57 Ways to Sign Off on an email <www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/09/27757-ways-to-sign-off-on-an-email/> One day last fall, my colleague Miguel Morales received an email with a sign-off that was so ange, it has stuck in his mind for the last year. It came from Melissa Geisler, who works in digital sports programming and production at Yahoo. Below Geisler's title and above her cell phone number was this mystifying quote: The Bird is equal to or greater than the Word, attributed to someone named, simply, ""scientist With this and other strange sign-offs in mind, Miguel suggested I tackle the subject of how best to conclude an email. I polled colleagues, friends and four people Id consider experts, including Cynthia Lett, 55, a business etiquette consultant in Silver Spring, MD. Below is their combined wisdom and some commentary of my own. I offer four rules and a long list of potential sign -offs But first, Geisler's quote. She says it came from an episode of the animated cable Tv show Family Guy, about a song from the 1960s. That was me trying to have a little fun,"she says adding that she has since changed her signature to add Yahoos new logo, and abandoning the quote, which she hoped recipients enjoyed while it lasted. Much as I respect Geisler's attempt at levity, I think it's a mistake to leave people guessing about what you want to say Here are my four rules for signing off on emails 1. Don't include quotes. 2. Avoid oversized corporate logos. Sometimes we have no choice about this, because our companies insist we include these things, but if they are too big, they draw the eye away from the message 3. Include your title and contact info, but keep it short. In most business emails, you're doing the person a favor by sharing your vital information But make it minimal Mine just says, "Susan Adams, Senior Editor, Forbes 212-206-5571. A short link to your website is fine but avoid a laundry list of links promoting your projects and publications 4. Do include some kind of sign-off. Mark Hurst, 40, author of Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload, says the function of a sign-off is to signal the end of a message, so the recipient knows it didn't get short-circuited. "To me the sign-off is not so much style as function in the service of clearly communicating your message, he says Etiquette consultant Lett advocates a more formal approach. "I dont believe emails are conversations, she says. Theyre letters. I disagree. Emails are their own form of communication and they're evolving fast. Farhad Manjoo, 35, Wall Street Journal technology columnist and until recently, the voice behind a Slate podcast, ""Manners for the Digital Age, puts it well: An email is both a letter and an instant message he observes All of that said, here is a list of common and not-So-common email sign-offs, with commentary and notes from the experts Best- This is the most ubiquitous; it's totally safe. I recommend it highly and so do the experts My Best-A little stilted. Etiquette consultant Lett likes it My best to you-Lett also likes this one. I think it's old-fashioned1 57 Ways to Sign Off on an Email Susan Adams <www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/09/27/57-ways-to-sign-off-on-an-email/> One day last fall, my colleague Miguel Morales received an email with a sign-off that was so strange, it has stuck in his mind for the last year. It came from Melissa Geisler, who works in digital sports programming and production at Yahoo. Below Geisler’s title and above her cell phone number was this mystifying quote: “The Bird is equal to or greater than the Word,” attributed to someone named, simply, “scientist.” With this and other strange sign-offs in mind, Miguel suggested I tackle the subject of how best to conclude an email. I polled colleagues, friends and four people I’d consider experts, including Cynthia Lett, 55, a business etiquette consultant in Silver Spring, MD. Below is their combined wisdom and some commentary of my own. I offer four rules and a long list of potential sign-offs. But first, Geisler’s quote. She says it came from an episode of the animated cable TV show Family Guy, about a song from the 1960s. “That was me trying to have a little fun,” she says, adding that she has since changed her signature to add Yahoo’s new logo, and abandoning the quote, which she hoped recipients enjoyed while it lasted. Much as I respect Geisler’s attempt at levity, I think it’s a mistake to leave people guessing about what you want to say. Here are my four rules for signing off on emails: 1. Don’t include quotes. 2. Avoid oversized corporate logos. Sometimes we have no choice about this, because our companies insist we include these things, but if they are too big, they draw the eye away from the message. 3. Include your title and contact info, but keep it short. In most business emails, you’re doing the person a favor by sharing your vital information. But make it minimal. Mine just says, “Susan Adams, Senior Editor, Forbes 212-206-5571.” A short link to your website is fine but avoid a laundry list of links promoting your projects and publications. 4. Do include some kind of sign-off. Mark Hurst, 40, author of Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload, says the function of a sign-off is to signal the end of a message, so the recipient knows it didn’t get short-circuited. “To me the sign-off is not so much style as function in the service of clearly communicating your message,” he says. Etiquette consultant Lett advocates a more formal approach. “I don’t believe emails are conversations,” she says. “They’re letters.” I disagree. Emails are their own form of communication and they’re evolving fast. Farhad Manjoo, 35, Wall Street Journal technology columnist and until recently, the voice behind a Slate podcast, “Manners for the Digital Age,” puts it well: “An email is both a letter and an instant message,” he observes. All of that said, here is a list of common and not-so-common email sign-offs, with commentary and notes from the experts. Best – This is the most ubiquitous; it’s totally safe. I recommend it highly and so do the experts. My Best – A little stilted. Etiquette consultant Lett likes it. My best to you – Lett also likes this one. I think it’s old-fashioned