Netiquette IQ - The Email Viewing Pane

 

The email viewing pane

"A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed."

            —Henrik Ibsen

One way to grad an email recipient’s quick attention is to have a list of bullet points of 5-10 lines.  No more than these should be provided as the viewing pane is about this size.  This is the idea of presenting information “above the fold” in a physical letter.  Moreover, more items than this will possibly come across as an over embellishment.  Check out The Gregg Reference Manual http://www.mhhe.com/business/buscom/gregg/

Begin with a good format. Recommended formats included:

Numbers	Bullets	a)   Lower case letters
Make good	Make good	b)   Make good
List definers	List definers	c)   List definers

Check out http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/

When using any of these lists, lower case letters are best but capitalized letters are acceptable.  Just be consistent.  Similarly, be consistent with using fragment or complete sentences.  Use proper punctuation with complete sentences but no with fragments.  Too much punctuation is deleterious. [Show email page views]

Finally, maintain parallelism, i.e., if starting each item with a verb, keep it that way.  Lastly, maintain consistency with first, second or third person mood.

Other items which are normally useful within a viewing pane are power words.  Industry buzz words (insider shorthand).  Your best approach is to echo those words used in a job description.  Whatever you do, make sure you know the full definition of the buzzwords you are using.

Show two paragraphs – one with buzzwords and one without

Another item to consider for the viewing pane is to compliment the company for a significant achievement such as an Initial Public Offering (IPO), merger, new product or press release.  Follow this with a brief statement of wanting to be a contributing part of this success.

Populate the viewing window with power words (go to http://netiquetteiq.blogspot.com/ and click on resources)

When including attachments, be sure to use the PDF format so that your information will not be able to be edited.

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 In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, "Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County New Jersey.
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