To: Evan Crisp, UBC Student
From: Aman Johal, ENGL 301 Student
Date: March 22, 2023
Subject: Best Practices for Writing Professional Emails
Hello Evan,
Thank you for enlisting the advice of ENGL 301 students to provide advice on crafting an e-mail to a professor using best practices. Here are some suggestions which are useful in ensuring a timely response and the best possible outcome.
Best practices for writing emails to professors include:
• Using a professional or school e-mail address
• Using appropriate titles such as “Professor” or “Dr.” to ensure a respectful tone
• Emails structured with an introduction, body, and conclusion to improve readability
• A brief introduction to explain the purpose of writing to convey sincerity
• Requests made with practical justifications and without personal preferences are more likely to garner empathy from the reader
• Emails written with the perspective of the reader helps increase a favourable response to a request, how can the request potentially benefit them
• Keeping a flexible and accommodating attitude to shows that working together can lead to a mutually beneficial solution
• Expressing appreciation for the professor’s time and consideration, and appreciation for their time and hard work of teaching
• Formal sign off with full name and contact details encourages a response and increases formality
These practices are quite helpful in creating a professional and polite email directed to a staff member at the university. Please email me at ajohal21@gmail.com if you have any questions.
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