How to Write Effective Business and International Emails

Learn how to write effective business and international emails in 12 steps.

Photo by Amelia Bartlett on Unsplash

I used to help multinational companies and government agencies write emails when I lived in Japan.

During that time, I read hundreds of international emails that often led the people at these organizations to be confused, frustrated and ignored. While we all know that emails need to be free of spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes, they also need to be free of ambiguity and cross-cultural insensitivities that could lead to miscommunication, misinterpretations and misunderstandings.

That’s why it’s best to have a standardized process to writing emails that’s clear, courteous and complete.

In this post, I’m going to share how to write effective business and international emails in 12 steps.

Step 1. Decide the Tone

Your tone changes depending on who and why you’re emailing. For example, you might use a formal tone to contact a foreign counterpart, an informal tone for internal communication and a casual tone for collaborating on a project.

If you’re unsure which tone to use, consult your company’s content style guide. If your company doesn’t have a content style guide, mirror the tone of the person who emailed you first. If you’re the one emailing first, decide if the email should be formal, informal or casual.

Formal Tone

• For first emails, infrequent emails and recipients in a higher position
• Similar to a business letter
• Often used for requests, complaints, problems, apologies, etc.

Informal Tone

• For colleagues, internal communication and recipients that you know
• Professional, but friendlier and more relaxed
• Often used for internal communication and infrequent emails that are less formal

Casual Tone

• For frequent email correspondence with recipients that you know
• Conversational tone similar to a text message
• Might include a salutation
• Might be just a few sentences
• Might include compliments or pleasantries
• Brief closings and signatures

Step 2. Add a Salutation

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

Informal salutations like Hi [First Name] are common for establishing a friendly tone to greet recipients even when the email is formally written. Nevertheless, some companies still prefer Dear Mr. [Last Name] or Dear [First Name].

When finished, click the Enter/Return key twice for a line break.

Best Practices

• No space before punctuation
• One space after punctuation
• Use correct honorific titles (e.g. Mr., Ms., Dr.), if appropriate
• Use a colon when you don’t know the recipient’s name

Salutations (Formal)

• Dear Mr. [Last Name]
• Dear Ms. [Last Name]
• Dear [First Name]
• Dear All
• Dear Sir or Madam

Salutations (Informal)

• Hello [First Name]
• Hi [First Name]
• Hi Everyone
• Team
• Good Morning [First Name]

Salutations (Casual)

• Hi
• Hey [First Name]
• [First Name]
• No Salutation

Step 3. Introduce Yourself

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

If the recipient doesn’t know you or may have forgotten your name, introduce yourself. However, if the recipient already knows you, begin with a compliment or pleasantry. Write 1–2 short sentences such as, We haven’t spoken in a while. I hope you’re well.

When finished, click the Enter/Return key twice for a line break.

Best Practices

• Don’t indent
• 1–2 short sentences
• Be ultra-specific
• Use contractions ( e.g. I’m, isn’t, aren’t, don’t) for informal and casual emails

Introductions

• My name’s Miles Murphy. I’m contacting you about…
• My name’s Tim Sanders from the HR Department at XYZ. Thank you for the inquiry.
• This is [First and Last Name] from Customer Support.
• We met at the World Business Forum. My name’s…

Compliments and Pleasantries

• I really enjoyed your presentation last Friday. Well done!
• Thanks for the directions from Narita Airport. Those will be really helpful.
• We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience
• Welcome back! I hope you had a great vacation.
• Thank you for the prompt response

Step 4. State the Reason for Emailing

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

What’s the reason for the email? What should the recipient do or know? Are you providing new information, clarifying past information or following up? If you’re not sure why you’re emailing, the recipient won’t know either.

When finished, click the Enter/Return key twice for a line break.

Best Practices

• 1–5 short sentences
• 1 paragraph
• Aim for brevity
• Be polite, positive and ultra-specific
• Ensure pronouns (e.g. he, she, they) are understood

Reasons for Writing

• The reason I’m emailing is…
• I’m writing about…
• I’m writing to confirm…
• I have 3 questions about…
• I’m following up with you regarding…
• I wanted to follow up…
• I wanted to remind you that…
• Monday at 10 am PST is convenient for me
• Could you send me Akira Yamamoto’s email address?

Step 5. Provide More Details

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

What else should the recipient do or know? Provide those details here.

To make your message easy to read and to elicit a faster response, use headers with lists and transitions from paragraph-to-paragraph. Bold critical details. Keep the message focused. Less is ideal. More can be exhausting.

When finished, click the Enter/Return key twice for a line break.

