Sign Language Good to See You Again

• "I promise this email finds you well"
  • A more personal approach
  • Skip the opening sentence!
  • Pocket-size talk
  • Eight alternative opening phrases.

Updated: 13 Oct 2021

Readers have asked me to suggest opening sentences for emails that go to people around the world. The goal of these openers is to avoid coming across every bit edgeless and impolite, specially in messages to people from cultures in which English language is not the get-go linguistic communication.

Information technology is wise for people in the English-speaking business world to include a judgement of greeting rather than getting immediately into their business purpose when they write to people who expect and value such email courtesies.

Below are a few opening sentences for international e-mail. Each 1 would come up afterward a greeting such as "Beloved Dr. Rivas" or "Hello, Osouf." You tin can use "I" or "We" depending on whether you are writing as an individual or as a representative of your group.

1. I promise y'all are enjoying the season.
2. I hope all is well.
3. How are you? I promise you lot are healthy and happy.
4. I hope y'all are doing well.
5. I hope you are fine.
6. I hope you and your coworkers are fine.
7. I trust you lot are doing splendidly and enjoying the season.
8. We send you our best wishes.
9. I send you and your esteemed colleagues my warm wishes.
10. Greetings from all of us at _________ [fill up in system proper noun].
11. Greetings from _____ [fill in a person'southward name] and me.
12. Greetings to you and your coworkers.
13. Best wishes to you lot and your family.
14. It is a pleasure to be in touch with you again.
15. It was a delight to see y'all in ____.
16. I hope you enjoyed your trip to ____.
17. Welcome back to work! I hope y'all had a wonderful vacation.

If yous correspond with business organization readers around the world, you can pay attending to the opening sentences they use, and respond similarly.

Related: Read our article on how to write an opening sentence.

"I hope this email finds you well"

One popular opening judgement is "I hope this email finds you well." Although information technology is mutual at the beginning of business electronic mail, I recommend using a sentence that sounds more than natural. To me, "I hope this e-mail finds you" is awkward phrasing.

Information technology is a skillful idea to vary your beginning sentence if you write to someone often. A repeated opening sentence could come up across as a habit rather than a sincere sentiment.

Here are a few alternatives to the sometime "I hope this e-mail finds you well" you tin consider:

1. A more personal approach

If yous are drafting a high-stakes email that needs to get results, it'south worth your fourth dimension to do a bit of research about the person or the company you are addressing.  Opening your email with a sentence that pertains directly to the sender shows that this isn't a generic, boilerplate message.  It will warrant more attention and plant a bit of a personal connectedness.   Consider, perhaps, a recent professional development to evidence y'all are familiar with the recipient's piece of work, or perhaps a nugget of personal information you can apply to show yous are invested in this relationship.  Here are some examples:

Professional:

I learned this morning that CTX Solutions received the greenish light for the merger. Yous must exist energized past what'south ahead!

            I actually enjoyed your presentation final week in San Diego on Nonlinear Marketing trends.  You really painted a perfect movie when yous said…

Hats off to you and your team for the recent success of the Black Stonemason entrada! It's the talk of the boondocks down here!

Personal:

            Rumor at the office has it you take completed a triathlon over weekend. I don't know how y'all manage to observe the time for grooming – it is both impressive and inspiring!

Congrats on last week'south big win!  Your team is the stuff of bowling legend!

2. Skip the opening sentence!

A recent data study from the email app Boomerang showed that the optimal length of an email, when information technology comes to receiving a response, is 75-150 words.

This is understandable, equally people are decorated and fourth dimension is valuable.  With this in mind, you may consider skipping the opening judgement, and getting straight to the point.  As long as the overall tone of the electronic mail is warm, this approach shouldn't come off equally cold.

3. Pocket-size talk

Y'all should really know your audition when crafting your email.  Therefore, if you feel that the recipient is someone who would savour a little chit-chat, peradventure a fleck of small talk is the way to become. Once again, it's best to skip the generic "I hope this email finds you lot well" and opt for a more personalized opener. Here are some examples:

I hope yous're staying warm, it seems New York didn't get that memo that its spring!

Are y'all getting ready to take the boat out for the weekend? Should be great atmospheric condition!

The near important affair to retrieve when crafting an email is to stay equally 18-carat as possible. Forced conversation is not pleasant in person, nor is it in written form.  Try to imagine running into your recipient in the hallway, and write as if you lot are having a contiguous chat.

4. Viii alternative opening phrases.

If you want to add together a few openers to your phrase bank as to avoid the awkward "I hope this email finds you well," hither are a few more phrases you can use as an alternative (the 17 examples listed at the top of the article would work too):

1. I know you're busy, and so I'll be cursory (just make sure to actually be cursory!)
2. I hope y'all're having a productive calendar week
3. I hope you are having a great calendar week
4. I promise you lot are doing well
5. I hope you've had a restful holiday
6. We've met at [place, event]
7. I am delighted to connect with you again
8. Happy Monday! [or whatsoever day of the week]

I would enjoy your additions to the list above, along with your thoughts about polite opening sentences. Delight share!

Related: Here is a helpful commodity about crafting the perfect follow-up email.

Lynn
Syntax Training

cookcarld1981.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2012/07/opening-sentences-for-global-email.html

Share this post