Virginia was ready to pull out her hair. Why wasn't anyone responding to her email?
維吉尼亞都快抓狂了。為什么就沒有一個人回復郵件呢？

As the director of training for a global professional services firm, she'd recently sent out a note explaining important changes to the summer training schedule and asking office directors to respond with their preferred locations. But only a few had done so. Training was a huge priority for her firm, so why were they ignoring her request?
維吉尼亞是一家國際專業服務公司的培訓主管。最近，為了說明暑期培訓方案上的一些重要調整，她發了郵件向其他主管征詢培訓地點的意見。但只有少數幾個人回復了她的郵件。培訓是公司的重頭戲，這些人為什么如此無視她的郵件呢？

Corporate employees receive and send more than 100 emails a day on average, according to tracking sites like Pingdom and Radicati. Competition for attention is fierce. So, no matter your title or department, you need to master electronic messaging to get your job done.
根據Pingdom以及Radicati等跟蹤網站的統計，公司員工每天大概平均收發100多封郵件。因此，如何讓郵件脫穎而出就顯得尤為重要。這樣說來，不管你擔任什么職位或在哪個部門，為了保證工作順利完成，都有必要學會如何發送電子郵件。

Luckily, crafting emails in a way that encourages people to read and act on them is relatively easy. You just have to apply some age-old techniques of persuasion.
某種程度上講，有特色的郵件更能激發人們閱讀并采取行動。你要做的只是稍微應用一下那些老生常談的說服技巧就行。

Before you start typing, consider:
寫郵件前，請先考慮：

The objective. What do you want to achieve with this email? Is your purpose to inform? Request input? Ask for help?
目的：你寫這封郵件想要達到什么目的？你是要發出通知、要求回應，還是尋求幫助？

What-who-when. Your objective will inform the message, including what to write, who should receive it and when to send it. Also think about whether it should come from you, or someone with more seniority.
何時何人何事：你的目的就是郵件內容，包括具體信息、收件人和發送時間。另外，想好發件人應該是你本人還是你的上司。

Visual logic. Clear structure and typographical signalling will boost the odds that your reader will get your message quickly and respond in ways that meet your goal.
邏輯清晰：清晰的結構和重點標記更容易讓人迅速理解郵件內容，并按你的要求作出答復。

Let's look at Virginia's original, unrequited email.
讓我們來看下維吉尼亞先前無人回應的郵件。

To: Blue Corp Office Directors
From: Virginia Brown, Training Director
Date: Friday, May 30, 2013
Time: 5 p.m.
Subject: New Hire Training

收件人：Blue公司各位主管
發件人：維吉尼亞-布朗，培訓主管
日 期：2013年5月30日，星期五
時 間：下午5:00
主 題：新員工培訓

Dear Colleagues,
I'm writing to let you know about significant changes to our new hire training schedule. Instead of running training from August 15 - 20th at our New York location, we'll be hosting regional trainings in New York, San Francisco and Cincinnati on three different dates. And we'll be bringing our best trainers to every location. For those office directors with new hires, we'd like to hear which training location you prefer and how many new hires you'll be sending. If for some reason the timing, which will be August 10-14th in NYC, 15-19th in SF and 20-24th in Cincinnati, doesn't work, please contact my assistant, Francine Nordell at x2345, and we'll see if there is enough demand for a make-up session. We need to put the calendar for training together by June 30th, so please get back to me by June 15th. I think you'll be pleased with our new approach and your new hires will benefit tremendously from getting to know a smaller group of colleagues as they participate in the training.
Best,
Virginia

各位同事，
我來通知一下公司新員工培訓方案上的重要調整。以前都是從8月15-20日在紐約進行培訓的，現在改成分三個時間段、分別在紐約、舊金山和辛辛那提進行。當然，公司會給每個培訓點安排最好的培訓師。如果各位主管手下有新員工，希望能告訴公司您所傾向的培訓地點以及將要派往參加培訓的新員工人數。現定時間分別是：紐約—8月10-14日，舊金山—8月15-19日，辛辛那提—8月20-24日。如果時間上有問題，請撥打x2345聯系我的助理，我們會盡量作出后補安排。培訓日程表需要在6月30日前敲定，所以請在6月15日前給我答復。我認為各位應該會喜歡這個新方案，而且新員工也將通過培訓了解同事、有所收獲。
致意，
維吉尼亞

Virginia's message isn't long, but it's a muddle of mixed signals. Her opening line sounds like her goal is to inform office directors of a new approach to training. But in reality she's requesting input: preferred training locations. That's hard to quickly recognize, and the urgency isn't clear.
維吉尼亞的郵件并不長，但信息卻亂作一團。首句聽上去好像是她本人在向各位主管發號培訓新方案的通知似的，而事實上她是要征詢主管們對培訓地點的意見。郵件真正的目的很難一眼看出，所以最重要的事情沒有得到清晰表述。

