Useful Business English Phrases
Useful Business English Phrases
Useful Business English Phrases
It is important that whether for business or personal use that you follow the basics of email
etiquette. This document covers for you the top tips for email etiquette that everyone needs to be
aware of and follow. By doing so you will be a joy to communicate with while being perceived
as a caring and intelligent human being.
Sending Emails
1. Make sure your e-mail includes a courteous greeting and closing. Helps to make your e-
mail not seem demanding or terse.
2. Address your contact with the appropriate level of formality and make sure you spelled
their name correctly.
3. Spell check - emails with typos are simply not taken as seriously.
4. Read your email out loud to ensure the tone is that which you desire. Try to avoid
relying on formatting for emphasis; rather choose the words that reflect your meaning
instead. A few additions of the words "please" and "thank you" go a long way!
5. Be sure you are including all relevant details or information necessary to understand
your request or point of view. Generalities can many times causing confusion and
unnecessary back and forths.
6. Are you using proper sentence structure? First word capitalized with appropriate
punctuation? Multiple instances of !!! or ??? are perceived as rude or condescending.
7. If your email is emotionally charged, walk away from the computer and wait to reply.
Review the Sender's email again so that you are sure you are not reading anything into
the email that simply isn't there.
8. If sending attachments, did you ask first when would be the best time to send? Did you
check file size to make sure you don't fill the other side's inbox causing all subsequent e-
mail to bounce?
9. Refrain from using the Reply to All feature to give your opinion to those who may not be
interested. In most cases replying to the Sender alone is your best course of action.
10. Make one last check that the address or addresses in the To: field are those you wish to
send your reply to.
11. Be sure your name is reflected properly in the From: field. Jane A. Doe (not jane, jane
doe or JANE DOE).
12. Type in complete sentences. To type random phrases or cryptic thoughts does not lend to
clear communication.
13. Never assume the intent of an email. If you are not sure -- ask so as to avoid unnecessary
misunderstandings.
14. Just because someone doesn't ask for a response doesn't mean you ignore them. Always
acknowledge emails from those you know in a timely manner.
15. Be sure the Subject: field accurately reflects the content of your email.
16. Don't hesitate to say thank you, how are you, or appreciate your help!
17. Keep emails brief and to the point. Save long conversations for the old fashioned
telephone.
18. Always end your emails with "Thank you," "Sincerely," "Take it easy," "Best regards" -
something!
Formatting Emails
19. Do not type in all caps. That's yelling or reflects shouting emphasis.
20. If you bold your type, know you are bolding your statement and it will be taken that way
by the other side - X10!
21. Do not use patterned backgrounds. Makes your email harder to read.
22. Stay away from fancy-schmancy fonts -- only the standard fonts are on all computers.
23. Use emoticons sparingly to ensure your tone and intent are clear.
24. Typing your emails in all small case gives the perception of lack of education or
laziness.
25. Refrain from using multiple font colors in one email. It makes your email harder to view
and can add to your intent being misinterpreted.
26. Use formatting sparingly. Instead try to rely on choosing the most accurate words
possible to reflect your tone and avoid misunderstandings in the process.
Email Attachments
27. When sending large attachments, always "zip" or compress them before sending.
28. Never send large attachments without notice! Always ask what would be the best time to
send them first.
29. Learn how to resample or resize graphics to about 600 pixels in width before attaching
them to an email. This will greatly reduce download time.
30. Never open an attachment from someone you don't know.
31. Be sure your virus, adware and spyware programs are up to date and include scanning of
your emails and attachments both incoming and outgoing.
32. It is better to spread multiple attachments over several emails rather than attaching them
all to one email to avoid clogging the pipeline.
33. Make sure the other side has the same software as you before sending attachments or
they may not be able to open your attachment. Use PDF when possible.
Email Forwarding
44. Don't forward emails that say to do so--no matter how noble the cause may be. Most are
hoaxes or hooey and may not be appreciated by those you send to.
45. If someone asks you to refrain from forwarding emails they have that right and you
shouldn't get mad or take it personally.
46. When forwarding email, if you cannot take the time to type a personal comment to the
person you are forwarding to--then don't bother.
47. Don't forward anything without editing out all the forwarding >>>>, other email
addresses, headers and commentary from all the other forwarders.
48. If you must forward to more than one person, put your email address in the TO: field and
all the others you are sending to in the BCc: field to protect their email address from
being published to those they do not know. This is a serious privacy issue!
49. Be careful when forwarding email on political or controversial issues. The recipient may
not appreciate your POV.
Business Email
59. Think of your business email as though it was on your business letterhead and you'll
never go wrong!
60. If you cannot respond to an email promptly, at the very least email back confirming your
receipt and when the sender can expect your response.
61. Emailing site owners about your product or service through the site form is still spam.
Ask them if they want more info first!
62. When replying to emails always respond promptly and edit out unnecessary information
from the post you are responding to.
63. Formality is in place as a courtesy and reflects respect. Assume the highest level of
formality with new email contacts until the relationship dictates otherwise. Refrain from
getting too informal too soon in your email communications.
