To: Evan Crisp, UBC Student
From: Connor Runnalls, ENGL 301 student
Date: November 22, 2019
Subject: Writing Practices
Introduction:
Good evening Evan, Thank you for reaching out to ENGL 301, Technical Writing, for help in this matter. As per your email request with regards to reaching Professor Lambert through email, attached below is a list of suggested modifications to your original email. Hopefully, with the incorporation of these recommendations, your professor will respond to your requests.
Suggestions:
- Creating a more professional email that incorporates first and last name, or a school-issued email, will alert the professor who is emailing, as well as decrease chances of the email being immediately deleted, or sent straight to junk mail.
- Adding a subject line will further provide information on the premise of the email, as well as allow for organization or allow for the email to be tracked down if it was missed.
- Addressing your professor by either “Professor Lambert”, or “Dr. Lambert” establishes a level of professionalism in the email, as opposed to beginning with “Hey There”
- Writing with proper grammar, and sentence structure is beneficial for any professional email
- Avoid imperative statements. The withdrawal of imperatives alleviates a conveyed condescending message and typically elicits a more positive response.
- Demonstrate why this course seat is important to you. If a seat in that class is something that is crucial for your graduation, even if it is simply for the credits, that is more likely to garner a positive reaction due to your motivations, than asking for a seat simply because it is more convenient.
- Express your appreciation of the time that the reader, in this case, Professor Lambert, has taken to consider your request and their efforts that they have put into assessing how it can be made possible.
- Eliminate unnecessary details that do not pertain to the issue at hand such as going to the beach.
- Sign off the email in a manner that, once again, thanks them for their time, and provide a signature to formally close the email.
Conclusion
By adopting the you-attitude in communication, there is an increased level of professionalism, and with it, a level of respect given by the reader. A final tip is to take the perspective of the reader when reviewing a message to ensure that it is as positive and sincere as it can be. IF there are any further questions, please feel free to contact me at connor.runnalls@gmail.com. Best of luck in further communications with your professor.
Leave a Reply