July 01, 2013

How SHOULD You Sign Off An Email?

We shared this article a few weeks ago on whether the signoff in emails have gone the way of the dodo. Matthew J.X. Malady, the author of the slate piece, feels that they are of a bygone era. In a way, that makes sense. Using signoffs such as "sincerely" seems very antiquated, but would emails feel incomplete without something signaling the end of the email? Alternatively, I've seen people use "eom" (for "end of message"), but that feels incredibly cold and distant, going completely against the notion that emails are meant to be personal.

Personally, I end my emails with "cheers."

Here's what a few of our Twitter followers thought:

@Contactually I think it's still polite to use a sign off. But I'm also an old fashioned note writer :)

-- Rosemary Buerger (@rosebuerger) May 20, 2013

 

I'm guilty of "warm regards" RT @Contactually: What do you think of this? >> It's time to kill the #email signoff. http://t.co/c7W7SiZcgv

-- Bill Winterberg CFP(r) (@BillWinterberg) May 20, 2013

 

For internal emails, yes! RT @Contactually: What do u think? > "It's time to kill the email signoff." http://t.co/avtzuIC7N1 via @slate

-- K Saum (@KtSaum) May 26, 2013

 

[hs_action id="3345, 3344, 3343, 3339"]

Or, you can end try signing your emails this way:

@billwinterberg How bout sign-offs that make sense in context? e.g. I recently wrote "Cantankerously," to end a gruff message @Contactually

-- Nathan Gehring (@nathangehring) May 20, 2013

What's your rule on email etiquette for signoffs?