How to Write an Email (No, Really): Victoria Turk at TEDxAthens (Transcript)

In this TEDx Talk, from subject line to sign-off, Victoria Turk guides through some of the oft-neglected fundamentals of email etiquette.

Victoria Turk is a senior editor at WIRED UK, where she edits the magazine’s culture section, leads video strategy, and writes regularly for print and web.

TRANSCRIPT:

I’m going to teach you how to write an email.

No, seriously. You probably think that you’re an expert emailer. You‘ve been writing emails for years, decades. You spend most of your workday composing, sending, receiving and replying to emails. You live in your inbox.

But I’m here to tell you you’re probably doing it wrong.

Don’t worry because in the next 15 or so minutes, I’m going to guide you through a whistle-stop tour of the latest in email etiquette.

First, let’s rewind a little bit.

WHY DO I CARE SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR INBOX?

For many of us, email has become the default way that we communicate with each other at work. And for good reason: It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s convenient.

But here’s the thing. Although email is ostensibly the easiest way to communicate in a work context, it’s also intensely stressful.

It may well be the fastest way to get things done, and yet it just feels as if it takes up so much time.

You rarely hear of anyone complaining that they have too few unread emails.