Best Practices

• 5 (maximum) short sentences per paragraph
• 5 (maximum) paragraphs per email
• 1 idea per paragraph
• Write essential information in the first paragraph
• Write in active voice (e.g. Miles wrote the email)
• Don’t write in passive voice (e.g. The email was written by Miles)
• Use transitions from paragraph to paragraph
• Use headers to make the message more reader-friendly
• Bold headers or critical details
• Use numbered or bulleted lists to keep the message simple and scannable
• Avoid slang and excessive jargon
• Avoid language that could be interpreted as defamatory, sexist or racist
• Avoid emoji, emoticons and chatspeak (e.g. OMG, LOL, etc.)
• Avoid flashy fonts and unnecessary colors
• Use the Enter/Return key at the end of paragraphs, not the end of sentences
• Write clear, concise document titles with capital letters before attaching documents, images, etc.
• Introduce attachments by stating how many are included and their titles
• Use lists when including more than one attachment

Attachments

• Please find attached…
• I have attached…
• I have included 2 attachments for your trip to Los Angeles:
• Directions from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Agenda: Day 1

Step 6. Close the Message

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

If a response is expected, tell the recipient. A polite and common technique is to write, I look forward to…

If a response is not expected, thank the recipient for his/her time, suggest where to find additional information or provide a compliment or pleasantry.

When finished, click the Enter/Return key twice for a line break.

Best Practices

• 1–2 sentences

Response Expected (Formal)

• I look forward to hearing from you
• I look forward to your response
• I look forward to your feedback
• Let me know your opinion on this issue

Response Not Expected (Formal)

• Thank you very much
• Thanks for your assistance
• Please let me know if you have any questions
• Let me know if you need anything else. I’m glad to help.

Response Expected (Informal)

• Let me know if that helps
• I hope to hear from you soon
• Could you let me know by 5:00 pm today?
• Looking forward to hearing your opinion

Response Not Expected (Informal)

• Thanks for your help
• I hope that helps
• Have a nice day
• Have a good one

Response Expected (Casual)

• Any suggestions?
• What do you think?
• Speak to you soon

Response Not Expected (Casual)

• Cheers
• Thanks
• Good luck

Step 7. Add a Valediction

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

Choose a valediction that matches your tone. If you’re writing a formal email, you might sign-off with Best regards. If you’re writing an informal email, you might sign-off with Regards. However, if you’re writing a casual email, using Cheers or Thanks from Step 6 might already be enough. In that case, you don’t need to add anything else.

When finished, click the Enter/Return key once for a line break. Some people prefer two line breaks between the closing and signatures. Both are commonly accepted.

Sign-Offs (Formal)

• Sincerely
• Cordially
• Respectfully
• Best regards
• Warm regards
• All the best

Sign-Offs (Informal)

• Regards
• Thanks
• Best
• Take care
• See you soon

Sign-Offs (Casual)

• Cheers
• Thanks
• Thanks again

Step 8. Add Your Signature

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

Just as the tone of your emails will change depending on who and why you’re emailing, the signature should also change if you’re contacting someone for the first time, if the email is formal, informal or casual.

Best Practices

• Have at least 4 signatures to select from — first contact, formal, informal and casual
• Indicate your last name in capital letters (MURPHY) since some cultures order last names differently
• Indicate your gender (Mr.) or (Ms.) if the recipient might be unfamiliar with your name. Even in English, Chris (short for Christopher — male) and Chris (short for Christina — female) can be confusing.
• If you communicate with a recipient frequently, you may want to create a shorthand signature that also conveys how you’d like the recipient to address you. For example, Tomohiro Sato may sign his first name (Tomohiro) or just his short name (Tomo).

Signature (First Contact)

• First Name and LAST NAME (Mr./Ms.)
• Position or Department
• Company Name
• Contact Numbers (include country code)
• Website

Signature (Formal)

• First Name and LAST NAME
• Position or Department
• Company Name
• Contact Numbers (including country code)
• Website

Signature (Informal)

• First Name and Last Name
• Company Name
• Contact Numbers (include country code)

Signature (Casual)

• First Name or Short Name
• Company Name

Step 9. Add a Subject

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

Summarize the message with a few keywords to convey the urgency of the email like a newspaper headline.

Best Practices

• 3- 5 keywords from the message
• Capitalize words, but don’t write in all CAPS
• Replace articles (a, an, the), prepositions (in, on, at) and conjunctions (and, but) with dashes (–) or slashes (/)
• Turn subjects into questions by adding a question mark

Subject Lines

• Download — XYZ Style Guide
• Out of Office/October 8–9
• Canceled — Thursday HR Meeting
• Friday Lunch — 1:00 PM?

Step 10. Proofread the Email

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

Did you spell the recipient’s name and company correctly? Are there spelling or grammatical mistakes? Is there any sentence that needs to be revised or deleted? Is the message clear, complete and concise? Is it error-free?

For more help, read my post on proofreading business emails.

Step 11. Add the Recipient’s Email Address

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

Enter the recipient’s email address. By adding the address at the end of the message, you reduce the possibility of accidentally sending the email too soon or to the wrong person.

Step 12. Send the Email

Image by Jeff Shibasaki / Culture Gaps

Click the send button.

While these steps may initially seem like a lot of work, once you begin following them, you’ll start to compose emails more quickly because you’ll an effective system.

Final Thoughts

You just learned how to write effective business and international emails. Share these steps with your colleagues, so everyone has a standardized process for writing better international emails.