Many emails today are pre-written emails triggered by certain user actions. The days of receiving personal, hand-written letters are largely over. Students often have to write emails to communicate with instructors, advisors, and peers. They may even start writing emails at college to start connecting with future employers.
As a student, your emails will be more effective if you give them a human touch. Email can be an excellent academic and professional tool for you. Here are some ways to help you write effective, engaging emails:
Carefully consider your subject line
The subject line is crucial, but many students tend to skip it. If your subject line tells readers what to expect, it may make the difference between someone ignoring your email or answering it quickly. Many people receive so many emails every day that they prioritize answering them on the basis of the subject line. Try to make the subject line as specific and concise as possible rather than using a generic one.
Free essay examples
For today’s students, free resources online are vital to succeed in their education journey. College students can read a heart touching essay on life for inspiration. Reading essay samples for free can give students insights into how to craft their own essays and emails. They can learn more about the kind of techniques to use and how to structure their writing. If they can’t find essays on a specific topic, they can ask professional writers to help them write an essay.
Choose the right salutation
Salutations can range from formal to informal. When choosing one, you need to consider the person and the situation. If you know the person well, you may start with “Hi, Prof Stein,” but for someone you know less well, “Dear Professor Stein” would be more appropriate. Don’t use the first name of a person in authority unless you have been given permission to do so.
Use the first person
Overly formal language tends to sound like AI-generated text. You are the human behind the email, and using the first person can show that. For example, you can say, “If you have any questions, just reply to this email, and I will get back to you in no time.” Write as though you’re talking to a friend but at the same time, be polite and grammatically correct.
Express emotion but don’t go overboard
You can sound spontaneous without going overboard on enthusiasm. Communicating and showing emotion is good, but too much enthusiasm can put the reader off. It just isn’t convincing and can come across as insincere. Your tone should be friendly but professional. Being diplomatic in place of confrontational will get a better response.
Structure your email properly
An email that lumps all the content together in one paragraph may show the human touch in all the wrong ways. Just like essays, an email should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction, you will state the purpose of the message. The body will give details, and the conclusion will be action information, such as a deadline or contact information. You should use short paragraphs as this enables the reader to skim through them.
Include humor
A little humor can go a long way. But humor or using emojis should never be forced. Be aware of who your email is going out to before using any humor that could be offensive. The idea is to keep things light and friendly rather than inadvertently insulting someone.
Don’t make assumptions about your readers
Following on from the previous point, making assumptions about your readers can be a big mistake. Apart from using the type of humor that can offend them, try to stay away from jargon. Provide context, and keep in mind that readers may not know what you’re talking about or why it should matter to them.
Being human doesn’t mean ignoring spelling and grammar
It can be helpful to write an email in a word processing program and run it through a spell and grammar checker before pasting it into the email program. If you just write words as they come to you and don’t check your email before you send it, it’s unlikely to create a good impression. Try to read your email from the perspective of the recipient and edit it before you click “send.”
Conclusion
As a college student learning how to write emails with a human touch can be of great benefit to you. The extra time you spend crafting your emails in college can be a good time investment. Being able to write effective emails could be extremely helpful in your future career.
