Email signatures: Most of the time they might seem invisible, like something you have to put at the end of an email. But they might just be the key to understanding you.
What information you choose to include, or don’t include, like a cell number or pronouns, and how you choose to include it –– Italics? Bold? –– says something about you. When Michael McCluskey, an associate teaching professor of English at Northeastern University, teaches his business writing classes, there’s a reason he spends a lot of time on email signatures. “You’re telling a story, whether or not you know it,” McCluskey says. “However you speak, however you write … it’s not just about the information you’re putting together. It’s about how you put it together.”
Like any other kind of writing, email signatures come down to intent and audience. What are you trying to say (or not say), and who are you trying to say it to? The information that most people would call boilerplate for an email signature –– like your name, job title and contact information –– serves a practical purpose, but also conveys something to people.
