The Perfect Way to Start an Email, and Greetings You ...

Not bad, but a bit informal if you're addressing someone you don't know very well. 'Good morning/afternoon/evening, ... ' working ... 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H M S Inthenews Closeicon Twocrossedlinesthatforman'X'.Itindicatesawaytocloseaninteraction,ordismissanotification. Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. HOMEPAGE 0 Newsletters Accounticon Aniconintheshapeofaperson'sheadandshoulders.Itoftenindicatesauserprofile. Login Subscribe Home Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. Careers Theperfectwaytostartanemail—and29greetingsyoushouldavoid MargueriteWard, AllanaAkhtar,and RachelGillett Updated 2020-09-03T14:25:00Z SaveArticleIcon Abookmark FacebookIcon TheletterF. Emailicon Anenvelope.Itindicatestheabilitytosendanemail. Shareicon Ancurvedarrowpointingright. Twittericon Astylizedbirdwithanopenmouth,tweeting. Twitter LinkedInicon Theword"in". LinkedIn Fliboardicon AstylizedletterF. Flipboard FacebookIcon TheletterF. Facebook Emailicon Anenvelope.Itindicatestheabilitytosendanemail. Email Linkicon Animageofachainlink.Itsymobilizesawebsitelinkurl. CopyLink Downloadtheapp Notsurehowtostartanemail?Here'swhattheexpertssay. mentatdgt/Shutterstock Theperfectwaytostartanemail,especiallywhenyou'rewritingtoastranger,istokeepitsimple.Emailgreetingsyoushouldavoidareonesthatcouldbeconstruedastoocasual,tooformal,oreveninsulting.Here'showtostartanemailtherightway.VisitBusinessInsider.comformorestories. Figuringouthowtostartanemailorinstantmessage—especiallywhenyou'rewritingtosomeoneyoudon'tknowverywell—canbeachallenge.Is"Hey"toocasual?Is"Dear"overlyformal?Is"Morning!"toocheery?Inatimewhenthenovelcoronaviruspandemichasmanypeopleworkingremotely,it'smoreimportantthanevertoknowhowtosendasolidemail.Andhowyoubeginanemailisimportant,itsetsthetoneandmayshapetherecipient'sperceptionofyou.Itmayalsodeterminewhetherapersonkeepsreading. "Manypeoplehavestrongfeelingsaboutwhatyoudototheirnamesandhowyouaddressthem,"BarbaraPachter,abusiness-etiquetteexpert,toldBusinessInsider."Ifyouoffendsomeoneinthesalutation,thatpersonmaynotreadanyfurther.Itmayalsoaffectthatperson'sopinionofyou." WehadPachterandWillSchwalbe,whoco-authored"Send:WhyPeopleEmailSoBadlyandHowtoDoItBetter"withDavidShipley,weighinonahandfulofcommonemailgreetings.Ofcourse,theperfectwaytostartanemailwilldependonwhoyou'rewritingto,butingeneralwhenyou'rewritingabusinessemailtosomeoneyoudon'tknowwelloratall,theysaidthere'sonesafechoice—andabunchyoushouldusuallyavoid. WINNER:'Hi[name],...' WomenofColorinTech/Flickr/Attribution Ifyouwantto makeitalittlemoreformal,youcanalwaysusetheperson'slastname:"HiMs.Gillett,...""ThereasonIlikethisoneisthatit'sperfectlyfriendlyandinnocuous,"Schwalbesaid.It'salsoPachter'sfavorite.Shesaidit'sasafeandfamiliarwaytoaddresssomeone,whetheryouknowthemornot. ALSOACCEPTABLE:'Hieveryone,...' Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com Ifyou'readdressingagroupofpeople,Pachteradvisedyoutowrite,"Hieveryone." GREETINGSTOAVOID:'Hey!' OlenaYakobchuk/shutterstock Thisisfinetousewithyourfriends,buttheveryinformalsalutationshouldstayoutoftheworkplace.It'snotprofessional—especiallyifyou'rewritingtosomeoneyou'venevermet,Pachtersaid.Schwalbeagreed:"Icannevergetoutofmyheadmygrandmother'sadmonition,'Heyisforhorses.'" 