Ten Tips on WHAT NOT TO DO WITH EMAIL. More accurately, how to KILL ME with e-mail.

• Don’t start with a salutation. Not everyone agrees on this, but I think it’s darn rude. How the do I know this note was intended for me if you don’t begin with “Dear Suzanne,” “Hi Suzanne,” “Good Morning Suzanne,” If I picked up the phone you wouldn’t say...”Listen I wonder if you have time to...” You’d warm me up and make me feel special. “Hi Suzanne, how are you?” E-mail should be economical, but you may want to acknowledge me by name and let me know “Hey, this is for you!”

• Bury the Lead. Have you ever noticed how the same people who think out loud do it in writing? They write stream of consciousness; regurgitating all over the page; a wandering mess with a point you just hope is in there somewhere. It goes on and on...and on and on...and on and on...just glancing at the page makes your brain hurt. I usually close those and wait until I have time. Which of course never happens.

• Make it Impossible to Skim: What ever happened to paragraphs? Bullet points? Visual cues? Sometimes, a longer email is necessary. Break it up and make it easier to skim. Let the reader glance and capture the essence, and then go back to fully digest the content. If you insist on writing long, unruly paragraphs that never end, I will miss something. Guaranteed.

• Send More than 3 E-Mails on the Same Topic/Conversation. Nobody minds answering a quick question by email, but once you hit the send button three times on the same topic you’re crossing over to annoyance. We all love email for the convenience. We can read when we are ready. At the same time, these electronic conversations are akin to the drip, drip, drip of Chinese Water Torture. There is this wonderful little invention called the telephone, and what’s really exciting is now we also have cell phones so you can use them anywhere, anytime. It usually takes 23.5 seconds to work out an issue that demands 5 or 6 e-mails.

• Hit Reply All When Answering a Question Posed by One Person. Once again, I expect to hear some disagreement, but honestly, I don’t need to hear from all 35 people on an e-mail stream about whether or not they are available to meet on Thursday at 4. That’s the meeting leader’s job. Reply to the person who initiated the request and keep my inbox clear. Here’s a tip - meeting leaders - TELL everybody on the list that they should reply only to you. Of course, some will still ignore this but it will at least cut the junk down to a dull roar.

• Don’t Explain the Action You Want or Require. I often open a note in my inbox with a vague title line, wondering what’s this about. I’ll and scroll to the bottom first to see if there is a request or call to action. Lacking a clear understanding of what is needed, I will go back to the beginning, but I’m not happy. What do you want? Why not at least indicate where this is going? Better yet, put it into the subject line and give me a deadline.

• Avoid being specific. I’m a simple person. Tell me precisely what you want. Don’t couch it, avoid it, explain it ten ways to Sunday or hide behind jargon. Instead of asking, “What are your thoughts?” Why not ask, “Could you send me the names of two people who could participate by Friday?” I’m so much happier when I know what I can do quickly to get you what you need.

• Call me by the wrong name. Ouch. I have to confess I have misspelled people’s names, too, and I really HATE it when I realized I’ve done it. Listen, I’ll answer to anything and everybody makes mistakes, but I’m always amazed when I sign am email “Suzanne,” with my full signature “Suzanne Bates,” just below, and the salutation line comes back “Suzzane,” “Susan” or “Sue.” I’m certain now that I will hear from everyone whose name I have misspelled. Okay, that’s fair.

• Require an answer within the hour. Look, I admire people who answer their e-mail within the hour, it’s a wonderful habit, and I appreciate it, I do. It’s just not my life right now. Meetings last more than an hour; travel across the country takes six hours; it just isn’t practical. If there’s a deadline, then for heaven’s sake, call the office and tell someone who can do something about it.

• Say Things, or Ask Things, That Should Never Be Mentioned in E-Mail. I don’t know anybody, and I mean ANYBODY who hasn’t made this mistake, especially in the early days when we didn’t realize that these were not private messages. But these days, who hasn’t heard the horror stories? Who hasn’t had a friend, colleague, boss or they themselves been hurt by forwarding, replying or including someone in correspondence that was never meant for their eyes. If you wouldn’t want it on the front page of the New York Times, don’t put it into print, even to your best friend.