64. Never send anyone an email they need to unsubscribe from when they didn't subscribe in
the first place!
65. Be very careful how you use Reply to All and Cc: in a business environment. Doing so
for CYA or to subtlety tattle can backfire and have your viewed as petty or insecure.
66. When replying to an email with multiple recipients noted in the To: or Cc: fields, remove
the addresses of those who your reply does not apply to.
67. Never send business attachments outside of business hours and confirm that the format
in which you can send can be opened by the other side.
IM, Blackberry
68. With IM and Chat, try not to be overly cryptic or your meaning can be misread.
69. Use Instant Messaging (IM) for casual topics or informational briefs. IM is not the place
for serious topics or confrontational issues.
70. Start by always asking if the person you are IMing is available and if it is a good time to
chat. Refrain from IMing during meetings or when your attention is required.
71. Practice communicating briefly and succinctly.
72. Use IM for casual topics or informational briefs. Serious topics are not for IM.
73. IMing is not an excuse to forget your grade school education.
74. If you are not a smooth multi-tasker, do not continue multiple IM sessions and leave
folks hanging while you communicate with others.
75. Learn how to use the features of your IM program. Specifically your "busy" and "away"
message features.
76. Never IM under an alias to take a peek at friends' or associates' activities.
77. Take into consideration who you are communicating with to determine the acronyms and
emoticons that should be used - if at all.
Email Considerations...
88. Before getting upset because you perceive someone didn't respond, check to see if their
reply was inadvertently deleted or sent to your Trash or Junk folder.
89. With emotionally charged emails, wait until the next morning to see if you feel the same
before clicking Send.
90. Feel free to modify the Subject: field to more accurately reflect a conversation's
direction.
91. When it comes to your email communications, know who you can trust; trust only those
you know.
92. Take the time to review each email before clicking Send to ensure your message is clear
and you are relaying the tone that you desire.
93. Never use an old email to hit reply and start typing about an entirely new topic.
94. Regardless of how noble a forwarded email may be, don't just forward without
investigating its authenticity @ Snopes.com.
95. Always add the email addresses of Web sites and new contacts immediately to your
approved senders or address book so they get through Spam filters.
96. Before completing a Web site's Contact form; make an effort to review the site to be sure
the information you seek is not already available.
97. Take a quick look at the e-mails in your Trash before you delete them just in case a good
e-mail landed there by mistake.
98. If any email states to forward to all your friends, or just 5 people -- do everyone a favor
and just hit delete!
99. Don't mass e-mail people who didn't ask to be on your personal "mailing list".
100. Double check that your adware, spyware and virus programs are set to
automatically update at least once each week so the software knows what to protect you
from.
101. And finally... Type unto others as you would have them type unto you!
- make a phone call rather than write an email. This is particularly effective if you only want a
quick piece of information
- only send an email to the people who need to see it. Don't automatically click "reply to all" if
only one or two people need to read your message.
- don't take part in chain emails (when you have to forward something on to five of your best
friends, for example)
- don't reply to spam
- For acquaintances
Use "Dear Mr Jones" / "Dear Ms Jones" if you know the name of the person. Like with letters,
use Ms instead of Miss or Mrs.
- Formal emails
If you don't know the name of the person, you can write "Dear Sir", "Dear Madam" or "Dear Sir /
Madam".
If you are writing to a group of people who work in the same company or department, you could
write "Dear All", "Dear colleagues", or "Hello everyone".
- No greeting
Often in companies, you write quick emails to colleagues. Using email in this way is almost like
using the telephone. In these situations, you don't need to write any greeting or name, but just
start the message.
3. Referring to an attachment
4. Changing plans
Your first sentence should only have one theme. For example, your reason for writing may be to
ask for help, or to share some information, or to ask a question. Your first sentence for these
different situations could be:
If you have more than one reason for writing, give each reason its own paragraph. It doesn't
matter if your paragraph is only one line long. In fact, the extra space helps your reader to
understand you have more than one reason for writing, and that each reason is different from
the other.
Hi Jo
Just wanted to let you know we got the project! They're signing tomorrow, so we should be
starting the planning next week.
Regarding your presentation to them last year, do you still have the powerpoint files?
Thanks
In my view, To me,
I realize I understand
I imagine I feel
Giving Examples
as like
that is namely
To illustrate To paraphrase
Comparing
Similar to As...as
in common also
Just as resemble
Contrasting
However, But
Although Though
Otherwise Instead
Generalizing
Essentially, As a rule,
Expressing Certainty
Certainly, Undoubtedly,
Doubtless, No doubt,
Definitely, Of course,
Up to a point, Almost,
In a way, So to speak,
Showing cause
Due to Because
Because of Owing to
Showing effect
Therefore, As a result,
Thus, So,
thereby Eventually,
Marking time
First, Last
Second, Lastly,
Third, Then,
Secondly, Before
Thirdly, After
During While
Since Meanwhile
When As soon as
Adding Information
Furthermore In addition
Also And
Moreover Similarly
Likewise As well as
Besides Too
Expressing condition
If Whether
In case Unless
Provided that So that
Concluding
To summarize In conclusion
Lastly, Finally,