Writing email copy in an overly formal style creates a sense of aloofness and separation between you and your reader. Your goal is to sound natural, human and approachable.

Your email should sound like it would if you were talking to the person face to face... or better yet, on the phone.

Give your email copy the talk test

A great way to test and find out if our writing is overly formal is to read it out loud and hear how it sounds. Once you have completed your first draft read it out loud. When you speak the email copy you have written and listen to the cadence you'll notice overly formal phrases and sentence structures immediately.

Now go back and edit or re-write your email copy. Try to make what you write sound like you would if you were talking it out to the person over the phone.

Don't get hung up on perfect grammar and punctuation. In fact the occasional minor grammar error makes you appear as a normal person the reader can relate to. The rules of punctuation don't apply to marketign and email copy in the same way they would for a magazine article. If you are working with proofreaders make sure they understand what you are trying to accomplish... but still be prepared to ignore a lot of punctuation corrections.

Incorrect spelling is not an option however!