A useful tip for those who have ever hit “send” too soon

This wasn't an issue in the pre-email days of letter writing.

For the blog assignment for my writing class this week, I had my students read this article http://careerplanning.about.com/od/communication/a/email_tips.htm with seven tips for sending professional emails. Almost all of us (myself included) agreed that the last tip, “wait to fill in the TO email address” is one of the most valuable pieces of advice we’d gotten in the last few years. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve meant to click “paste” to insert my carefully written, perfectly spelled text and accidently hit “send.” Or have forgotten to attach the document that was the whole point of the email. The next step has then been to send the ritual “oops” email. By waiting until you are completely finished—including the attachment—to add the recipient’s address, you’ll eliminate any embarrassing “oops” emails in the future. Dang good advice!