To: Evan Crisp, UBC student
From: Syed Ahmed, ENGL 301 student
Date: November 20, 2020
Subject: Writing to your professor.
I appreciate you reaching out to the ENGL301 class for advice on the matter of an unreturned email to your professor. Even though, email is the easiest way to communicate with professors, it is an indirect medium and email messages can often go unread or ignored. It can be very frustrating not to hear back from professors, especially on matters that affect a student’s academic progress. The following strategies are part of the “Writing with the YOU-attitude” method. They increase the likelihood that we receive a favorable response to our written correspondence:
Adding a subject line: A subject line is visible to the receiver even when they haven’t clicked on the message. It makes it easier for the reader to understand the purpose of the email which makes it harder to ignore. By providing context into the purpose of the email, subject lines make the body of the email easier to comprehend, offering a courtesy to the reader.
Using institutional email address: It is a good idea to use institutional email addresses for professional/university correspondence. Seeing that the email comes from a university student email account, the professors are more likely to read them. Emails from unknown email addresses are regarded to have less importance due to the high volume of spam, irrelevant and non-useful content they contain.
Proper salutation: Emails should begin with a proper and courteous salutation. Even though we can’t see the person on the receiving end of our email, they should be addressed with the same rank and respect we afford them in person. Using salutations such as: “Dear Professor X”, “Dear X” and “Hello Professor X” are a good way to start off your correspondence on the right foot.
Protecting the ego of the reader: Remaining respectful and courteous towards the reader, especially when making a request of them, increases your chances of a favourable response. This includes not framing the request using imperatives as that limits the freedom of the reader and is liable to annoy them. The use of the words “you” or “your” should be avoided in the body of the email as that can set an accusatory or confrontational tone. Furthermore, if the relationship with the reader is formal or semi-formal, the style of writing should reflect that.
Express appreciation for your reader: Expressing appreciation of the reader sets a positive tone creating a virtuous positive-feedback cycle. Positivity begets positivity. This includes avoiding issuing ultimatums to your reader, for example, demanding a favourable response within a few hours of the email being sent sets a very high expectation of the reader and limits their freedom.
Understand human nature: Email exchanges can feel depersonalized as our immediate interaction is with a computer terminal. The impersonal aspect of emails can trick us into forgetting that there is a human being on the other side and lead us into making rhetorical decisions we wouldn’t make otherwise. It is useful to remember that a message that is courteous and expresses appreciation of the reader will be viewed more favourably by them. A courteous message includes not using shorthand, spell-checking to remove typos and using proper punctuation in our writing. As the saying goes, “courtesy costs nothing but buys everything”. Offering your goodwill to the reader only encourages the reader to reciprocate that sentiment.
Incorporating the strategies above may take some effort and patience at first but it pays back manifold by making our written correspondence more effective and compelling. You may experiment with these strategies and others listed in the “Writing with a YOU-attitude” booklet and check if they have a positive impact on your written correspondence. Write to me at syedw@student.ubc.ca if you want to discuss this further.
Leave a Reply