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A South African facilitator leads a small business writing workshop as adult staff review email drafts on laptops in a b

How to Write Clearer Business Emails Quickly

Most office email goes wrong in the first line. People write a long opening and bury the request. At Kantoorkuns Training in Bryanston, we teach staff to put the ask first and the reason second. Keep sentences short. Use one idea per paragraph. Read the email aloud before you send it.
If the reader has to read your email twice, it was not clear the first time. Charlene Adams
A good subject line saves everyone time. Add a date or an action word, like Reply by Friday. Then end with one simple next step.
South African woman facilitator holding an open workbook and pen beside a whiteboard covered in blurred workshop sticky
Corporate training table set up with plain programme workbooks, notepads, pens, sticky notes and coffee cups before a wo

Start with the request

Tell the reader what you need in the first two lines. A manager in Sandton may read forty emails before lunch. If the request is clear, you will get a faster answer and fewer follow-up calls.

Make every email easy to act on

Name the person who must act and give a date. Use a short list when there are several points. Cut any sentence that does not help the reader decide or do something.

4 Comments

  1. I really enjoyed this post. We used the tips with our sales team in Sandton and saw results within a month. Very useful.

  2. Practical and clear. The advice on training new managers is exactly what our HR team needed. Thank you for sharing it with other South African businesses.

  3. Helpful ideas on getting staff to finish training. We have already shared this article with our team leaders in Bryanston. Well done to the whole team.

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