Kindly Stop Writing Your Emails Like This
The death of over formal, dry, bot-like Business English for emails
By Shabana Feroze- Founder, Managing Director, Silver Kick herself
Please find attached.
Yours sincerely
Kindly expedite the process. Kindly revert on this issue. Kindly pass me the salt.
If you’re still writing your emails like this, here’s my plea on why you should stop. And how you SHOULD be writing your emails.
Because this old-fashioned formal Business English for emails is dead. Let it die.
So why stop? This type of writing was used so much that if you’re a Gen X-er or an older Millennial, you’re super used to writing your emails this way. It comes naturally, almost like a second language.
I remember sending emails with just 3 letters- PFA. FYA. FYI. (Please Find Attached, For Your Approval/ Action, For Your Information). So what’s the problem?
The problem is that they’re boring, impersonal and dry as hell.
They were okay at a time when we didn’t have text messages. And we certainly didn’t have WhatsApp. Once we started using WhatsApp for friends and family, we segued into using it for business. I’m talking about when it just started and Slack wasn’t even born.
Because messaging platforms like WhatsApp are used for informal communication, the way we write messages to colleagues on WhatsApp are also informal. We’re not writing ‘kindly’ and ‘yours sincerely’ when we send WhatsApp texts to colleagues or clients. If you are, please stop.
We write more informally on text messaging apps. We use emojis. And now, we use stickers and GIFs. This has drastically changed the way we communicate in writing.
Before, emails were a second option to handwritten business letters. We started mails with ‘Dear’ and ended them with ‘Kind regards’. Like we did in letters. Now we start emails with a hi or hello, or even a ‘hey’. Emails now have become a second option to WhatsApp, Slack and Microsoft Teams. We do all our business communication through these apps and send emails when we absolutely need to.
It’s super weird when you message your boss “I’ll mail you the report right away”, and then email them saying “Dear Mr. Boss. Kindly find attached the report of ….”.
Do you see what I’m saying? You’re already talking to your business contacts in an informal, conversational way. Because of this, your style of writing emails needs to be the same style in which you’re messaging. I.E, write the way you speak. Let your personality shine through. As long as you’re not using a ton of exclamations and emojis, your mails will read well. And they’ll be really easy for you to write. Because you won’t be sitting and scratching your head as to how you have to convert a casual sentence into formal business English.
So ditch the formal, uptight style of writing emails. Write the same way you’d be messaging. Or talking to them if they were in front of you.
I’m not saying you have to ramble on in your mails now. Keep them simple, concise and clear. All the features a well-written email has.
I’m saying write the way you’d speak or message. Throwing in a GIF won’t hurt anyone.
And please, PLEASE, stop with the ‘kindly’!
About the Author
Shabana decided to start her own creative agency after becoming jaded working in corporations. She has experience marketing international brands like Burger King, Mango, Papa John’s Pizza, DQ Grill & Chill, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Nutella, and Costa Coffee. Shabana is a published author, an anti-FGM/C activist and a group fitness instructor who enjoys her MMA classes a little too much.
