The structure of business emails

Warmer: Teacher asks student: Do you send and receive a lot of emails every day? What type of emails do you send and receive? Teacher asks student to think of emails that annoy them and why they find those emails annoying. Could it be that the sender leaves the important information for last? (they don’t get to the point) Could it be that the email sounds rude? What do they think is important to consider when writing an email? Student come up with suggestions based on their own experience.

Introduction: Teacher asks student to open the email etiquette infographic that they received before class. See if some of the suggestions the student came up with matches the infographic. Teacher goes over the infographic points with student, discussing the points. Teacher asks student to choose the top 3 point on the infographic which they feel is most important.

Presentation:  Start off with greeting. Formal: Dear. Neutral: Hi, Hello. Followed by the recipient’s name (or Mr, Mrs and surname for very formal emails.) If you send several emails to the same person in a short time, you don’t have to include a greeting every time. On the next line, follow greeting with something like; hope you are well or, how are you? It’s a rhetorical question.

On the next line, explain why you are writing. Make sure your purpose is clear. Keep it short with a simple phrase like, ‘I’m writing regarding. I want to follow up on, I would like to ask about. Or follow up on a previous discussion/email with something like, ’Regarding/in regards to.’ Or to ask a question use, ‘I’d like to know if/when/how. Could you let me know? Could you confirm. Do you have any details/ update/quote/estimate.’ Saying thank you, ‘thanks for getting back to me. Thanks for following up on.’

On the next line, add supporting information, so that the reader can understand. Ask yourself what the person reading the email needs to know. Limit it to 2 to 3 sentences. Putting the most important information first. E.g. I’m writing in regards to the annual staff conference. Please indicate how many staff members from your department will be attending. Please specify which individuals have special dietary requirements.   

If you need to add another topic, add a sentence to introduce the new topic then add another paragraph of 2 to 3 sentences, ‘There’s one more thing I’d like to discuss. I’d also like to ask you about. Regarding...’ E.g. Regarding transport on the day. We are arranging several busses to transport staff to the venue and back.

In a new paragraph. Add a call to action, making it clear to the recipient what you expect. Use a sentence like, ‘Please… by tomorrow at the latest. As a matter of urgency, you need to. E.g.: Please send me the information by tomorrow at the latest.   

On a new line, include a sign off. Like: Regards, Best Wishes, Kind Regards or Yours Sincerely. In formal emails, each letter is capitalised, with a comma after the two letters followed by your name. 

The subject line: Use key words that briefly summarises the content of your email.

Teacher asks student to come up with a subject line for the example email about the annual staff conference.

Controlled practice: Teacher asks student to open practice task 1 from the class materials they received before class. This practice will determine whether the student have understood the information in the presentation stage. Student will get the opportunity to look at a poorly written email with an inappropriate tone and identify the problems in the email. The student will determine what information they would include if they had to send the mail. They then also practice rewriting the email based on the points raised in the presentation stage.

Presentation Part 2: Introducing Phrasal verbs. Teacher explain that the meaning of the phrasal verb might not be the same as the meaning of the main verb. There are two types of phrasal verbs, Transitive (a verb that needs an object) and intransitive (a verb that does not need an object. E.g.; I look forward to… (needs an object for the transitive phrasal verb to be complete) I look forward to meet you. Intransitive: Get ahead (meaning to advance or make progress.) Another way that phrasal verbs can be divided is whether they are separable or inseparable. When phrasal verbs are separable, the object can go in between the main verb and the other part of the phrasal verb. E.g. Figure out is separable, because the object can go in between, figure it out. An example of an inseparable verb is come across (to find something by chance) the object cannot be put in the middle of the phrasal verb, the object must come after.

Controlled Practice Part 2: This is an individual, gap fill exercise. After the exercise teacher illicit answers from student and go over phonemic pronunciation.

Freer practice stage (real life situation): Student write the first email, according to the instructions on the worksheet, arranging the meeting. Teacher will then reply to that email, teacher and student will make the arrangements via email until student finally sends the confirmation email. After each email teacher checks the email for grammar, spelling, punctuation and style.

Cooler/review: Teacher will talk about things like fonts. What are the best fronts to use? What does it mean when you receive an email containing different size and styles of fonts? It means that the information was copied and pasted. What does that say about the writer? It makes the writer look untrustworthy and it makes the reader feel unimportant. Is it okay to use abbreviations like LOL? Teacher will ask student what subject line student think would be appropriate to use. If people receive a lot of emails, they might delete the message without opening it if the subject line is too vague or it sounds like click bait. Don’t be misleading. Teacher asks student if they felt like they learnt something new today. Is there anything they are still unclear of? Or is there anything they want to do more of in future lessons?