Success in most careers as well as in academia depends on the quality of your writing. Writing emails is second to nature in a workplace or college environment. The email you will write today may earn you a place in your most coveted career. It may also lead to a demotion at your place of work or even worse, create a dent on your reputation. It’s not that you are incompetent at your work. The reason you write poor emails is that you fail to pay attention to the most crucial elements that an effective one should have.

To improve on writing your emails, pay attention to the following:

• Take time to formulate your thoughts and figure out what you’re trying to say. Never write in a hurry. Restructure your statements, expressions and words until you are satisfied that you have expressed the right message, in the right tone.
• Use active verbs. For example, instead of writing, “The agenda was circulated by Esther” write, “Esther circulated the agenda”.
• Reread your email before hitting the ‘send’ button. Nothing irritates a reader more than a series of spelling, grammatical and factual mistakes on an email. Edit you work thoroughly before sending it.

For more guidance on matters reading, speaking and writing, visit us at Strathmore Writing Centre on the second floor of the Student Centre building. Email address: writingcentre@strathmore.edu