During September, we have covered your use of email. From organizing to searching to creating rules and filters, we have looked at several ways to improve the effectiveness of your email. This week we are going to discuss the email you send. Following a few tips on writing your email, when you send the email, and what you include in your email, can go a long way to increasing the impact of that email.

The first thing to discuss is the length of your email message. I understand, and we have all been there, you have a topic that requires a “ton” of explanation. But be careful when you start to write that email. Email messages with hundreds of words can often be overlooked by the recipient. Maybe they are too busy to read it when it’s received or they just simply don’t want to read something that long. Whatever the reason, if this is an important message that you need to deliver, let’s find a better way.

One great option is to put the most important information in the email and include all the supporting facts in an attached document. You can list out the critical facts as bullet points but save the detail for the attached document. This gives the reader the option to get through the critical facts quickly but open the attached document and read through the detail when they have time to commit to reading it fully.

Another option is to still put the critical facts in your email and request a phone call to go over the details. Remember when talking on the phone was the fastest option to pass along details to someone? It is still a great way to deliver those details and keep your email concise.

Another thing you should consider is when you send your email. If you think about your workday, you know how busy the day gets at certain times. Everybody has the same challenge. To improve the likelihood of your email being seen and read, try sending the message at a time when your recipient is more likely to have time to see the message.

The catch here is you might be the busiest during these times and you can’t send the email during that time frame. A great option for this is to schedule when your email goes out. This allows you to write your concise email at any time, but choose to send it when the recipient is most likely to view it. Everybody has different busy times, so look for a time when your recipient is most likely to have time to see your message. If you’re not sure what time is best, try 9-11 am or 1-3 pm. You can always tweak your timing when you see what is most effective.

Another important consideration for your email is what type of information you include. Specifically, I am referring to sensitive information. Social security numbers, bank account numbers, medical information, login credentials, customer data, and regulated information are just some examples of sensitive information. In the good old days, this type of information was routinely sent over fax machines. Even though fax machines were not completely secure for sending this information, they were considered acceptable in many industries to transmit much of this sensitive information.

With email being considered in many ways a replacement of fax, senders have mistakenly assumed they should send this same type of information through email. The problem with this is standard email was not designed to be secure. If you do need to send sensitive information through email, then do it the right way. Choose an encrypted email option that allows you to send email securely to the recipient.

Applying these tips will improve the effectiveness of your outgoing email messages. Be sure to follow our weekly Tech Tips every Tuesday. You can subscribe to our Tech Tip Tuesday email digest or listen live on the radio every Tuesday at 8:35am EST. Here’s how: Subscribe Now and WRDO.