Source: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nmswishe/academic_email.pdf ( visited on February 10th, 2015)

Complete the text with adjectives from the list: personal, descriptive, full, kind,
convenient,concise, academic, large, formal, conversational,exaggerated, grateful, lazy, willing

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL EMAILS

Email messages are generally less formal than letters, but there are still certain expectations for
appropriate and successful email communication with faculty, colleagues and other professionals.

Critical points to remember

·         In academic emails, de-emphasize the 1______________ aspect.

·         Use of polite terms and apologies does not guarantee a polite tone. Be careful not to
sound arrogant or bossy.

·         Keep messages as 2____________ as possible: leave out 3____________ details.

·         Do not send 4_____________ attachments unless asked.

·         Use your university email account for 5______________ and professional correspondence.

Names

If you don’t know a professor – Professor Jane Doe, for example – address her as “Professor Doe”
(title + last name) until she writes back with a signature that gives you a clue to how you can
address her. If she signs her response to you with “Jane Doe”, you probably need to stay with a
more 6_____________ approach and use “Professor Doe.” If she writes back using ”Jane,” she can (and
should) be addressed in the future as “Jane”.


Formality

We may speak using the words wanna and gonna, but we don’t write them unless we are reporting
speech or dialect. We also avoid most abbreviations, emoticons, 7_____________ punctuation, and
text messaging shortcuts.


Requests

It is important to be polite when you are asking someone to help you. Some suggested phrases:

·         Would you be so 8____________ as to…

·         I hope you might be 9_____________ to…

·         When 10___________ for you, could you please…

·         I would be most  11______________ if you…

Format

·         SUBJECT line: concise but 12___________

·         Start with [Dear] Prof./Dr/Ms Doe,

·         End with Best regards, Regards, Sincerely, Best, Thank you

·         Use your 13____________ name in the closing of your first message (it is also  helpful if
you add the info about the seminar group you are attending)

·         Proofread and spell-check (spelling errors are considered 14____________ and
unprofessional) before you hit SEND