“Speaking the Language” 

Let’s build on your important work on identity, code-switching, and imposter syndrome in the workplace. We at OMD believe you belong in every field, position, and workplace that interests you! 

Let’s start with a really simple question: 

“How do I want people to perceive me at work? What do I want them to think when we interact?” 

(Hint: you can look back at your answers to the opening and closing questions of this module to get a start!) 

Based on that, let’s think about where this becomes really real, where the rubber meets the road. The way you come off in e-mail, for example, can shape the way that professors, co-workers, and potential employers perceive you and respond to you. And, you can make this work to your advantage! 

Take some time with the exercises below to explore the basics of effective email.

Once you’ve covered the basics, we suggest you to take this to the next level by practicing a real life email challenge and asking someone you trust for feedback.

Next Level Conversation

To start pick a scenario below. After you have picked a scenario, write an email response addressing the issue. Ask someone you trust to read your email and tell you what they’d think if they received it.

• You were offered a job interview, but something came up and you need to reschedule. 
• The due date for your group project is coming, and your group is behind because a few people haven’t been contributing. 
• You’ve had a family emergency come up that is going to make you late for work or class. 
• You need an appointment with your professor to cover some questions you have, and the office hours on the syllabus don’t work for you. 

After you’ve completed a draft email that you'd send in this situation, ask someone you trust to read your work and tell you what they’d think if they received this email. If this came up for you, think about how code switching came into play. How did you decide to write to this person based on your goal and what you thought would help?

Critical Questions:

What was your approach to writing this email?

How did code switching come into play (if at all) when writing your email response?