When I teach writing courses to business professionals, I often get asked questions about the “rules” for writing e-mails. These students want to communicate professionally, which is why they are in my classes, and this includes how they present themselves and deliver their content in e-mails.
In response to the question about e-mail “rules,” I answer that I don’t know of any. What I do offer, however, are guidelines for business and personal letters, modified for the e-mail format. These guidelines follow two basic principles.
1. Business e-mails and personal e-mails serve different purposes.
2. Business e-mails are formal correspondences.
With these two principles in mind, here are 6 guidelines for writing e-mail.
