Texas District & County Attorneys Association

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THE TEXAS PROSECUTORContinued from page 25your mail on all accounts promptly. Youmay know that one address is your primarymailbox, but others may not. Andbecause the medium is e-mail, sendersexpect a much fastere response than alook-see once a week.6Avoid using all uppercase or all lowercase.Writers use either all uppercaseor lowercase because they think it’sfaster to keyboard without hitting theShift key. They’re correct—it is faster forthe sender … but not for the reader.Which of the following two e-mailsdo you prefer to read?DO NOT STOP BY. FYI I’MLEAVING FOR THE NEA ASAP VIALA. I’M HOPING TO CONNECTWITH JOHN IN INTERNATIONALCOFFEE SHOP. SO IF HE CALLSHAVE SUE TELL HIM WHERE OFFAIRPORT ROUTE. ETA STILL NOTCLEAR. SEMINAR ROOM TBD.TELL HIM TO BRING THE MDGMODEL WITH HIM. MAY NEEDTO DEMO.do not stop by. fyi i’m leaving for thenea asap via la. i’m hoping to connectwith john in international coffee shop.so if he calls have sue tell him where offairport route. eta still not clear. seminarroom tbd. tell him to bring the mdgmodel with him. may need to demo.Neither would be immediately clear.Uppercase and lowercase letters are readingaids that signal a reader about sentencebeginnings (new thoughts), propernouns, and acronyms. Besides makingyour e-mail more difficult to read, alluppercase is interpreted as shouting, andall lowercase as lazy.7Never double-space your entire message.Readers need to grasp sentences,paragraphs, and lists as singleunits; double-spacing on the screenmakes that more difficult to do.Double-spacing between paragraphs,however, aids readability—forthe same reason just mentioned.8Highlight responses in color to aidreading. Rather than simply hittingthe Reply key and keyboarding youranswers after each specific question orkeyboarding all your answers eitherabove or below the original message, useyour color pen to highlight yourresponses (provided, of course, youknow your other internal readers’ e-mailprograms support color). Your answerswill stand out dramatically.9Cut and paste rather than hit “reply”on long, continuing e-mails. Don’tmake recipients read through long linesof their previous e-mail to find yourtwo-sentence reply. Delete all the otherbackground or explanatory informationoriginally sent and leave only the pertinentquestions, along with your responses.Or cut the pertinent questions andpaste them into a new e-mail, accompaniedby your responses.Although this point is not so criticalwhen you’re responding only to the originalwriter of the e-mail (because he orshe can more easily distinguish betweenthe original message and your responses),others who may be copied on yourreply will have difficulty separating theoriginal comments from the responses.Be wary of humor or sarcasm.10Humor is extremely difficult toconvey in writing because you do nothave the same body language “softeners”(a twinkle in the eye, a smile, a shrug ofthe shoulders) that provide interpretationclues in face-to-face conversations.That’s why comedy writers earn bigbucks. Either be sure your humor works,use the typical sideways smiley face as alabel, or don’t try your wit at all.Neither is sarcasm any more acceptablein e-mail than in face-to-face communication.Sending off a scathingattack with some disclaimer about how“the humor-impaired should skip thismessage” does not rule out offense andmitigate the criticism. In short, don’twrite anything in e-mail that you wouldn’twant forwarded to your CEO, yourcustomers, your family, or your friends.Allow cool-off time before send-a flame or any emotional11ingmessage. Sending a negative messagethat contains insensitive, insulting, negative,and critical comments is called aflame. Before you flame, cool off. Onceyou hit the Send button, you’re committed.As a safety valve, leave an emotionallycharged message in your out-box ordrafts folder for at least an hour or, better,a day. Ask yourself: Would I say thisface-to-face? Remember, there really is alive person on the receiving end of yourcommunication.Particularly, avoid flaming in public.If you must send a negative message tosomeone who originated a message, doPAGE 26
