Welcome to part one of the greeting email series. Here we will give you a few ideas on how to start off on your email, we hope that you enjoy this read.
The Greeting
Starting off an email can be one of the hardest tasks of writing email. You know the content you want to include, but you just don’t know how to get started. Essentially, there are two situations that we run into. We’re either going to be emailing someone we know or someone we don’t know. Both can be awkward -most of the time we aren’t just emailing our friends. The question then is how to get started?
Emailing Someone You Know
It is always easier to start with the more familiar. Generally, emailing people you know makes up the bulk of your email outbox. Whether sending a message to a professor, a student group, or someone you’ve met a few times at business functions, these following tidbits are some general practices that can help you formulate an email.
- Start with Dear, Hi, Hello…
I wish this was more creative, but there really aren’t that many ways to start off an email. I like to throw in some “Good Mornings” when I compose emails, but that is about as crazy as it gets.
- Address the person as they wish to be called
There is nothing quite as annoying as someone not using your preferred name other than I guess forgetting your name all together. Anyway the point is, if you know someone pretty well call them by what they would like to be called. For example, Mr. Smith who has gone to your church forever has asked you to call him John. He’s also sent you an email and signed off as John. In this case, he has given you permission and wants you to call him something other than Mr. Smith so you should respect that.
On the fill side of that, the same logic applies to someone who wishes to be called Dr. Morgan instead of Professor Morgan. Generally, someone you are well acquainted with will make their request known, all you have to do is honor their request.
- You can be less formal, but still be professional
When you are writing an email to someone you know, especially if it is someone you know really well, you don’t have to be as formal. Consider starting your email with “Hi” but don’t overuse it. You even have the freedom to be a bit more casual in your opening with asking about your contact’s weekend or if they have seen that latest basketball game. For example:
Dear John,
How was your weekend? Did your family have a nice time at the lake? I am working on this project, and I would like your help…
Part two of this series will be on how to start off your email to someone that you do not know. We will be posting soon!