Reading Minds to Write Emails

12 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2020

See all articles by Brian Larson

Brian Larson

Texas A&M University School of Law

Date Written: July 16, 2020

Abstract

This essay explains how to write a professional email. It imagines that you are a young attorney in a corporate context. But you can translate that hypothetical frame into any professional context. It takes a fairly formulaic approach to its topic: When you are starting out, you should follow the formula. As you become more experienced and skilled, you will know when and why you should vary from the formula. You should also be attentive to how your colleagues in the work context write their emails and decide whether you should conform to their practices or your own.

This essay first considers what the body of your email text should look like, and why. It then reviews technical details about addressing them, writing subject lines, signing them, and adding some other contents, if they are applicable. Of course, you should also carefully proofread and copy-edit any email before sending it.

Keywords: professional email, rhetoric, pragmatics, cognitive environment

Suggested Citation

Larson, Brian, Reading Minds to Write Emails (July 16, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3653148 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3653148

Brian Larson (Contact Author)

Texas A&M University School of Law ( email )

1515 Commerce St.
Fort Worth, TX Tarrant County 76102
United States

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