email English
11 Negotiating a project
You are going to write two emails: the first to a freelancer/small company asking them to work
with you on a particular job; the second a reply to a partner about a different job, in which you
take the role of a freelancer/small company yourself.
EMAIL 1
You work for a large company that needs to employ a freelancer or small company for a specific
job. Write to the freelancer/small company about the job.
Prepare the situation using the questions below. The information can be real or imaginary.
What is your companys business? What products/services do you offer?
What job or project needs a freelancer or small company?
Ideas: an IT project; auditing your books; some training for your staff; a legal service; a
design service.
Who are you going to write to?
How did you get their contact information?
Ideas: the Internet; recommendation from a colleague.
What exactly do you want this freelancer/small company to do?
What do you need to know in terms of their charges, availability etc.?
Do you have any specific questions to ask them about this job/project?
Ideas: some specialist knowledge that they have.
Now write the email.
When you finish, work with a partner. Check each others grammar, spelling, punctuation and
style. Is everything clear, well-structured and easy to understand?
EMAIL 2
Exchange emails with a different partner. Now you are the freelancer/small company that your
partner needs to do the job. Write a reply to the email you receive
Some ideas are given below, but adapt and change them as you wish.
Thank them for their email.
Say that you attach a file with some information about yourself.
Ideas: your publicity material; rates; list of clients etc.
Ask questions about practical details that you need to know.
Ideas: dates? times? size of the job/project?
Respond to any other points in the email you received.
Now write the email.
When you finish, work with a partner. Check each others grammar, spelling, punctuation and
style. Is everything clear, well-structured and easy to understand?
FOLLOW-UP
Continue the exchange of emails for a few more turns, negotiating details as you go.
This material has been written to accompany email English, by Paul Emmerson. ISBN 1405012943
This page has been downloaded from [Link].
It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages.
Copyright Macmillan Publishers Limited 2004.
