Why writing shorter emails has big benefits

Starting with structure

A short email is the best reason to read it. Ultimately, we want students to feel instantly good about their choice to open your email.

The following techniques will help you organise your writing:

• Short paragraphs — composing paragraphs of 2-3 sentences creates more white space, giving the reader a moment to pause and rest before moving to the next piece of information. Long paragraphs tend to make the space appear overcrowded and overwhelm the reader with too much information.
   
• Number and bullet lists — help students understand the substance of background information by breaking it down into a list.
   
• Headings — use headings in bold to direct students to specific sections of information. It is also a nice way of helping the reader prioritise information by making it quick and easy to find.

Plain English

Plain English makes your writing accessible, clear, concise, and valuable to readers. Your audience – like most of us – are bombarded with constant information from our screens, so understanding information quickly helps us get to our next email, Teams chat or website.

You will also benefit from using plain English as the easier your message is to understand the fewer queries you will receive — it’s a win-win!

Making your first sentence stand out

People spend most of their time reading information at the top of the page and that is why your first sentence must contain the most important piece of information.

If possible, let students know what you need in the first sentence by answering the 4Ws: who, what, when, where, and why.

Ultimately,  short emails help reduce scrolling…and I don’t know about you, but when I’m reading a long email my scrolling speed increases so I am skim reading at best.

Review your writing

Take a moment to pause and read your email.

Check that the important information the reader needs to know and act on is placed near the top.

You might find words or phrases that can be deleted or additional information that could be simply linked to (weblink), for those interested.