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Writing an effective e-mail reminds me of my experiences in obtaining a state driver's license.

Like many of you, I got my learner's permit on my 16th birthday and my driver's license a week later.

I memorized the driver's manual because I wanted to pass the test on the first try.

After graduating from college, I moved to New York but kept up my Pennsylvania driver's license. I did the same when I moved to Virginia.

When I moved to Massachusetts, I decided I had better get their state license.

I am embarrassed to say I failed the written test twice because I tried to answer Massachusetts questions with Pennsylvania answers. Fifteen years of driving in three different states without an accident did not qualify me to receive a driver's license.

The written test was my downfall. I had to learn a whole new set of rules.

Today, I find many business people try to answer e-mail questions with academic answers. They try to write an e-mail the way they plagiarized (excuse me) wrote their high school and college term papers.

Or, these busy professionals rely on any Top 10 e-mail list they find on the internet as their guide for writing e-mail messages.

Actually, creating effective e-mail messages requires knowing the answers to at least 25 questions. And, in this test, unlike traditional schooling, 92 or maybe even 100 per cent is a passing grade.

For your instant access to check out how you score with your knowledge of e-mails, take the e-mail effectiveness test.

Al Borowski writes and speaks about communicating as effectively on paper or via the web as you do in person or on the phone.

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Communications Skills