Writing Professional Emails That Are Warm, Friendly, and Effective
In today’s busy, digital-focused workplace, email tends to be one of the primary ways we communicate. Whether you’re collaborating with coworkers, reaching out to clients, or networking, your emails need to carry the right tone: professional, yet personable.
But this can be challenging. If you’re too formal, then you’ll sound like a robot. If you’re too casual then you run the risk of being unprofessional. You need a balance so that you are warm and approachable without losing clarity and competency.
In this post, we’ll break down how to easily write emails that sound professional and friendly, so that you don’t have to overthink every sentence.
Why Tone Matters in Professional Emails
With the rise of remote communication, we lose important aspects of in-person communication, like body language, verbal tone, and facial expressions. These nonverbal cues allow you to see how a person is feeling, in addition to how they sound. Since email recipients cannot hear the sender’s voice, they are free to apply their own tone to an email. Your weapons to combat any miscommunication? Thoughtful selection of words, syntax, and punctuation. (Your relationship with the recipient will also play a part in how they interpret your tone.)
A warm, thoughtful tone builds trust, encourages collaboration, and creates clarity. This is especially important since emails can come across as disingenuous, abrupt, sterile, and dismissive. Whether you’re communicating with a donor, coworker, or client, you don’t want to come across as any of those things!
Building Blocks for a Warm, Professional Email
- Subject line: Clear but approachable
- Greeting: Use the receiver’s name, choose the right salutation
- Opening lines: Friendly but purposeful intro that is warm and sounds natural (“I hope your week is going well,” instead of, “I am writing to…”)
- Main message: Clarity with courtesy and kindness
- Closing: Ending on a warm note without being too casual, providing a recap or opportunity for follow-up, if needed
Dos and Don’ts of Friendly Professional Emails
- Do: Use contractions (can’t, don’t) to sound natural and not overly formal
- Do: Include a warm sign-off (“Best Regards,” “Take care,” “Looking forward to hearing from you”)
- Don’t: Overuse emojis or slang
- Don’t: Use phrases that may come across passive-aggressive (“As per my last email…”)
Final Tips: Tone Check Before You Hit Send
- Always read it again and even better, read it aloud
- Ask: Would I speak like this in person?
- Use a tone analyzer (e.g., Grammarly or other tools)
Warm, Professional Email Example:
Hi Lindsay,
It was great to hear back from you. Thank you for keeping us posted about any necessary changes in your website products.
Please let us know if you need any information to share with your board about the importance of having separate client and supporter websites since they are separate audiences, requiring different content. We have some blog content that might be useful as well as our Marketing Minute podcasts. Talk to you soon!
Joyfully,
Jennifer Ellis, LAS
Customer Support Specialist
Extend Web Services
www.extendwebservices.com
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