If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you have an email account. You may well have several – perhaps separate accounts for professional and personal contacts.

　　如果你正在閱讀這篇文章，你肯定有一個或若干個甚至是不同帳號的私人或辦公郵箱。

　　It’s easy to assume that we know how to use email effectively: it’s been around for long enough. But if you find yourself struggling to communicate effectively by email, these six tips should help:

　　郵件這樣的溝通方式早已經滲入到了我們的生活工作中，因此可以說大多數人都能有效地使用郵件與他人交流。但如果你發現自己還沒做得足夠有效，我想以下這六點可以幫到你：

　　1. Start With an Appropriate Salutation

　　郵件開頭稱呼要恰當：

　　Some people jump straight into the text of an email without so much as a “hi”. It’s polite to add a salutation, just as you would with a letter. That might look like:

　　有些人寫郵件不喜歡加稱呼，甚至連簡單的“你好”都忽略，直接開始正文內容。孰不知就像在傳統的信件上一樣，寫上稱呼是一種禮貌的象征。稱呼可以這樣寫：

　　#Dear Sir/Madam 親愛的先生/女士

　　#Dear Mr. Johnson 親愛的約翰遜先生

　　#Hi Sue 蘇，你好

　　#Hello Fred 你好，福瑞德

　　Your salutation needs to be appropriate. If you’re writing to a prospective employer, “Dear Mr. Johnson” is probably the best way to go. “Hi Bob” is going to look unprofessional.

　　稱呼必須恰當。若郵件對象是你未來的上司，“親愛的約翰先生”這樣的稱呼應該為最得體的。像“你好，鮑勃”更適用于隨意的場合。

　　But don’t assume that formality is always the right answer. If you’re writing to a friend of a friend, using “Dear” plus their surname is going to seem oddly stilted.

　　那么，是不是正式的用語就萬能呢?絕對不是。若你給你朋友的朋友寫郵件，那用“親愛的+姓”就顯得異常別扭。

　　If in doubt, “Dear [first name]” will usually work just fine.

　　當你判斷不出哪種場合該用什么稱呼合適，你可以使用“親愛的+名”來應付所有情況。

　　2. Get Straight to the Point

　　直奔主題

　　Your correspondent won’t want to wade through paragraphs of waffle – so get straight to the point. If you’re writing to someone out of the blue, don’t give them your life story before you make a request.

　　相信閱讀你郵件的`人不會愿意仔細瀏覽你那空洞無聊的長篇大論，所以你需要直奔主題。如果你想寫封郵件安慰某個心靈受傷的朋友，開頭先把你的建議亮出來，然后再用你的親身經歷來輔助說明。

　　Getting straight to the point might mean that the first line of your email (after the salutation) looks something like this:

　　直奔主題意味著郵件內容的第一行應該是這樣：

　　#I’m working on an article about Acme Widgets for XYZ publication, and wondered if you had a few minutes to answer the following three questions.

　　我現在正在寫一篇要交給某某出版社關于極致控件的文章，不知道您有沒有時間回答3個問題呢?

　　#Could you supply me with a quote for the following project?

　　可否對下面的設計項目進行引證?

　　#I’d like to discuss the revisions with you. Would Tuesday at 2pm be a good time?

　　我想和你談談修訂的事。這周二下午兩點您有空嗎?

　　#I’ve attached the documents you requested at our meeting yesterday.

　　昨天會議上您要求的文件已附上，請查收。

　　You may well need to include more details, but if you put the important point up front, your email is more likely to get a timely response. If your question comes too far down, the recipient may not even realise that you need a reply.

　　當然，你需要再增加更多的細節內容。若將郵件重點放到內容的開頭，你將收到更加及時的回復信息。如果你的問題在郵件后頭，收信人可能都不會意識到你在等他回復。

　　3. Keep it Short

　　內容言簡意賅

　　try to keep your email as short as possible. Make the paragraphs short, too – long paragraphs can be difficult to read and take in.

　　盡可能將你的郵件內容寫得簡單明了。文章太長不易閱讀和吸收。

　　Do make sure you give enough information for your correspondent to be able to make a decision, if that’s required. You might find that it’s best to offer this as an attachment – you’ll have more flexibility over formatting, and your correspondent can print out the attachment easily.

　　若對方需要通過你的郵件來做決策，那你一定要在郵件中將相關信息寫完整。為了能更靈活地排版，你可以把這些信息作成附件形式，以方便對方將其打印出來。

　　4. Use Numbered Points

　　將內容編號