If you are like me, you get a number of e-mail items on a daily basis. I guess that because I am a minister and have a ministry e-mail address, that accounts for getting around 200 items per day – for about 15 years!
Because of the nature of my “business” I have to check (at least briefly) the content of each of them, for there might be one or two that are valid – that is, someone who may actually need help or guidance and I wouldn’t want them to “slip through the cracks”. And, yes, there are those around the world who reach out via e-mail, for they know of nowhere else to search for help.
However, the bulk of the e-mail is for buying Viagra cheaply or for claiming the $13.3 billion that some unknown person in Dang Kwah or somewhere else that no one has heard of, has left me in his/her will. Those are easy to cull and delete. But, still, they do take up my time as well as space on my mail server.
To help alleviate some of those that are obviously not reaching out for spiritual counsel, I am fortunate to have on my mail server, filters and other software that maintains a list of “known spammers” as well as keywords (like, Viagra, etc.) and will trap those so that they never reach me. That cuts down on about 80% of the “trash” mail.
(Note: my mail service is included in the monthly rental of the server where my WEB sites reside. Not all mail “services”, especially the free ones or those supplied by your Internet service provider, have all of those special “filters”. For $10 a month, I get my WEB sites hosted, plus mail; such a deal! (The hosting service I use – X-Static Media Group – can be found as a link elsewhere on this page).
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Getting back to “courtesy”, may I suggest some guidelines when submitting e-mail, or for that reason, any kind of writing.
The first annoying thing to call attention to is, DO NOT USE ALL CAPS!! Using all capitalized words make a document hard to read. For some reason, you will find some legal documents typed in all caps; I don’t know why, unless in the beginning of written (legal) matter, many folks couldn’t read or read well, and supposedly that would help them. You probably remember your own child (or yourself!) began writing, using all BIG letters!
Capitalization, other than the obvious, like the first letter in personal names, etc., should be used only for emphasis of one or two word at most, not full sentences. Using all caps gives the sensation of being shouted at, and most people don’t appreciate that.
There are other ways to engender emphasis other than full capitalization. The simplest is Capitalizing the first letter. Further, one can use Italics, the Embolden feature, and finally Underlining. Sometimes I also use a Larger font. Oh, and when you use a larger font, don’t make it SO large that it truncates to a second line. Again, that’s overemphasis. Using quotes, sparingly (“aaa“), will also help in emphasis.
If none of those get the attention, nothing will!
To emphasize an exceptional sentence (and be sure it is exceptional) you could end it with an exclamation point (!), but use them very sparingly or they will lose their importance. And don’t use multiple exclamation points (!!!!!!!). Again, that’s like shouting.
Finally, use paragraphs generously. Don’t change your thought pattern unless you start a new paragraph. It avoids confusion. A lot of people write like they talk – so fast that everything is all jumbled together. That extra line between paragraphs doesn’t cost much but it sure does make your document a lot more readable!
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I’m not approaching these things as a “know-it-all”, just someone who reads a lot of “stuff” and writes a few things as well. These are matters that I have personally identified along with some things that have been taught to me by those much more knowledgeable than I!
I feel that, if you use a good measure of these “suggestions” or pointers, your e-mail or letter or other documents will be better received and read by the recipient!
