With an average of 120 emails received by employees every day, the ability to share information and ideas in an effective way is critical. But what makes an effective email, and how can you know if your writing style needs a little tweaking? In today's episode of The Forward Thinking podcast, host Heather Sang is joined by author and founder of KDVM Communications Karen McDonald for a conversation about how to create high quality writing that gets a response. By enhancing individual communication and focusing on the needs, questions, and efforts of the recipient, you will be able to craft emails that reflect your company culture, strengthen your connections, and help you get the response you're seeking.

Today's Insights Include:

Why is good written communication so important?

• Written communication is essential to the work that we all do every day.
• We are all required to create emails, memos, reports and more.
• Employees receive an average of 120 emails every day, making the ability to share information and ideas in an effective way critical to getting work done.
• Your writing is a reflection of your brand, and you want that reflection to be positive.

Overcoming the hurdles to effective writing

• Not everyone is equally effective in writing, but that doesn't mean it's too late to improve.
• If you aren't sure if your writing needs to be improved, ask for feedback.
• Consistent grammatical comments over content comments indicate room for improvement.
• If your emails aren't getting the response you want, you might consider changing your writing style.
• If recipients are consistently responding to your writing with additional questions, your writing needs tweaking.

Structuring emails to get the response you want

• Make it easy for the recipient to decide when to open and respond to your email.
• Subject line should indicate the email topic and purpose.
• Appropriate email length depends on the degree of information the reader needs.
• Provide reasonable information but not so much that it's overwhelming.
• Clear, concise and organized writing is key- use bullet points if needed.
• Clearly state what you expect from the recipient in your closing.

Traps to avoid in your writing

• Find the balance between professional and personal in all written communication.
• Remember that all written communication can be shared beyond your knowledge.
• Pause before you hit send — remind yourself who this is going to and what your relationship with them is.
• Exclamation points, emojis, and humor need to be used carefully.

Steps to improving your writing now

• Consider how you would speak the message before you start writing it.
• Address questions the recipient might ask you.
• Utilize thesaurus.com, dictionary.com, grammarly.com and the doc spell and grammar checks.
• Review your writing before you hit send- read it out loud if needed.
• Hire a writing coach or editor for your most important writing.

Improving internal company communication

• Communication from leadership Is a key component of employee engagement.
• Consistency is key in all communications.
• Share as much information as appropriate and why the information is of the employee's benefit.
• Every email you send interrupts your employee's workflow, so make sure they are effective and necessary.
• Consider the tone of your email to match your company's culture.

Improving external company communication

• Lead with a hook — focus on what the recipient wants to know.
• Consider what information is most important to them.
• Express gratitude in every communication.
• Recognize the work that your clients are doing.

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