Friday, September 25, 2015

Lost In Translation


 Emails are an essential part of business communication. In my brief experience it is astonishing to find that the majority of people do not read the properly or misunderstand in the information attempting to be communicated. This is caused by not only the receivers’ inability to properly read the email, but the senders’ inability to aptly communicate. Here are my top tips to ensure your emails do not get lost in translation.

1.      Ensure you are using professional, yet understandable language.

Using words like anomalistic or sesquipedalian will just get you one very confused reader.

2.      The majority of people are time-poor, so make your message succinct.

You have a point – get to it. Nobody wants to read an essay, especially if they don’t have too.

3.      If you do have to write an essay, make sure the most important points are at the at the top

It is more than likely that your reader will lose interest within the first 3 lines.

4.      If something is particularly important, bold it.

If it stands out, it will be noticed.

5.      Better yet, follow up with a phone call to ensure they have received your message.

This way you know it has been read, and understood.

Cheyenne

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey,

I am glad you covered the subject of emails. I was willing to cover it, but eventually it got out of my mind.
I agree this is one of the most important parts of the job. Sending out emails seems like an easy thing, only until the seniors start editing your simple emails.

In my case, I had to write a media pitch for a client. It was pretty straight forward and seemed an easy task. But when my supervisor editing a major chunk from my email, I realised how much unnecessary stuff I had put in only to impress the media people.

They are not here to get impressed. They don't have time for that. Just be straight to the point. A little formal polite gesture is fine, bunt nothing more.

Hope you had a good internship.

Cheers,
Saket.

Unknown said...

Hey Cheyenne!

I identify with this post so much! I often acted as a personal assistant to my supervisor, and this often meant sending So. Many. Emails.

Often these emails were to very busy, influential people so we spent a lot of time crafting a message that we felt was short, straight to the point and very easy to read, and then we'd get a reply that made it obvious the point had been missed! People are busy and it seems no one fully reads their emails anymore. Your idea to bold important points is an excellent idea, we even took to putting important points in bold and colour to make sure it wasn't missed. You're also right about making a phone call, often it's much quicker and easier!

I hope you enjoyed the rest of your internship experience.

Sarah :)