5 Difficult Email Habits to Stop - From Netiquette IQ

Most advice on email Netiquette, including this blog at times, focuses on things which are most apparent. This includes grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.

It has been stated previously in this blog and addressed more thoroughly in my forthcoming book, "NetiquetteIQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email" that much of good Netiquette involves establishing good habits and processes. There are many more subtle items which you should be mindful of to assist you in having advanced email skills.

The following are five items which many senders, even those with high Netiquette skills, find difficulty in doing or often overlook. Here are a first round of five, in no predetermined order.

1. Using I to begin an email, paragraph or overusing this pronoun in a message

2. Utilizing too many incomplete or shortened sentences

3. Inavertently having imperatives or requests which can be misunderstood as commands

4. Presuming shortened names are appropriate

5. Giving complete dates, including day, date and month


Try this simple exercise!

To see if you are prone or tend to overlook the above five items, do the following. Take the next ten or twenty emails of more than three or four paragraphs which you compose and scan them for the items mentioned. Look for items such as let's, you must (as commands) or a shortened date. Some of the others are more obvious. Some senders, myself included, will find that not using I to begin an email or paragraph can be a challange.
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In addition to this blog, I maintain a radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ.

I am the president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a “best of breed” reseller of products for communications, email, network management software, security products and professional services.  Also, I am the president of Netiquette IQ. We are currently developing an email IQ rating system, Netiquette IQ, which promotes the fundamentals outlined in my book.

Over the past twenty-five years, I have enjoyed a dynamic and successful career and have attained an extensive background in IT and electronic communications by selling and marketing within the information technology marketplace. Anyone who would like to review the book and have it posted on my blog or website, please contact me paul@netiquetteiq.com.