Professional Email Format

IGNIS 2018 Resource 1
Professional Email Format
Did I Miss Anything Important: Teaching Your Students to Communicate Professionally
Ellen Bremen
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1. Professional Email Format (PEF)*

Though we may not be aware, we are constantly changing our ways of communicating based on the
people we’re around and the situations we are in. Let’s take email as an example. In an email to a friend,
I might use a casual, familiar tone, and in an email to my boss, I might use a more professional, respectful
tone.

Emailing an instructor is similar to emailing one’s boss. You wouldn’t necessarily use the same tone with
your boss that you would use with your friends. Understanding this difference and learning how to
communicate appropriately in certain situations is one of the many keys to your success in the academic
world and in the workplace.

By the time you get to English 205, I expect you to be a strong professional communicator. However, I
often receive messages and emails that are difficult to decipher because they are written in a texting
shorthand or without any attempt at editing. So, this is a good opportunity for you to practice strong,
professional communication. Like most faculty at Highline, I expect all emails from you to be sent in
Professional Email Format (PEF):

1. Write a detailed subject line that includes the following information
□ Course name
□ A few words describing the content of the email (e.g., Need help with paraphrasing)

2. Determine what your instructor prefers to be called
□ Ms., Mrs., Mr., Dr., Professor, or by first name (For our class, I prefer to be called by my first
name, Ellen.)

3. Begin every email with a greeting
□ Dear __________,
□ Hello __________,

4. State your purpose for emailing (why and about what are you emailing me?)
□ If you are having a problem, describe what you’ve already done to try and solve the problem
and what help you still need

5. Write correctly
□ Use complete sentences
□ Use correct punctuation
□ Use standard capitalization
□ Use correct spelling

6. End every email with a closing that includes your first name and last name. (Do not assume that I
know who you are or which class you are in, especially since all of my classes are online).
□ Sincerely, __________
□ All the best, __________
□ Thank you, ___________

Note: I will only reply to emails that are sent in PEF, meaning that they meet all of the aforementioned
requirements. Emails not in PEF will be returned with a friendly note, reading “Please resend this
message in PEF, so I may help you more effectively.”

* Professional Email Format document borrowed from Matt Schwisow, Monica Lemoine, and Jennifer Heckler