简介

4. Specify Who You Are and Why You Are Writing　表明身份及来信理由

This is especially true if you are writing to the person for the first time. Don't

make the reader guess who the e-mail is from and your purpose in writing

him or her. Confusion is uncomfortable.

如果你是第一次写信给那个人，情况尤其如此。别让那位读者猜测寄信者是谁及其目的为何。因为困惑会让人感到不舒服。

5 　Don't Make People Try to Read Your Mind　不要让人去猜测你的想法

If you are vague and imprecise, the results you receive will very likely be

less than satisfactory. You can save time and aggravation (on both your

part and the other's part) by being clear. The results will definitely be better

if people don't have to guess what you want or mean.

若你用词含糊不精确，所收到的结果就很可能会不尽如人意。表达清楚可以省下时间并避免相互激怒（双方都是如此）。假如人们不必猜测你想要什么或你所指为何，结果一定会更好。

6 　Avoid Long, Rambling Messages　避免冗长含糊的讯息

Your goal is to be concise, not impress people with your ability to string

together ideas. In short, short is good, and long (usually) is bad. If you

have many points that are not closely linked, think about splitting them up

into different e-mails and sending them separately. Using bullet points also

helps if a message is long.

你的目标是简洁，而不是将众多想法串在一起来让人钦佩。总之，简短为上策，冗长（通常）为下策。如果你有很多彼此并非紧密相连的要点，就要考虑将其分成不同的电子邮件分别寄出。假如讯息很长，使用要点符号同样会有帮助。

7 　Choose Between Formal and Casual　在正式与非正式间做选择

Make sure the vocabulary you choose is appropriate to the situation.

Use titles (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.) in formal correspondence. Avoid slang and

emoticons (such as "smilies") unless the e-mails are informal messages

between coworkers or friends. In addition, the type of abbreviated

vocabulary - e.g. "c u" (see you), "Gr8" (great) – shouldn't be included in

formal writing.

务必确保你所选用的词汇适合该情境。在正式书信使用（先生、女士、博士等）的称谓。除非是同事或朋友之间的电子邮件，否则就要避免使用俚语或表情符号（如“笑脸符号”）。此外，缩写词汇如“c u”（音似see you 表“再见”），“Gr8”（音似great 表“太棒了”）不应出现在正式的写作中。

目录