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The Problem with Hello in Business Writing
Published by gege on Monday, July 13, 2009 at 9:01 AMThere is no problem with using “Hello” or “Hi” in writing your business email. Business writing is about writing as you would speak. Effective business writing is about building rapport. Hello and Hi are natural and friendly words to greet your readers in a manner that is less formal than the Dear _____, salutation you use for traditional letters. If the circumstances and the audience are appropriate, go ahead and use them.
Of course, this greeting is best used for readers you can call by their first names. Drop the formal titles of Mr., Mrs., and Ms.
The problem we normally encounter with using such greetings is the way we punctuate them.
Some people write it this way:
Hi Dennis,
They think that since this is as a substitute for Dear ___, we should follow the punctuation. Insert loud and irritating buzzer sound here to indicate it’s wrong.
The proper way to punctuate this salutation is this:
Hi, Dennis.
This follows the punctuation rule of enclosing in commas the name of the person you’re writing to. For example:
Yes, Sammy, we will meet on Saturday.
No, Carol.
So, my dear readers, hello and goodbye for now. Hopefully I would be back here soon.
Labels: punctuation violations
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Hi.
That was really hard. I really wanted to put comma in. When we are speaking, we can say, "Hi Bob." Then there is a long pause, where they can say something. Or we can say, "Hi Bob, have you finished the report." There is just a short pause. So why can't we start with "Hi Bob, " on an e-mail.
Hi, Ruby Isabella. The reason "Hi Bob," with a comma is wrong is because Hi, Bob. is a sentence, and as such, it needs to end with a period.
Thanks! I'd been wondering about the punctuation when you started an email with hello instead of dear___.
Dani
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