There are several things she can do to better telegraph her intent, thereby prompting a better response:
如果稍作調整，她或許就能寫出更好的郵件，也能收到更多答復了：

Put the subject line to work. Most of us already use our subject line to predict the "what," e.g. "Re monthly financials." But it's also the place to build a personal bridge: "Re monthly financials, per Peter's request," and to indicate urgency: "Re monthly financials, per Peter's request. Need feedback by Tuesday."
用好標題欄。很多人已經學會直接用標題說明目的了，例如：“關于月度財務問題”。不過，標題也可包含個人信息，例如：“關于月度財務問題—應彼得要求”；標題還可以強調緊急性，例如：“關于月度財務問題—應彼得要求—周二前必須答復”。

Visually highlight the key message. Structure your email so the most important request or information is at the top, then put it in bold. This may seem like a, "duh," but people often "bury the lede", as journalists like to say, several paragraphs down. If you are sending to multiple readers, also bold the names of anyone you address directly, so they immediately connect to content that's relevant to them. If you're making multiple points, use indentations and numbers or bullets.
標記重點信息。將郵件結構化，把重要信息加粗放在開頭。有些人表示不屑，但他們也常犯“先次后主”的毛病，像新聞寫作那樣把重點隱在幾段之后。如果收件人很多，你也應該把需要強調的人名標記出來，這樣當事人一眼就能知道該段信息跟自己有關了。如果信息點比較多，那就首行縮進、加標號或項目符號。

Use links to go deep; voting buttons to get answers. If you want someone to act on your email then make it concise and jargon-free. Use links to let readers go deeper or access forms, and voting buttons to get folks to sign up.
引用鏈接說明詳細信息，設置按鈕征詢答復。如果你希望別人回復你的郵件，那就請寫得言簡意賅一些。采用超鏈接來說明具體信息，設置按鈕讓對方點擊答復。

Time the delivery for maximum impact. Never send an email at the end of the day or the start of a weekend. Make sure people are opening it at a time when they're at their desks and have time to read it.
恰當選擇發送時間。不要在快下班或周末時發送郵件。發送郵件要趁收件人辦公的時候，確保他有時間查看郵件。

Add clout by having a superior co-sign. We may be moving into a less hierarchical work world, but the boss's name still gets attention. If you need help, ask for it.
引用上司的聯合署名加以強調。當今職場或許不再那么階級分明，但上司名字的威力也還是不容小覷的。若有需要，但用無妨。

Leave the ball in the reader's court. If you want people to get back to you or take action, make sure you put the request in bold as well. Make clear what you need from them.
讓收件人無法忽視。如果你希望收件人給予答復或采取行動，那就特別標記出你的要求，明確表明你希望他該怎么做吧。

Let's apply this to Virginia's email.
現在我們運用以上技巧來修改維吉尼亞的郵件：

To: Blue Corp Office Directors
From: Gordon Boss, SVP Human Resources and Virginia Brown, Training Director
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2013
Time: 9 a.m.
Subject: Need Your Site Registration for New Hire Training by June 15th

收件人：Blue公司各位主管
發件人：戈登老板（人力資源部高級副總裁），維吉尼亞-布朗（培訓主管）
日 期：2013年5月29日
時 間：上午9:00
主題：各位對新員工培訓地點的建議—請6月15日前答復

Dear Colleagues,
We are converting from national to regional sites for our new-hire training and offering three dates. We need you to register your trainees for a venue by June 15th to accommodate all. Please click on one of the following sites to register and enter the number of trainees.
New York: August 10-14
San Francisco: August 15-19
Cincinnati: August 20-24
If the timing doesn't work, please contact my assistant, Francine Nordell at x2345, who will gauge demand for a make-up session.
We'll be sending our best trainers to all locations. We anticipate that getting to know a smaller group of colleagues will strengthen relationships and spark collaboration.
Thanks in advance for registering.
Best,
Virginia

各位同事，
公司現在把新員工培訓地點從全國范圍改成了地區范圍，時間也改成了三個階段。請你們在6月15日前提交參加培訓的新員工名單和培訓地點。新員工登記和報數請點擊以下網址。
紐約：8月10-14日
舊金山：8月15-19日
辛辛那提：8月20-24日
如果時間有沖突，請撥打x2345聯系我的助理佛朗西娜-諾戴爾，她會盡量作出后補安排。
公司會給所有培訓地點安排最好的培訓師。公司認為，通過接觸部分同事，新員工能加強人際關系并培養協作能力。
謝謝各位配合登記。 
致意，
維吉尼亞

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