E-mail Subject Lines

I have been teaching an E-mail class this week. One of the things I have been teaching the students is how important the Subject Line is.  When the E-mail comes into the Inbox, you see the sender and the Subject Line of the message.

The receiver of the E-mail makes decisions on whether to open the E-mail right away partly based on the subject line.  If there is one subject line, I probably will delete the E-mail.  If the subject line does not indicate urgency or importance, the E-mail will probably be put on the back burner for later.  If you are sending the E-mail into a network environment, a spam filter may grab your E-mail based on the subject line.

So when you are sending E-mail, make your subject line a good one.  It should describe quickly what the E-mail is about.  You may even include your name in the subject line also.  All this helps the receiver of the E-mail make decisions about the incoming E-mail.

Here might be a good example: "Meeting canceled for Thursday - from Jeff Brown" or "October Report from Jeff Brown".  Short and sweet, and they tell the receiver what the E-mail is about.