E-mail "the main stop on the information superhighway " can be a blessing or a curse.

It was a curse to Harry Stonecipher, Boeing CEO, who was ousted when a female employee revealed through e-mail an illicit affair. It was a curse to Goldman Sachs when the company paid $2 million to settle federal regulators' charges for improperly offering securities through e-mail. And it was a curse to Enron when sensitive e-mails ended up in court as part of a congressional investigation.

According to Jean D. Sifleet, business attorney and author of three books, "Many companies think that having an e-mail policy is enough to protect them from legal exposure. That's just not realistic. Employees use e-mail for all sorts of activities, and they need to be trained about what's okay and what's not okay."

Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts, business writing expert and author of 19 books, states, "E-mail is a blessing when it's used properly. Using e-mail properly goes beyond legal and etiquette. E-mail is a serious business communications tool, and you must treat it with the same respect as any other business document you write."

Training is the key to proper, safe, and productive e-mail usage.

Training is now available online. Here's a preview of what you can expect:

E-mails that Mean Business

Write e-mails that get read and get you the results you want. For example, think how efficient it would be for the subject line column of your inbox to read like the "Newsline"column of USA Today. Your readers view your subject line (as a headline) and get critical information about your message. That's how efficiently you learn to write. Learn to write e-mail messages with a subject line that shouts "Read Me!". . . messages that have the impact you want to have on your readers . . . messages that get results. Here's a preview of what you can expect to learn in this interactive format:

-Craft a subject line that commands attention and gets responses.

-Deliver the essence of your message in the subject line.

-Write a clear and concise message that answers who, what, when, where, why, and how in the opening paragraph.

-Use e-mail etiquette so each message is personable and professional.

E-mails that Avoid Legal Pitfalls

Learn to recognize what's "okay"and what's "not okay"in e-mail, and avoid unintended legal consequences. Extra caution is needed in using e-mail because, unlike a telephone or face-to-face conversation, e-mail is a permanent record. For example:

-An exchange of e-mails can result in a legally binding contract. You want to be clear about the terms before you hit the send key and make a legal commitment.

-E-mail can be evidence of harassment. If you state an opinion in an e-mail and send it to a colleague, remember that the e-mail can be forwarded on. Before sending an e-mail that includes disparaging remarks, uses profanity, makes sexual or other remarks about someone's appearance or ethnicity, stop and consider whether it could be harassment.

E-mail skills are critical to your success in doing business. Training helps to transform e-mail from an informal means of communications into a powerful business tool (e-mail, the blessing), reducing the risk of legally damaging or embarrassing situations (e-mail, the curse).

Demos of the courses are available on-line at http://courses.techcomm-partners.com/ - just click the demo button on the left side of the screen to view them. For more information, email info@techcomm-partners.com or call 401-568-5816.