How To Hint About Email Etiquette?

Take a hint when it comes to Email Etiquette!

How do you politely inform your friends or family members who are not all that into Email Etiquette that they need to bone up on the subject?

That’s a tough one…

In my years of experience, no matter how polite or “nice” you are trying to explain the nuances of proper email etiquette, many get defensive, hurt feelings, and some get downright mad. How dare you tell them what to do!?

Increasingly, folks expect to be able to do what they want. It’s a free country, after all. I have my First Amendment rights!

Yeah, one could say that all apply. But best practices and common courtesy are things that bind a society together. On and off-line.

I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.

Winston Churchill

Think of Courtesy

Why do some become so defensive about being courteous? Courtesy doesn’t take much effort, which is what friendly people do. Email Etiquette is simply about understanding how your actions or lack thereof can impact your relationships when using technology.

The fact remains that we were all thrown into technology without any formal training. So, to think you “know it all” or have nothing more to learn is naive at best.

I’ve been running businesses online for 29 years and still learn something new daily. To date myself, I’ve been online before most knew what online was!

How do I get others on board?

I get emailed daily asking for a “nice way” to tell someone not to do this or that. This site is filled with articles on every aspect of Email Etiquette.

If you do a simple search, you can find the appropriate article on this website for the issue you want to bring to their attention. You can then use the email share button at the bottom of every article to email the intended party with a link to that specific article.

Folks are more open to embracing new ideas if they aren’t made to feel as though they are stupid, uninformed, or doing something wrong.

This is where some psychology comes in!

Hey, Jane:

I found this neat site, NetManners.com, that has a bunch of info on Email Etiquette. I came across this article and wanted to share it with you. Who knew!?

I learned a few things I wasn’t aware of and thought you would be interested too! HTH! 😉

Your friend,
John

Using the above approach, you send them to a valuable resource so they can read and learn and hopefully avoid feeling they are being corrected.

Remember…

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily.

Thomas Szasz

Feel free to include the above quote in your email as well!