I. Introduction: The Problem With Email
A. What to expect in this course.
B. How much time do you spend on email?
C. What can be done?
D. True communication.
E. The devil's in the details.
F. Course objectives.

II. Lesson 1: The Best Uses for Business Email
A. Make sure everyone is informed
a. Reminders of meetings
b. Personnel changes
c. Policy reminders or changes
B. Routine requests
a. Request for information
b. Request to perform routine actions
C. Answer a routine question
a. Answer emails
D. Document an interaction
a. Meetings
b. Phone or conference calls
c. In-person requests
E. Other uses for business email
a. Email for people separated by time and distance?
b. Email restrictions
c. Poor uses of email
F. Lesson 1 Quiz

III. Lesson 2: Identify an Effective Email
A. What gets an email noticed promptly?
b. A good email reputation
c. The email category
d. The email’s subject line
B. What gets an email opened promptly?
a. Its relevance to the recipient.
b. The To, CC, and BCC lines
C. What gets an email read promptly?
a. It’s short.
b. Its purpose is clear, in the first sentence.
c. Its reason is clear, in the second sentence.
d. Its relevance to the reader is clear throughout.
D. What gets an email acted upon promptly?
a. Need for or expectation of an answer is explicit
b. Action and timeframe is explicit
c. Tone is respectful
d. Message contains opening and closing
e. Asks for help, as appropriate
f. Uses formal writing and is free of jargon
g. Free of errors
h. Message contains all needed attachments, links, information to complete action
E. Exercise: Identify email problems and how to correct them
F. Lesson 2 Quiz

IV. Lesson 3: Learn How To Write an Effective Email
A. Effective subject lines get noticed promptly:
a. Effective subject line strategies:
i. Use action words
ii. Provide specific detail, but not all
iii. Include a deadline for requests
B. Exercise: Subject line writing practice
C. An email sent to the right audience gets opened:
a. Ask yourself questions about the audience
i. “Must know” vs. “nice to know”
ii. Their scope of responsibility
iii. Their knowledge of the subject
iv. Their attitude toward the subject
b. Research your audience if necessary
D. Exercise: Understand your audience using the Audience Analysis Worksheet
E. Learn to write an email body that gets read
a. Write an explicit request for action (first sentence)
b. Exercise: Write an effective first sentence
c. Exercise: Write an effective second sentence
F. Learn to write an email that gets acted upon
a. Make explicit the need for a response
b. Include action items and timeframes in first sentence
c. Make sure tone is respectful and not demanding
d. Include a personal closing
e. Proofread for jargon, unexplained acronyms, spelling and grammatical errors.
G. Exercise: Write a sentence with an explicit 'ask'

V. Final Quiz & Closing Thoughts
A. Final Quiz
B. Closing Thoughts
C. References

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