You wouldn’t start off an e-mail with “My Dear X”, or “Dearest X”, since that would be too personal for a professional email, so “To X” being more impersonal seems like it would make the letter more professional-sounding, compared to “Dear X”.

  • @OhmsLawn
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    89 months ago

    For me, the first 4 lines go on the bottom, with the signature.

    One of my managers cold-starts his emails with Name,. That’s a little too dry for my style, but obviously Dear is far too mushy. I stick with Hi, Hello, Hey, or Greetings, depending on the context.

    • FuglyDuck
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      edit-2
      9 months ago

      Well, emails are less formal, so that’s fine.

      Keep in mind…. Things like eviction notices…. Being nice comes off… creepy. “Hello! Get the fuck out! Sincerely,” just… ya know?

      Most of my emails people don’t actually read. They just open the attachments and get to what they need right off.

      Also… this guide is like… 30+yo typist etiquette. Emails were barely a thing back then.

    • SanguinePar
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      59 months ago

      So you’re saying “Howdy-doodly-doo” is too much?

      No wonder I never got that job.

    • @LesserAbe
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      49 months ago

      Yeah, I see a fair amount of “{name},” which I think is as good a combination of formal and direct we can offer in email form. I prefer “Hi {name},” most of the time.

      I’m in sales and do quite a bit of cold outreach. In those situations I like “good morning {name}” when it’s morning because it helps indicate a real person is sending the message vs some mass automated email where that greeting would be wrong half the time. I don’t think “good afternoon” has the same value because it sounds too formal.