The six words and phrases you should never use in an email

You should never write ‘I’m sorry’, ‘if you want my opinion’ or ‘I may be wrong, but’, in a work-related email, experts say.

The phrases are among six frequently used, cringeworthy lines used in office emails, but do nothing for the sender’s reputation.

According to the team at resume.io the floppy phrases lead to miscommunication, because it is difficult to judge tone with written messages.

The experts revealed detailed the most detrimental lines to FEMAIL to attempt to help office workers negotiate their working lives online.

‘I’m sorry’

If you have done something really wrong you need to pick up the phone and admit it, the experts say, a brief ‘sorry’ over email won’t cut it.

If you haven’t done anything wrong then punctuating your emails with ‘I’m sorrys’ does nothing but make you look subordinate.

The experts explained people often do this to be polite but are in fact undermining themselves and telling others they don’t deserve to be respected.

‘If you want my opinion…’

‘If you have an opinion, state it. There’s no need to apologise for it,’ the experts said.

The commonly used phrase can also be interpreted as aggressive of condescending, similar to ‘correct me if I am wrong.’

 ‘I may be wrong, but…’

This screams insecurity, according to the experts, as does the phrase ‘this might be a stupid question, but.’

People don’t want to work with people who are insecure.

Those who come across as insecure are also less likely to be promoted in the workplace. 

Using Emojis

They belong in posts, DMs and texts, not in business emails, the experts say.

Popular social media acronyms like LOL or salutations like ‘hi’, or ‘hey’, fall under the same ‘social media only’ banner, they added.

This includes signing emails off with ‘cheers’ or something equally as juvenile, they explained.

‘Does this make sense?’ 

‘If it feels confusing to you, rewrite it. If it is confusing to the reader, they will let you know,’ they said.

Never ask if something makes sense – if you are concerned that it doesn’t then just fix it or wait for the reader to tell you they don’t understand

The phrase can make you look incompetent because it makes it look like your work needs to be signed off on by management every time.

Jargon  

Jargon makes you sound robotic. It makes you sound like a junior, they warned.

Some jargon tends to spread like wildfire and be overused. This jargon (or buzzwords) is likely to make your reader wince. 

Other jargon stays locked inside a group. This jargon is likely to make your reader confused. 

Use strong, plain-English words.

Don’t begin your email with ‘I hope you’re well,’ and don’t fill sentences with 15th century words forms such as amongst, hence and whilst.