Blog Post 2
Dear Blog,
I recently watch a video of a speech by Steve Jobs where he talks about writing a professional
email. I personally have not had to write many professional emails in my lifetime, so I have never
bothered to master professional email etiquette. As I start looking for internships and, later, a real job, I
know I will have to eventually learn how to properly construct a business email. Mr. Jobs’ speech gave
me a lot of good insight on where to start. The biggest part of his speech that stood out to me was that
we should have one purpose while writing a business email.
Thinking about how I’ve written in the past, I often try to cover two or more topics in the same
email so I can get everything out of the way. Oftentimes, the response to my email only addresses a few
of the topics I mentioned. I assume when I send multiple topics in one email, it would be easy to gloss
over a few of them. If I sent each topic as a different email, I would have a higher chance of getting a
response because it would be easier to keep track of which questions have already been answered. This
template I found is a good example of staying on top and keeping the email concise.
Another part of his speech that stood out to me was his advice to close our email with our
request. Much like sticking to one topic, this is another good way to make sure that the important part of
your email is received. I tend to end my emails on a topic that is completely different from what I
actually need to cover. Ending your email by restating the important part is a good way to be sure that
the lasting impression is related to what you need the reader to respond to.
Indeed.com has a lot of good extra advice on how to write a professional email. I read through
this article https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-professional-email and found a lot of advice that Steve Jobs does not cover, including the proper way to greet someone. I found a couple examples of informal greetings such as this one:
It reminds me a lot of how I used to write my emails. Harvard Business also provides some good
insight: https://hbr.org/2022/08/5-tips-for-writing-professional-emails. They address how to
tailor the subject line to properly summarize the email and to specify when things need to be
done so that you’re email is responded to in time. I also found an AI to generate a professional
email if anyone needs the extra help! https://www.grammarly.com/email-writer