'Heythere!' DrewAngerer/Getty Alsoavoid"Heythere."Ittellstheperson,"Idon'tknowyourname,butifItrytosoundcoolandcasual,maybeyouwon'tnotice." 'Hi[name]!!!!' RacegoersenjoytheatmosphereduringMelbourneCupDayatRoyalRandwickRacecourseonNovember7,2017inSydney,Australia. JasonMcCawley/GettyImagesforTheATC "Peoplesometimesgetcarriedawayandputanumberofexclamationpointsattheendoftheirsentences,"Pachterwrotein"TheEssentialsofBusinessEtiquette.""Theresultcanappeartooemotionalorimmature."Pachterwrotethat,ifyoumustuseanexclamationpoint,youshoulduseonlyone. 'Greetings,...' WikimediaCommons Thisisagoodbackupto"Hi[name]..."ifyoudon'tknowtherecipient'sname.Butyoushouldalwaysdowhateveryoucantofindoutthatinformation. 'Towhomitmayconcern,...' Mintybear/Shutterstock Therecipientmightthink,"OK,thisdoesn'tconcernme...Idon'tneedtocontinuereading."It'salsoacoldand veryimpersonalwaytostartanemailmessage. 'DearMr./Mrs./Ms.[lastname],...' EverettCollection/Shutterstock The"Dear"familyistrickybecauseit'snotalwaysterribleorwrongtouse,butitcansometimescomeoffasabittooformal. 'Dear[firstname],...' AP/AndrePenner Again,it'snottheworstgreetingintheworld,butit'salittleold-fashioned. 'Dearfriend,...' SeanGallup/GettyImages "Ifyoudon'tknowmyname,orcan'tbebotheredtouseit,weprobablyaren'tfriends,"Schwalbesaid. 'Dear[JobTitle],...' Shutterstock Granted,addressingyouremailtothepositionyourrecipientisbetterthangoingwith'Towhomitmayconcern,...'—itshowsthatyouputinsomeeffort.Butitstillreadsasextremelygeneric.Andifyou'realreadyputtinginefforttofigureoutwhatthepositionofthepersonyou'readdressingis,you'dbebetteroffgoingtheextrastepandfiguringoutwhothatpersonis.Allittakesisalittlemoreresearch. 'DearMa'am,...' TeerawitChankowet/Shutterstock Apartfrombeinggenericandgivingoffanimpersonalvibe,thisonecanbeoffensivetotherecipient.AsoneinformalNewYorkTimespollfound,fewwomenreallyappreciatebeingcalled"ma'am"—ittendstomakethemfeeloldanddisrespected. 'DearSirorMadam,...' BusinessInsider Waytooformal!Plus,thissalutationtellstherecipientthatyouhavenoideawhotheyare,Pachtersaid."Whythenshouldthereaderbeinterestedinwhatyouhavetosay?"Schwalbeadded:"Thisoneisverystiff.Italwaysfeelslikebadnewsoracomplaintwillfollow." 'Hello,...' GettyImages Notbad,butabitinformalifyou'readdressingsomeoneyoudon'tknowverywell. 'Goodmorning/afternoon/evening,...' Gpointstudio/GettyImages Itmaynotbemorning,afternoon,oreveninganymorebythetimeyouremailreachestheperson—orifthey'reinadifferenttimezone—soit'sbestjusttoskipthese. 'Mr./Mrs./Ms.[lastname],...' MarioTama/Getty Anotherstiffandabruptone.Therecipientmayfeellikeyou'reabouttoreprimandthem. 'Mr./Mrs./Ms.[firstname],...' ChristopherFurlong/GettyImages Pachtersaidthisishowyoungchildrenaddresstheirteachers:"Mrs.Susan,canyouhelpmewiththismathproblem?"It'snotappropriateintheprofessionalworld. 'To[name],...' Westend61/GettyImages Thiswordingisawkwardandjuvenile-sounding. 