Pengcheng's Blog

High/Low Context Communication

• low context communication (directly)

  Low context communicators are used to straight forward, concise, and efficient ways of communicating. Much value is placed on logic, facts, and directness.
  Low context communicators interacting with high context communicators should be aware that status and identity may be communicated non-verbally and require appropriate acknowledgment. And that building a good relationship can contribute to effectiveness over time.

  • North America
  • Western Europe

• high context communication (indirectly)

  Communication in high context cultures tends to be non-explicit and include more descriptive language. Emails also tend to be longer.
  High context communicators interacting with low context communicators should be aware that efficiency and effectiveness is achieved through focusing on tasks. And the direct questions and observations are not necessarily meant to offend, but to clarify and advance shared goals.

  • Middle East
  • Asia
  • Africa
  • South America

Age & Gender Considerations

• Age Considerations

  The best way to approach age considerations is to be respectful and polite whether the person you are writing is older or younger.

  • DOs
    • Use respectful terms such as Mr., Ms., or Mrs.
    • Use official titles
  • DONTs
    • Don’t use slang words
    • Limit references to popular culture

• Gender Considerations

  If you don’t know enough about your reader’s culture, the best thing to do is keep things gender neutral by avoiding gender bias thoughts or expressions. And again, if you don’t know the gender of your reader, always use greetings with titles rather than Mr., Ms., or Mrs.

Think about all possible factors that might effect the meaning of your email.

How to Write Request Emails

1. What kind of polite language to use when making requests?
   simple

   • please
   • could/would

   more polite

   • could you please
   • would you mind
   • would like

2. Learned to use the word also when writing our second request.

   • Just number your requests.
   • Write the second request with the word also.

   Notice the location of the word also. Again, it’s right before the verb

3. We need to add some words of appreciation that started with thank you, or I appreciate.
   simple

   • thank you
   • sincere thanks
   • I appreciate it

   more polite

   • Thank you for your NOUN
   • I appreciate your NOUN

How to Write Apology Emails

• I’m sorry if
  You’re not sure of your level of responsibility for a mistake.
• I’m sorry that
  When we are 100% sure of our responsibility for a situation. It’s important to follow up with a clear description of the actions necessary to correct the situation.

• I’m sorry about
  This expression is used to write apologies for small slip-ups or errors. These are small mistakes which require no more than a few words to be described and corrected.

  • typos
  • spelling mistakes
  • unimportant misunderstandings

It’s often better to apologize first, and take the blame rather that to give the impression that you are blaming the other person.

Overview of Introduction & Announcement Emails

The basic purposes and approaches

Introduction Email
Introduction emails can change your life if they’re written the right way. So lets find out how to do that.

• The subject line clearly reflects the purpose of the email.
• State clearly what skills or abilities you have.
• Why meeting you would be good for them.

Announcement Emails
Announcements are a way of telling other professionals about something that’s new to them. It may a product or service you offer, maybe it’s the opening of a new office or change of location.

• The subject line clearly reflects the purpose of the email.
• Be very clear about information you’re providing
• make sure it’s accurate the first time.
• Do not send an email with unanswered questions.

Introduction emails should include why it is important to get to know you, or the other business partner. And with announcement emails, always double check to make sure the information is correct before you send it out.

Key Language for Writing These Types of Emails

organization of an email

• subject line
  do not include unnecessary information and we state a clear purpose in the subject line.
• greeting
• email text
  • who the author is
  • controlling idea
  • development
• conclusion
• closing

Introduction Email

introducing yourself

• name
• job at company
• the controlling idea should state why you’re introducing yourself to the reader
• development(WH questions)

introducing two people to each other

• background
• current job
• role
• additional contact information

Announcement Email

Attract your reader’s attention, the language will be more bold and direct. In some cases, the language may even be similar to an advertisement.

• general information
• specific information

Pay particular attention to the order of the information in your email, should include

• who
• what
• when
• where
• why
• other details.

Try to think of any additional information people might need as a result of the questions or new ideas in your response.

Write Effective Subject Lines

It’s important that our subject line catches our reader’s eyes, in order to make our subject line stand out, we need to be brief,clear,and direct.

• First,keep the subject line brief.
  50 characters or less
• Keep our subject lines clear.
  using keywords at the beginning
• Make them direct.
  Use ACTIVE verbs
• CAPITALIZATION
  Capitalize important contant words and not the propositions

Write Well-organized Email Text

The email text is the actual message we are sending which is the most important part about writing an email. Our email text should be made up of three essential parts:

• Introduction
  WHO(Author)
  WHAT(Controlling Idea = Purpose)
• Development
  WH Questions
• Conclusion
  APPRECIATION (thank, appreciate, be glad about)

DOs and DON’Ts in Professional Email

There are four parts to a professional written email.

• the subject line
• the greeting
• the email text
• the closing

DOs

• have a professional email
• make your subject line very clear and brief
• add words of appreciation
• consider cultural differences between you and your reader
• Focus on PRECISION

DON’Ts

• don’t forget about spelling,grammer,punctuation and captalization
• don’t write a book
• don’t complain and blame
• don’t send until CHECKED
• Don’t use PASSIVE voice

Be BRIEF & CLEAR

Now that we have the basic elements of an email, we should focus on how to make the information brief and clear.

The best way to BRIEF

• Use your own WORDS
• Use your own MESSAGE
• Say ONLY what is NEEDED

BE CLEAR,the KEY points

• Be PRECISE
• Include only IMPORTANT info

• Words to AVOID

  • must
  • should
  • demand
  • require
  • necessity

Punctuation

• Apostrophe ‘
  PROSSESSION,like Pengcheng’s laptop,should not put a contraction like can’t or wouldn’t in an email.
• Exclamation Point ! DON’T use more than 1 time.
• Comma ,