation

Chapter 8

Formatting and Special Characters Add Punch
to Your E-mail
Enhance the Presentation of Your Messages with ASCII

    How to Emphasize Text in an E-mail Message
Use White Space to Open Up Your Message
        Use Tabs to Align Characters
        Use Boxes to Emphasize Important Information
        Include Extra Spaces to Emphasize an important Point
        Identify Files Included in a Message
        Spice Up Your John Hancock with a Signature File
        Have Fun with ASCII Art
Harness Special Characters for Richer Text
        How to Insert Special Characters in DOS
        How to Insert Special Characters in Windows
        Using the PC-8 Character Set in Windows
        How to Insert Special Characters on the Macintosh

Glossary

     English and E-mail Jargon

     Appendix

     Conventions for Posting on the Internet

     What Is Network News?
     Follow Basic Posting Netiquette
     When to Send E-mail Rather Than Posting an Article
     Tips for Writing Articles
     Follow the Newsgroup's Rules
     What Can and Can't Be Posted

     Index