Craft thorough, accurate, and personable emails to make the best impression amongst employers and peers. Use this helpful guide to do so!

Emails are a valuable indicator of how well you communicate and they can really make or break your reputation, especially if you are trying to make a first impression. If you write an unprofessional email, chances are that you will be viewed as such, which can impact how seriously you are taken by the recipient of the email. Whether you are trying to convey a message or trying to convince the other party of a point, you’ll want to write a sound, professional email that contains all of the following elements:

1. First and foremost, make it personal

Start with something that will warm them up to you. Ask them what is going on in their life or try to remember something personal about them, such as whether they recently got married, had a child or any other milestone in their life. You can also wish them a holiday greeting if one recently passed or is quickly approaching. This will show that you pay attention and care about them beyond just looking for something from them. They will then feel more inclined to respond to you or provide you with what you need.

If you wish to create a connection with them but don’t know anything about them, you may wish to tell them something about you to get the conversation rolling, but just briefly. You want to make it personal, not go off on a tangent about you.

2. Answer all their questions

Don’t leave them wondering! For any event or situation, ensure that you give some context so the person can understand what you are trying to communicate. Make sure you’ve answered the five W’s: who, what, where, when, and why. Providing all information and necessary elements allows for better engagement and cuts down on the amount of back and forth, which busy professionals appreciate.

3. Formatting

While rushing to get an email out, you might forget or mess up an important aspect of the email formatting. Click here to double check you are including all of the nuts and bolts of an email, and that you are doing so in a professional manner. Moreover, you may wish to download Grammarly so that your spelling and grammar mistakes are always in check.

4. Remember the attachment(s)

A classic mistake that many people make is mentioning attachments in the body of the email, and then forgetting to actually attach them! Always double (triple) check that you’ve actually attached the documents, as this will save an extra back and forth exchange that may annoy the recipient.

Also, last but not least, review your email for tone and spelling mistakes. Your tone is important to convey as accurately as possible when exchanging emails because that is the only impression of you that they are receiving. The same goes for spelling mistakes!