Complete Guide to Writing Follow-Up and Thank-You Emails in English

Welcome back. You've almost made it through to the end of the course because this is our last lesson in the module about inviting and following up with a contact in writing. In this lesson, you'll learn how to write a follow-up email after you've met someone for the first time. You'll also learn how to write an email thanking someone for inviting you to an event. And at the end of this lesson, you'll write your own follow-up email. In module two, we learned that it is important to follow up with a contact you have made, either with a telephone call or an email. So let's see how to do this in an email.

Let's look at an example follow-up email. Read these questions and then read the email to find the answers. So what makes a good follow-up email? Let's look at writing one step by step. As always, we'll begin with the subject line. Remember, the subject line should be a short noun phrase which tells the recipient the main point of the email. In this example, the writer probably wants to set up a meeting in Seattle. Can you tell what the email will be about by these subject lines? In this email, the writer probably wants a formal introduction to someone the reader knows called Filson. How about this one? Here, the writer probably wants to recommend a new app that might be useful for the reader's company. And this one, the writer is likely going to request some information about a partner company in Argentina.

So we've written our subject line. Next, of course, we write the greeting. As you learn before in module three, the greeting you use depends on your relationship. In most cases, a follow-up email will be friendly and more informal. So something like, hi, Jesse, would be acceptable. Otherwise, using dear and the first name is a good choice. Now, for the opening sentence, here you want to remind the reader where you met. You can also make a positive comment like these examples. If you want to be a little more indirect, you can start with a phrase like this. Then mention where you met. Then write something specific about the conversation. You can then include the purpose of the email. Usually, we would use more neutral language. To make the purpose sound less abrupt, we can use a word like anyway before the purpose. Anyway, is used when the topic before is slightly different. For example, where we met and gets the reader back to the main purpose of the email.

We can finish the email with a friendly closing sentence, inviting the reader to respond if appropriate. So to summarize, here is how to write a follow-up email. Make sure there is a clear subject line. After the greeting, remind the reader where you met and also mention something specific. Then give the reason why you are writing. Finally, add a friendly closing sentence. Let's now do a short quiz to review what you have learned about writing a follow-up email.

In the next lesson, you will learn how to write a simple email, thanking someone for inviting you to an event. Do you remember the email from the last lesson inviting someone to a reception? Well, let's look at the thank you email that Jesse Robinson sent after he attended the reception. Before you read the email, look at these questions then find the answers in the email. Again, let's look at writing a thank you email step by step. Here are some common general subject lines that you can use in a thank you email or you can be more specific by mentioning the event.

Next, we write the purpose. We can use thank you for, followed by a noun phrase or the ING form of the verb. If you want to be more informal, you can start with thank you or thanks. Then it's a good idea to also give the other person a compliment on or comment how nice the event was. You should also mention something specific about the event. Enjoy and appreciate are almost always followed by an object. With enjoy, we can use both a noun or an ING form of the verb. With appreciate, we can use a noun or sometimes your and the ING form of the verb. This is more formal. You can then add a sentence to show that you want to keep in contact. And here is a useful phrase if we want to do something in return for the other person. For example, if you bought me lunch during a visit to your city, I might want to offer to buy you lunch when you visit Seattle.

In the closing sentence, it is also common to repeat the thank you. To summarize, here is how to organize a thank you email. First, you should express thanks in the opening sentence. Then give a compliment or say something nice about the event. Next, you should make a specific comment about the event. Maybe how helpful it was. Then you can write a sentence that shows you want to keep in contact. And finally, restate the thank you in the friendly closing sentence. To complete this section, we're going to ask you to do a short quiz on some of the language that is common in a thank you email. So now you know how to write a follow up email and a thank you email. To finish this lesson, you're going to put what you've learned into practice in a short writing assignment. Thank you.