Subject Line
This is a clear, professional subject line for turning in a history paper.
What is "History Paper - Your Name - Period 3"?
A safe and professional way to start an email to a teacher or boss.
What is "Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name]," or "Hello [Name],"?
Writing an entire email using this type of letter case is considered shouting.
What is ALL CAPS?
You should always do this to your email text before hitting send to catch silly mistakes.
What is proofread or spellcheck?
"Can u send me the notes? Thx."
What is unprofessional?
An all-caps subject line that looks like this means you are doing this.
What is yelling or screaming at the reader?
Starting an email with this casual slang word is too informal for work.
What is "Hey", "Yo", or "Sup"?
Using too many of these punctuation marks shows intense emotion or anger.
What are exclamation points (!!!)?
Using these instead of giant walls of text makes your email easy to read.
What are short paragraphs or bullet points?
"Dear Professor Davis, attached is my essay for review. Thank you for your time."
What is professional?
Leaving this part of the email completely blank is a major sign of unprofessionalism.
What is the subject line?
A polite and standard phrase to use right before your name at the end of an email.
What is "Sincerely", "Best regards", or "Thank you"?
Blaming a coworker in writing instead of solving the problem shows a lack of this.
What is tact, professionalism, or emotional maturity?
Text-speak abbreviations like "idk", "brb", or "omg" belong here, not in a work email.
What is a text message?
What is unprofessional (threatening tone)?
This vague one-word subject line gives the reader no idea what the email is about.
What is "Hey", "Help", or "Important"?
Ending an email with just your nickname and no last name or context works only in this setting.
What is texting a close friend?
This type of humor can easily be misunderstood in writing and should be avoided with bosses.
What is sarcasm?
Using multiple colors, crazy fonts, and a loud background template makes an email look like this.
What is unprofessional or chaotic?
"Good morning team, please find the quarterly report attached below. Let me know if you have questions."
What is professional?
A professional subject line for asking your boss for a time change on Thursday's Project Review meeting.
What is "Meeting Request Reschedule: Thursday Project Review"?
Using "Hey guys" to address a professional group of mixed senior staff is an example of this.
What is being overly informal / unprofessional?
A professional way to say "I got your message, but you are wrong" without sounding rude.
What is "Thank you for the clarification; however, my records show..."?
Ignoring these basic structural rules makes the sender look careless.
What are capitalization and proper punctuation?
"OMG I can't believe the boss did that lol TTYL" (sent to a coworker using a work account).
What is unprofessional (and risky for job security)?