BUSINESS EMAIL WRITING
Course Outline
A) Business writing style and key points (Core: City & Guilds)
• Key business writing points
• Using short, simple sentences and short paragraphs
• Sentence structure and variety
• Avoiding ‘jargon’, unusual terms, and made-up words
• Avoiding colloquial English
• Active voice vs. passive voice
• Talking action, non-use of qualifiers
• Talking about the business, not about you
• Using positive language
• Accentuating the positive (bad news first)
• Full capitalisation
• Emojis
• Additional language points
• Email features (Microsoft Outlook)
SECTION ACTIVITY
B) 7Cs of email communication - essential factors for good communication (Core: City & Guilds)
• The 7Cs of email communication
SECTION ACTIVITY
C) Organising emails - general organisational principles (Core: City & Guilds)
• Three general organisational principles
• Planning emails to appeal to readers
• Only including what is necessary
• Using shorter sentences
• Avoiding ambiguity
SECTION ACTIVITY
D) Getting messages read and acted on – emails to persuade and get results (Core: City & Guilds)
• Questions to consider before sending any email
• Choosing a suitable email address
• Checking how the name will appear to a recipient
• Composing subject lines from the recipient’s perspective
• Combining subject lines with preview pane
• Emails to new contacts
• Sending attachments
SECTION ACTIVITY
E) Effective techniques to start and to close emails (Core: City & Guilds)
• Email openings
• Subject lines
• Getting attention from subject lines
• Salutations
• Beginning with greeting + recipient’s name
• Replying to someone
• Opening lines (first sentence)
• Opening sentences to avoid
• Email closings
• Formatting email closings
• Closing line techniques to boost response rates
• Using recipient’s first name
• Call to action or next step
• Signing off with gratitude
• Closing phrases
SECTION ACTIVITY
F) Improving email effectiveness (Core: City & Guilds)
• Additional techniques to promote responses
• Getting responses for requested feedback
SECTION ACTIVITY
G) Responding to emails - effective professional responses
• Planning a reply
• Example responses
• Inserting answers in body of sender’s email
• Saying ‘thank you’
• Responding with feedback to others
• Getting clarifications and making suggestions
SECTION ACTIVITY
H) Request emails - making effective professional requests
• One request, or several?
• Using a final mini-summary for multiple requests
• Giving deadlines
• Motivating recipients to reply with empathy or compliments
SECTION ACTIVITY
BUSINESS EMAIL WRITING v.1.1
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I) Following up after no initial reply
• Follow-up emails after no response
• Steps for follow-up emails
• Increasing the chances of a reply
SECTION ACTIVITY
J) Replying to say 'no' - polite and effective negative responses
• Replying to say ‘no’
• Saying ‘no’ without actually saying ‘no’
• Clarify before saying ‘no’
• Beginning with empathy
• Using empathy words
• Explaining carefully
• Offering alternatives
• ‘Listening’ to messages and showing empathy
• Best efforts for solving issues
• Following up
SECTION ACTIVITY
K) Dealing with complaints
• HEARD technique for resolving complaints
• Replying to customer complaints
SECTION ACTIVITY
L) More persuasive writing
• Focusing on the reader
• Thinking about how an email might be interpreted
• Avoiding unnecessary, irritating remarks
• Adding a friendly phrase at the end
• Avoiding blaming others for unsatisfactory responses
• Formula for more persuasive writing - AIDA
SECTION ACTIVITY
M) Negotiation via email - discussions in writing
• Negotiation by email
• Common issues with email negotiation
• Practical tactics for email negotiation
SECTION ACTIVITY
BUSINESS EMAIL WRITING v.1.1
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ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
SECTION ACTIVITIES x 13
PRE-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES x 4
ASSESSMENT ACTIVIVITIES x 4
MINIMUM DELIVERY HOURS (All Sections): 14 TRAINING HOURS + Task / Assessment Time
BUSINESS EMAIL WRITING v.1.1
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