Email Punctuation Matters

It’s important to convey a professional impression when you send email messages. This includes using proper punctuation. With email, there’s a temptation to just dash off a message without regard to any of the rules of proper language.

Keywords:

email, commmunication, business, marketing, customer service

Article Body:

It’s important to convey a professional impression when you send email messages. This includes using proper punctuation. With email, there’s a temptation to just dash off a message without regard to any of the rules of proper language.

But, remember – you may have never met the person you’re emailing. In that case, the recipient of your message is forming judgments about you based solely on your email.

Example
You may still be thinking that punctuation doesn’t matter that much. How much difference can a few commas and periods make, anyway?

Here is a fun illustration to demonstrate the importance of punctuation. See for yourself just how important those little dots and dashes of punctuation can be!

The following two “Dear John” letters are exactly the same (word for word). The only difference is how they are punctuated.

Punctuation Makes a Difference
Version One

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful.
People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior.

You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours?

Gloria

#####

Punctuation Makes a Difference
Version Two

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior.

You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours,

Gloria

#####

I’m sorry to say the source of this delightful example is unknown. I’ve tried to track down the author. If you have information, please send it to: kelly@keepcustomers.com. Thanks!

You’ve heard the following cliché before. “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” Think about how this applies to email. You want to make a good impression on your customers, colleagues, staff, and boss. So, make sure your messages are punctuated properly!

Health Matters

I guess nobody likes thinking about what can go wrong with the recruitment process. We all like to think we are reasonable employers, offering a fair package in return for a professional job. Yet, we do operate in a market that is prone to certain complications. Think about it. We recruit mainly young teachers who travel a long way from their home and friends, perhaps to a country they don't know anything about. There you are: already you can see how emotionally vulnerable th...

Keywords:

Teach English, Teaching English, Teaching English Overseas, ESL Jobs, ESL, TEFL, TESOL

Article Body:

I guess nobody likes thinking about what can go wrong with the recruitment process. We all like to think we are reasonable employers, offering a fair package in return for a professional job. Yet, we do operate in a market that is prone to certain complications. Think about it. We recruit mainly young teachers who travel a long way from their home and friends, perhaps to a country they don't know anything about. There you are: already you can see how emotionally vulnerable they are. And if all this causes them stress, they could more easily fall prey to physical illness, infection, be more accident prone.

Look, I'm not trying to be the pessimist here but I think we have to face the fact that the health of teachers is an important issue. At least, I believe a responsible employer should have health-protection measures in place as part of the recruitment package. Ideally, we should offer full health insurance together with provision to repatriate a teacher who needs to be back home for treatment and support.

Now I know that for some small schools this could prove expensive but that's no reason to duck the issue. If you genuinely can't offer this kind of protection as part of the deal, think of the alternatives. First make sure you explain to the teacher the kind of healthcare they will be entitled to from any national scheme that protects those working in your country. Secondly, advise them to look at insurances that are available in their own country. Maybe they can find inexpensive insurance to cover them while they are working abroad. But please don't ignore the issue. It is deeply unpleasant to find oneself sick or injured in a foreign country and if, on top of that, inadequate provisions exist for treatment and care. The whole situation can become a nightmare. We owe it to our teachers to ensure that they are fully aware of the risks they run and the protection that they can expect or should obtain.