Fully understanding the etiquette of emailing may seem a daunting task, and indeed it is one of the most challenging endeavors you may face in the office world. However, there is no better time to start than as a young, eager intern, fresh off the educational mill. Again, being a version of the latter myself, I am far from an expert, but I hope that my small store of knowledge might help guide the even younger, more eager and more fresh intern as he or she paddles through the often rough waters of Outlook.
I will begin with how to close an email. A rather strange place to start, I suppose, but I choose it because it is both crucial for any effective email user and a highly interesting and pertinent topic for discussion.
There are numerous options for closing emails, each with its own tone, intention, mood, and character. (list is in no particular order).
Many thanks
Thank you
Thanks
Thanks in advance
Thanks again
Tks
Tx
Best
Best wishes
Best regards
All the best
Regards
Rgds
Rgd
Kind regards
Warm regards
Warmest regards
Kind wishes
Cheers
Sincerely
Warmly
Yours sincerely
Yours faithfully
Have a good (great) weekend; Have a good (great) evening; Have a good (great) day; Have a good (great) afternoon; Have a good (great) morning; Have a good (great) Friday.
Blahblahblahblah…..et cetera.
Note: If you are feeling really adventurous, you can also try inventing your own closing! Here are just a few ideas to get your brain ticking:
Try abbreviating “Best” to “bst,” or “Best wishes” to “bstwshs.”
Or try combinations of tried and true closings: “Several thanks,” “Cheerful regards,” Sincerest cheers,” “Cheers to you,” “Kind thanks,” “Many kind thanks,” “Very kind regards,” “Joyful wishes,” “Much warmth,” “More of the best.”
As you can see, possibilities abound.
You may be surprised, but if you google “how to close an email” there are plenty of serious stuff guides floating around out there. Some of the useful advice you might stumble upon includes, treasures like the following:
“As with anything to do with email, use your discretion as to what is best for that particular message. For example, you wouldn’t use “I remain yours truly” in business communications, but you would use that closing with someone you admire, like, or would like to have a friendly email relationship with.”
Actually, I had a bunch of notes to make my own guide, but I was getting so bored making it that I think it would probably be intolerable to read. So I will digress. Digress to the impressive progress that has been going on all around me in the email world. A few months ago, a small swarm of new interns arrived at work. Fresh from classrooms, lecture halls and vacations in Thailand they were hardly well prepared for the high professionalism that permeates office culture. This feeble attempt at an email guide might really have been useful when they first placed fingers to keyboard on day one. Now though, I think it is largely superfluous as the young ducklings have evolved from overly enthusiastic novices into sophisticated word smiths, crafting emails with as much finesse as the oldest hand in the building. Somehow we all progress from normal human-like emails to ones that include a plethora of phrases like “would you kindly…” and “a gentle reminder that….” Email endings all somehow gravitate to “Many Thanks” or “Kind Regards” (probably the unofficial favorites in our office. I try to spice it up with the occasional ”Thank you”[1] or “All the Best”)
Basically, moral of this story is that a full email guide is too boring to write or read and it will now end prematurely.
[1] For those of you considering adding Thank You to your email closing repertoire: Thank You says ‘I’m not in such a rush that all I can squeeze out is a Thanks, but, at the same time, I’m confident enough to go with vanilla’ – basic, best, all-time favourite that never goes out of style. Like wearing jeans. Says ‘I’m confident enough to say it without superfluous embellishments, or filigreed flourishes.
tararachael 