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004not post your flame or send it to anentire distribution list. Even in the oldTV westerns, the cowboys always“stepped outside” to have a showdown.Others really do not appreciate beinginvolved in a personal debate or insultinge-mail duel.Use receipts sparingly. In urgent12matters, when you must beassured that someone has read your e-mail, use of a receipt is appropriate.However, generally, readers interpret areceipt to mean “I got you. Now I haveproof that you received this message, sodon’t give me any excuses for notresponding or doing what I asked.”A good rule of thumb is to usereceipts only for emergencies.Don’t forward sensitive materials13or copyrighted articles withoutpermission. Copyright on e-mailbelongs to the writer of the message, notthe recipient. If there’s any doubt inyour mind about forwarding anotherperson’s e-mail, don’t.Granted, in our routine business e-mail, it’s standard practice to forward e-mail to someone else who can or shouldhandle a situation (or know about it).But standard practice is not legal practice.Ask yourself these filter questionsabout e-mails you plan to forward: 1)Will the author be upset that I forwardedthe message? 2) Does this informationcontain a copyright note? It’s notnecessary for the author to place a copyrightnote on a document for it to havelegal protection. But you can be surethat when there’s a formal copyrightnote, the author is dead serious aboutcopyright infringement.If there’s a question about forwardingsomeone’s e-mail, reconsider beforeyour risk ire and the law.If you don’t have something to14say, don’t say it. Not all e-mailsdeserve responses. On the street, whensomeone you know speaks to you, etiquettedictates that you return the greeting.And if you’re from some particularlyfriendly parts of the country, peoplegreet and return greetings—and evenengage in small talk over an extendedperiod—from total strangers.Not so with e-mail. Don’t reply to amessage unless you have something toadd. If you’re “tagged,” don’t feel asthough you’re obligated or expected toreply.Some of the biggest time-wasters aresilly responses, such as in the followingsituation with an e-mail from Bryan tohis coworkers:“I’m considering switching softwarefor handling our geological maps. I’minvestigating Brand XYZ from ABCCompany. If you have any experiencewith this software, I’d appreciate anopinion about it. Thanks.”More than 60 responses floodedBryan’s box, and they all basically said,“Never heard of it.”If you don’t have anything to say,don’t say it.Use a signature block or line. The15signature line identifies who youare and includes alternative ways to contactyou (usually phone and fax numbers).When your return address is theonly item identifying the messagesource, your signature block may be allthat people find to identify you.You may need to use different signatureblocks for internal and external correspondence.If you’re sending e-mailoutside your organization, identify yourselfcompletely, stating your positionand the name of your organization. Forinternal use, you may mention onlyyour department and sometimes includea descriptive line about the key projectyou’re leading if most of your e-mailrelates to your role in that capacity.And, in fact, the signature blockcontaining a full name may be the onlyway the recipient can decipher thename. With an e-mail address likepconeil@aol.com (Is it Paul Coneil orP.C. O’Neil?), tray@hotmail.net (is it T.Ray or someone with the first nameTray?) or johnspeaks4&2@compuserve.com,readers may have difficultyrecognizing even a friend’s name.To avoid this difficulty, be sure toenter your full name, as well as your e-mail address. Both should appear in thesender line.To go one step furhter, use the “vcard”(virtual card—this contains itemssuch as your full name, title, organization,phone, or fax). Keep lookingthrough your e-mail program optionsuntil you find this great little feature.This small file, automatically attached toyour outgoing e-mail, can populate acontact record with all your contactinformation for the benefit of the personreceiving your message.Continued on page 28PAGE 27
Page 4 and 5: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORthePresident’
Page 6 and 7: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORtheExecutive Di
Page 8 and 9: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORContinued from
Page 10 and 11: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORElected Prosecu
Page 12 and 13: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORPAGE 12FOCUS ON
Page 18 and 19: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORFOCUS ON …By
Page 20 and 21: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORTHE AGONY COLUM
Page 22 and 23: Investigators School AgendaHere’s
Page 24 and 25: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORPAGE 24KEY PERS
Page 36 and 37: THE TEXAS PROSECUTORVICTIM ASSISTAN
Page 40: Continued from page 10Texas Distric

Texas District & County Attorneys Association

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