Preface (Pendahuluan)

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"The best way that I am able to describe life is through a food analogy. Halo-Halo is a rather delicious Filippino shake-like drink that contains an assortment of ingredients including ice cream, jellies, crushed ice, and various other ingredients. This symphony of flavours plays a melody on your tongue, just like the different aspects of a well-lived, balanced, and righteous life combine to make life beautiful and invigorating. This blog aims to be spiritually strengthening, intellectually stimulating/informative, AND entertaining. Enjoy the 'mix-mix' of your halo-halo!" -CD Hall

24 Sept 2011

Tips for Successful Email Writing

I-The subject line must be:
1-Specific (e.g. meeting time, day, location, deadline date, topic)
2-Eye-catching-The receiver will be led to respond faster than normal

II-The subject line must not be:
1-Mistaken as junk mail and deleted
2-Blank
3-Messy


III-EOM (End of Message) technique alerts the recipient that you only want to use the subject line as your message:
"My mom's surgery is at 9am. We can Skype at that time. Cameron"
or "My mom's surgery is at 9am. We can Skype at that time. [end of message]"


IV-The attached documents should be properly named and often should be sent in multiple formats (e.g. pdf, doc) for the user's easy access to the files and ability to manipulate the documents with less likelihood of having to convert a file to the desired format.

V-Be aware that the memory space of some servers are rather full and large files may be rejected. Possible solutions are to inform the receiver or change the size of the file.

VI-If more than one file is attached, the attachments should be organised by level of importance.

VII-Inform the receiver that there are attachments in the email

VIII-Rather than having many topics lumped into one email, write multiple emails. This helps the counterparty organise his or her inbox, act upon every important task, and makes each email clearer for them AND you.

IX-Make sure you use the proper titles of respect for the addressee.

X-Involve all relevant parties in your email.
1-Think of this as a "gotong-royong" (cooperation) with bolding like this:
*Cameron: with his task
*Shanda: with her task
2-Recognise when communication should be done through a secretary.


XI-Try to estimate the schedule of when the receiver will check his or her inbox.
1-Remember time zones, public holidays, vacations, work schedules, work cultures, and user habits (e.g. Adam checking his personal email when he wakes up to eat breakfast).


XII-Specify desired further action to be completed by the receiver (e.g. phone call or follow-up appt.). Additionally, clarify what actions will be completed by you.

XIII-Copying and pasting chunks of information from other sources a.k.a. "print screen" is valuable for conveying information required in some emails.

XIV-Ensure that any links are hyperlinked for easy clicking functionality.

XV-Close with something like the following examples:
1-Best regards, BR, regards, sincerely, abundant love, much thanks, all the best, yang benar, dengan ikhlas, love, நேர்மையுடன், அன்புடன், etc.


XVI-Use the most attractive, clear, and appropriate fonts in the email (change the default font, if necessary)

XVII-Bullet points or numbering systems are useful

XVIII-Divider lines are a simple way to separate ideas and information for easier reading:
___________________________________________


XIX-Include your standardised contact information below your name at the bottom of the email
1-Specify the best method of contact, if necessary


XX-Reread your email to ensure accurancy in wording and satisfaction of structure.