Better online communication part 1

Email. Rapidly becoming the most used form of communication. Still the killer app of the net after its birth over 30 years ago. (Yes, you read that right... 30 years!)

But how many of us can actually use it appropriately? Maybe our emails are not as effective as we think. Only a small proportion of our communication has reached its full potential. This 2-part post explains our hints for better online messaging.

So here we go, at risk of eliciting cries of "Physician, heal thyself..."

1) Stick to one subject per email.
Otherwise you can create a filing headache for your recipient - especially when mixing business and pleasure.

2) Give your email a succinct, descriptive subject line.
After many years of furious sending and receiving, mailboxes can become stuffed with messages bearing titles like: "Re: [10] Hello" - which seems ok at the time - until you need to find a particular message, months later. Turning up the one you had in mind, in the middle of that lot, can cause more heart palpitations than an English breakfast and solid coffee. Even with intelligent search functions around, there can be hundreds of messages to sort through to find "that one that talked about the thing for so-and-so." One appropriate description at the top of your missive can add days to somebody's life (probably) and endear you to them many years down the line (definitely.)

3) Label your emotions.
Email's lack of cues that, ordinarily, body language or tone of voice would give to the recipient, can result in extraordinary miscommunications, which are the first wedge in the splitting of many a relationship. Irony and dry wit can enrich communication and understanding offline, but online they can easily be taken literally. Additionally, by way of a different extreme example, lack of emotion in email can seem like pure cold-bloodedness to the addressee. There are only 2 ways to prevent this - to use stage directions for yourself (for example "Your time-keeping is, as always, impeccable [smile]") or the ubiquitous smiley- in this case, an indicator of brazen cheek: ("How dare you call me tardy :-P".) Other than in serious or old-school business situations, the casual linguistics which have evolved through email are very forgiving of such informalities. Email beginners may find it irksome or odd, but, as any ex-pat will tell you, foreign customs that seem to fit like a wooden suit at first must be learned and practised to maintain relationships. Eventually they become like old, comfy, utilitarian jeans.

4) If sending an HTML email, give a text-only alternative
Some emails now use HTML to change fonts, colours and embed tables and photos. This gives them the appearance of web pages and is effective for branding and skim-reading purposes. However, it's a nightmare for accessibility. Once an email is forwarded it can break or lose its formatting, and not every mail application or device (such as the new breed of smartphones) can read HTML email. If you are advanced enough with your email to use such a feature, make sure that the email reads as you intend it to when all the HTML is stripped away. Also, (at risk of sounding like a schoolteacher looking over horn-rimmed glasses,) make sure the code produced is written according to proper HTML standards. Or you'll get into trouble.

Next post: How to know whether somebody's got your email, best foot forwarding and the perils of gossip.