Email Best Practices 2.0

Here are editing and proofreading tips that are better suited for email.

Do you reread your emails before sending them?

I didn’t for routine emails until I recently noticed more mistakes cropping up. Not so much spelling or grammar as leaving out whole words. Now I make it a habit to reread my outgoing email, even the short ones.

However, in researching this week’s best practice I was surprised to discover how I’m still missing errors – a simple rereading is not nearly as effective as I thought.

What works best for email?

I researched editing suggestions from both email experts and from print proofreaders/copyeditors. No lack of suggestions but most was too general from the email experts, and too arduous (for email) from the print media side.

So I came up with my own practical guide for editing outgoing email.

PRACTICAL EDITING TIPS TAILORED FOR EMAIL

Edit in two passes. That’s right – twice.

We use different parts of our brain to catch the two types of errors we all make. Simple rereading attempts to catch both at the same time, something experts say is not effective.

The two passes (simplified from conventional editing terms):

        Editing Pass – make it clear and concise.
        Proofreading Pass – check for typos and wrong words.

The Editing Pass (catch the big stuff)

This is the pass to say what you mean, and mean what you say.

1. What outcome do you want? Will your email achieve it?
2. Have you anticipated questions (to reduce unneeded replies)?
3. Does your email say what you want right up front?
4. If actions are required, do they stand out? Is it clear who should take them?
5. Are you sticking to the one topic per email best practice?
6. Does your Subject reflect your email content?
7. Are you as concise as you can be? Anything not contributing to your desired outcome should go. Be brutal.

The Proofreading Pass (catch the little stuff)

This time you are looking for spelling mistakes, typos, incorrect words.

1. The key is to go S L O W L Y, so slowly that you process every word, and your brain can’t auto-correct. Some editors suggest reading backwards or reading aloud. Just going word-for-word works well for me.
2. Be wary of headings. We tend not to see mistakes there.
3. Resist the temptation to rework anything – stick to correctness. If a semantic or order change is needed, do another editing pass.

Pause between writing and editing/sending

I’m a huge fan of this. My writing becomes infinitely clearer and much more concise when I edit the next day. We can’t afford to do this often, but waiting until tomorrow to edit important (or widely-distributed) emails really does work.

Isn’t this a lot of work?

No. It’s actually more efficient. It’s also easier than you think:

• Notice that the first five Editing Pass steps are simple best practices that with a little practice can easily be built into your writing process. The last two (fixing up the Subject and making it concise) are my two most common edit-time activities.
• For non-critical email when pressed for time, do the Editing pass and skip the Proofreading pass (and risk occasional misplaced words).