You blast hundreds off per day. Most of the ones that you receive have typos and other grammatical mistakes that are so bad, you can’t even understand them. How can you rise above the masses through your sheer verbal elegance, be understood, and hopefully cut down on the back and forth?

Here are some tips from an anonymous fellow working in private equity:

1) Emails should always be gramatically correct.

2) They should also be somewhat formal and make zero use of colloquialisms.

3) Read and re-read your email before you send it out. I typically read a one or two paragraph email at least once. With emails greater than two paragraphs, I may read it three times.

4) Never use ellipses (…). This is the equivalent of verbal diarrhea and it doesn’t mean anything.

5) Do not try to replicate how you speak in an email.

6) Don’t use punctuation to convey uncertainty. If you’re uncertain, then state “I’m uncertain.”

7) Always use opening salutations, even in emails to your co-workers or colleagues.

Never include your closing salutation in your signature. That’s just lazy and rude.