Home >  English Short Stories >  List  > How to Optimize Meeting Announcement Emails: From Mistakes to Improvement Tips

Listening Content

[4:22] How to Optimize Meeting Announcement Emails: From Mistakes to Improvement Tips

Listening Content Display

This article explains how to improve meeting announcement emails by comparing bad examples with effective revisions, covering subject lines, greetings, content, and closings to enhance English listening and business email writing skills.

Select word → Click 🔍 to translate"

Content

To help us review what we've learned about an email announcing a meeting, we're going to look at a bad example of an email and see how it should be improved. Let's take a look at this email that Eric wrote to his team members. What is wrong with it? If you need more time, pause the video. The email was very informal and didn't give a lot of information, did it? So, let's see how we can improve it.

First, let's fix the subject line to make it clearer and use the right format. Okay, now let's fix that greeting. It's not very professional. Using 'Hi everyone' would probably be better. Good, so what about the first mind? It doesn't really tell us anything useful about the meeting. So, let's include what the meeting is again and then add the date, time and location. Now, we could also be more specific about what we're going to talk about at the meeting.

Okay, we should be clear about where the agenda is. Is it in the body of the email or is it attached? Let's say it's attached. Okay, we don't usually say 'check it' when we include an attachment. As long as we mention that it is attached, the reader will know to look for it. Actually, if we include the sentence asking if anyone wants to add anything, it will encourage the reader to open the attachment. So, let's do that.

Finally, let's end the email with a friendly closing and a name rather than an initial just to make it a little more professional. So, there we are, a much better email.

Listening Comprehension

  • agenda

    noun

    1. a temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to

    Synonym: docketschedule

    2. a list of matters to be taken up (as at a meeting)

    Synonym: agendumorder of business

  • encourage

    verb

    1. spur on

    e.g. His financial success encouraged him to look for a wife

    2. inspire with confidence
    give hope or courage to

    3. contribute to the progress or growth of

    e.g. I am promoting the use of computers in the classroom

    Synonym: promoteadvanceboostfurther

  • professional

    noun

    1. an authority qualified to teach apprentices

    Synonym: master

    2. a person engaged in one of the learned professions

    Synonym: professional person

    3. an athlete who plays for pay

    Synonym: pro

  • informal

    adj

    1. not formal

    e.g. conservative people unaccustomed to informal dress
    an informal free-and-easy manner
    an informal gathering of friends

    2. used of spoken and written language

    3. having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere

    e.g. had a cozy chat
    a relaxed informal manner
    an intimate cocktail lounge
    the small room was cozy and intimate

    Synonym: cozyintimate

    4. not officially recognized or controlled

    e.g. an informal agreement
    a loose organization of the local farmers

    Synonym: loose