In our tech-heavy world, emails have become one of the most important lifelines when it comes to communication. And having a lousy email game can be detrimental (seriously!) to connecting with people—especially when it comes to career-related emails. Here are 6 simple but useful practices to use when engaging via email:

1. If you’re reaching out to a somewhat stranger—say someone you quickly met at a conference, or an industry vet you’ve only seen on LinkedIn—stand out by making a point to start the email with a connection. For example: ‘My friend X told me about your work and spoke so highly of you that I had to get in touch’ or ‘It was great to meet you at X last week!’

2. Send emails on Monday or Tuesday late morning. This is the best time for your emails to be seen and responded to. Emails sent on the weekend get buried in a work account and emails sent later in the day or towards the end of the work week are often pushed off and inadvertently forgotten.

3. Stay away from emojis and use exclamation points sparingly unless you know the person well on a real-life basis. More often than not, they’re seen as unprofessional and can be a turn-off. If you’re good friends with the person and they are letting the smiley faces flow, then it’s appropriate to include them.

4. Write subjectively and with some emotion. Emails that read like an academic article or without a sense of urgency/excitement about the subject don’t necessarily invite responses. Some people read hundreds of emails a day, so make yours a refreshing pleasure.

5. Ask a question or two. Separate them from the body of the email as their own paragraph if possible. Emails with questions give the recipient a reason and easy format for responding.

6. Keep the subject line short, sweet, and specific. Think of it as a headline for a top news story. Make it relevant and personal to the recipient and make sure each word has its own punctuated meaning and deserves to be there. (Caps lock and a million exclamation points not necessary.)

Happy emailing!
P.S. I don’t necessarily follow this system, but it’s super interesting.