How to write an email ... properly

HOW do you get your email read by anyone from your boss to Richard Branson? These seven easy steps will make sure your e-voice gets heard.  

email

HOW do you get your email read by anyone? The first step to reaching anyone from your boss to Richard Branson is the subject line.

With email open rates as low as eight per cent in some industries, the 50 characters used to fill the subject line are where your message flies or dies. 
The content of that email – your client pitch or movie script or whatever – is up to you. But let us take care of the subject line.

We asked for a little help from the most harangued of our friends – people who are constantly in demand; people whose inbox nobody envies. What we wanted to know: is there a way for an email to cut through all that noise?

Here’s what they told us.

1. Personalised subject lines

Re: We both do interpretive dance with Nathan Stribley

Tell them who sent you. It not only vouches for you as a person of note, it also – and this is the sneaky part – makes them more accountable, because your mutual friend is now in the mix. “Having a friend or colleague in common is an instant link, so don’t be afraid to use it,” says editor Ceri David. “It’s not nepotism. It’s just smart.” Likewise, referring 
to a recent meeting will 
jog their memory and cut down the chance that you’re 
an opportunistic random 
to be avoided.

2. Be cool 

Re: Wean yourself off the exclamation marks!!!!!!

For the love of Mary, calm down. So says celebrity publicist Maria Farmer, who looks 
after a certain Baz Luhrmann, among others. The importance of not being earnest in a subject line is critical. Everyone’s busy, everyone’s time poor, so be cool and state your case. 
The same can be said for ALL CAPS and emoticons. “I can go from cheerful to homicidal in one smiley face,” says David.” Is that really what you hope to achieve?”

3. Fear is your friend

Re: The facts in your story about that drug dealer

Sometimes, scaring someone into opening an email is a justifiable 
tactic in your attempt to get your message read. Most people, regardless of their station or title, 
will have their attention seized 
by anything that looks like it 
will damage their livelihood or reputation. It’s risky, but it works. 
From Ceri David: “The quicker 
you find out what’s gone wrong, 
the quicker you can solve the problem, or prove that you were 
in fact right all along – which, I’m happy to report, is more often 
the case for us.”

4. Hold the affection

Re: Mon Cherie…

Hold the kisses, cowboy. “Don’t be overfamiliar if you don’t know me,” is another of our esteemed editor’s tips. So, leave off the XXXs, folks. If you are going to pretend that you know her, get her name right at the very least. “You won’t believe the number of people who start their email, ‘Dear Cheri.’ Or worse, 
‘Dear David.’ That goes straight in the trash.”

5. Say thank you

Re: Thank you for last night

Kick off by showing gratitude for something the person has done – even if you haven’t met them. Maybe you’ve just read an article or report that they wrote, or followed advice they gave in a lecture. Or perhaps you were inspired by something they did. Start your email with a compliment about how something they’ve done has helped you personally. It would take a very hard-nosed person not to respond positively.

6. Be mysterious

Re: How I know you

Ever had this one? You’ll recall the jolt of panic if you have. You might have resented the sender for instantly taking you back to that hot-tub memory loss from the ’90s, 
but you opened the email, didn’t you? Take 
a tip from that to get your day in court – provided, of course, the email that follows is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

7. Ask a question in the subject line

Re: Are your expense forms for real?

This can look ungainly but is surprisingly effective, bearing in mind how few emails are ever even opened, no matter how carefully scripted. So don’t bore us, get to the chorus. And if you can fit the question 
in the subject line, go for it. Farmer goes 
one better. “I’m known for putting the 
whole email in the subject line,” she says. 
“It makes the recipient smile, because they know exactly what they’re getting, and they’re not worried about what might be hiding in the email. And smiling relaxes 
the brain, which doesn’t hurt.”

This story originally appeared on GQ.com.au