'HiMrs....' DeanDrobo/Shutterstock "Use'Ms.'unlessyouknowthewomanwantstobeaddressedas'Mrs.,'"Rubinwrote. '[Firstname]!' BoryanaManzurova/Shutterstock Firstoff,it'sabitinformalandabrupt.Thenwhenyoutackontheexclamationpoint,itjustgetsannoying."It'sabitjarringrightoffthebat—likesomeoneisshoutingatme,"Schwalbesaid."Evenwithouttheexclamation,it'sabitabrupt.Bettertoprecedethenamewith'Hi'thanjustblurtitout." 'Yo!' SydaProductions/Shutterstock.com Dowereallyneedtoexplainwhythisoneisano-no? '[Misspelledname],...' Shutterstock Spelltherecipient'snamecorrectly."Manypeopleareinsultediftheirnameismisspelled,"Pachtersaid."Checkforthecorrectspellingintheperson'ssignatureblock.Youcanalsocheckthe'To'line.Often,people'sfirstorlastnamesareintheiraddresses." 'Hifolks,...' FanscheerasrockbandDeerTickperformsattheNewportFolkFestivalinRhodeIslandJuly26,2014.Thethree-dayfestivalwasfoundedin1959. REUTERS/MarkMakela "Thoughthebusinessworldismoreinformaltodaythaninthepast,"Pachterrecommendedavoidinglaid-back,colloquialexpressionslike"folks"inbusinesscommunications. 'Heyy'all,...' Getty/GustavoCaballero Thisisanother laid-back,colloquialexpressionthat'sbestavoidedinaprofessionalemail. 'Higuys,...' AntonioGuillem/Shutterstock Tobeginwith,"Higuys"isconsideredtoolaid-backforprofessionalemails.Butusinggenderedlanguagetoaddressmixed-gendergroupspresentsotherproblems.First,it'sinaccurate.Andsecondly,itcouldcauseoffense."Failingtoacknowledgewomenbyusingamalecatchallphraseevokesthesexismwovenintoeveryaspectofbeing,"wroteDianeRubino,anadjunctinstructoratNYUandColumbiaUniversity,forWiley. 'Gentlemen,...' GettyImages/AndreyRudakov,Bloomberg Thisone'salsosexist,Pachtersaid.  'Hi[nickname],...' MarioTama/Getty Don'ttakeituponyourselftocallWilliam"Will"orJennifer"Jen."Unlessthepersonhasintroducedthemselvesusinganicknameorusesoneinthesignatureoftheirownemails,sticktotheirfullname. 'Hi,...' Shutterstock Thisgreetingnotonlysoundsabrupt,butitalsolacksthecustomizationnecessarytograbyourreader'sattention.Includingtheperson'snameinanemailisacrucialwaytogettheirattention,DannyRubinwrotein"Wait,HowDoIWriteThisEmail?""DaleCarnegie,alegendaryauthorandspeakeronleadership,believedaperson'snameisthe'sweetestandmostimportantsoundinanylanguage,'"hewrote."Samegoesforemail." 'All,...' IanGavan/GettyImages Thisonealsosoundsabrupt.Again,ifyou'rewritingtoagroup,use"Hieveryone." 'HappyFriday!!!' Traderscelebratingarecord-settingdayofshortingvolatility. Reuters/CharlesPlatiau Youdon'twanttobeoverlyenthusiastic.It'snotprofessionalandsetsthewrongtone.Plus,itmightgetundertherecipient'sskin. [Nogreeting] weedezign/Shutterstock Alwaysuseasalutation,Pachterwrote:"You'llseemfriendlierifyoudo."JacquelynSmithcontributedtoearlierversionsofthisarticle. Dealicon Aniconintheshapeofalightningbolt. Keepreading Newsletter Getadailyselectionofourtopstoriesbasedonyourreadingpreferences. Loading Somethingisloading. Emailaddress Byclicking‘Signup’,youagreetoreceivemarketingemailsfromInsider aswellasotherpartneroffersandacceptour TermsofServiceand PrivacyPolicy. More: Features Email Workplace greeting salutation Theperfectwaytostartanemail Howtostartanemail Bestemailgreetings Worstemailgreetings Bademailgreetings Emailgreetings Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. Closeicon Twocrossedlinesthatforman'X'.Itindicatesawaytocloseaninteraction,ordismissanotification. RecommendedVideo