"This is what your email sign-off signature says about you - and why you shouldn't use 'thanks'"
A writer has revealed what your email sign-off says about you - and claims using 'best,' portrays confidence and 'thanks!' comes across "thirsty and desperate".
Kelly Landry, 37, started researching email sign-offs when she was writing a comedy show.
She says 'many thanks' is considered pretentious, 'all the best' is used by people conscious about how they are perceived and 'cheers' means you're adventurous.
Kelly, a writer and comedian, from Los Angeles, California, US, said: "I think there are email sign-offs that portray more confidence.
"A lot of agents and managers or my friends who are execs use 'best' - it is the most boss lady, boss man sign-off.
"If you want to come across as confident or you are unsure how to end an email 'best' is the one to go for.
"I think 'thanks!' puts you in a weaker position, a little bit more informal - it comes across a touch thirsty."
Kelly said that people who use their initial followed by an X for example 'Lx' portray confidence and mystery - adding the person is in a position of power.
She said: "They like to keep people guessing, they were potentially into spy movies as a child.
"Or is a little bit romantic, I feel like romantic people will just do the initial.
"It is a little bit of a fantasy - it is giving me powerful, creative vibes."
Kelly herself doesn't have her own email sign-off and will switch it up depending on who she is emailing.
She said: "As a creative and not someone who is sat in an office I don't really do a set signature.
"I noticed that depending on who I was writing to or how I wanted to come across I would sign my email differently.
"I found it interesting, if I want to send a business email and wanting to come across professional it can be 'yours sincerely' or 'the best'.
"Sometimes I will do just a dash that to me feels a little chaotic - like I couldn't work out how to end it and I have already read the email 17 times and I have given up at the end and just put a dash."
Kelly said she likes 'all the best' as it comes across as "warmer" than 'best' and it is "very British".
She said: "Just 'best' feels too abrupt, maybe even rude.
"You have a deep fear of being misunderstood and so you often over-clarify.
"But you also don't want to seem desperate and typing 'wishing you all the best' felt way too thirsty."
Some of the more bizarre sign-offs Kelly has come across include 'very truly yours' and 'respectfully'.
She said: "It is so bizarre to me, I also think it is so funny as it will be some of the toughest people.
"They will redline your contract say you can't have this and that and end with 'very truly yours' it comes across as a f**k you.
"I also think 'respectfully' is something a lot of military people use.
"Just because they say it, doesn't mean they truly mean it and everyone knows they don't mean it."
One of Kelly's favourite sign-offs includes 'with gratitude' she said: "I love 'with gratitude' they are my hippies.
"They are burning sage, they might go on an ayahuasca retreat next year.
"Not to be confused with 'have blessing' or have 'a blessed day' which is very mainstream religious."
What Kelly says different sign-offs say about you -
Best = Confident
Thanks! = Thirsty
Many Thanks = Pretentious
All the best = Conscious of how they are perceived
Cheers = Adventurous
Initial followed by X = Powerful
Very truly yours = Tough
Ending with an emoji - Busy
Sincerely = Imposter
XX = Super important
Kelly Landry, 37, started researching email sign-offs when she was writing a comedy show.
She says 'many thanks' is considered pretentious, 'all the best' is used by people conscious about how they are perceived and 'cheers' means you're adventurous.
Kelly, a writer and comedian, from Los Angeles, California, US, said: "I think there are email sign-offs that portray more confidence.
"A lot of agents and managers or my friends who are execs use 'best' - it is the most boss lady, boss man sign-off.
"If you want to come across as confident or you are unsure how to end an email 'best' is the one to go for.
"I think 'thanks!' puts you in a weaker position, a little bit more informal - it comes across a touch thirsty."
Kelly said that people who use their initial followed by an X for example 'Lx' portray confidence and mystery - adding the person is in a position of power.
She said: "They like to keep people guessing, they were potentially into spy movies as a child.
"Or is a little bit romantic, I feel like romantic people will just do the initial.
"It is a little bit of a fantasy - it is giving me powerful, creative vibes."
Kelly herself doesn't have her own email sign-off and will switch it up depending on who she is emailing.
She said: "As a creative and not someone who is sat in an office I don't really do a set signature.
"I noticed that depending on who I was writing to or how I wanted to come across I would sign my email differently.
"I found it interesting, if I want to send a business email and wanting to come across professional it can be 'yours sincerely' or 'the best'.
"Sometimes I will do just a dash that to me feels a little chaotic - like I couldn't work out how to end it and I have already read the email 17 times and I have given up at the end and just put a dash."
Kelly said she likes 'all the best' as it comes across as "warmer" than 'best' and it is "very British".
She said: "Just 'best' feels too abrupt, maybe even rude.
"You have a deep fear of being misunderstood and so you often over-clarify.
"But you also don't want to seem desperate and typing 'wishing you all the best' felt way too thirsty."
Some of the more bizarre sign-offs Kelly has come across include 'very truly yours' and 'respectfully'.
She said: "It is so bizarre to me, I also think it is so funny as it will be some of the toughest people.
"They will redline your contract say you can't have this and that and end with 'very truly yours' it comes across as a f**k you.
"I also think 'respectfully' is something a lot of military people use.
"Just because they say it, doesn't mean they truly mean it and everyone knows they don't mean it."
One of Kelly's favourite sign-offs includes 'with gratitude' she said: "I love 'with gratitude' they are my hippies.
"They are burning sage, they might go on an ayahuasca retreat next year.
"Not to be confused with 'have blessing' or have 'a blessed day' which is very mainstream religious."
What Kelly says different sign-offs say about you -
Best = Confident
Thanks! = Thirsty
Many Thanks = Pretentious
All the best = Conscious of how they are perceived
Cheers = Adventurous
Initial followed by X = Powerful
Very truly yours = Tough
Ending with an emoji - Busy
Sincerely = Imposter
XX = Super important
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FunTranscript
00:00 What your email sign off says about you.
00:02 Best.
00:03 You're classic and you're probably also in a position of authority.
00:06 Maybe law, marketing, PR.
00:09 Best is short for best wishes, but when you write it, you're talking about yourself.
00:12 You're the best.
00:13 You're cocky, but you deserve to be.
00:15 Sincerely.
00:16 Ooh, you're fancy and probably also spam mail.
00:19 Sincerely is what you write when A, you don't know the person you're emailing, B, you're
00:23 trying to sell them something, or C, you're currently unemployed and you're hoping this
00:27 uninspiring ass cover letter is going to get you hired.
00:30 Sincerely ironically comes off as one of the most insincere sign offs because seriously,
00:34 when have you ever used the word sincerely out loud?
00:36 It also comes across as very proper, but nine times out of 10, you're writing it when you're
00:40 sitting on your couch in your underwear eating Froot Loops.
00:42 Thanks.
00:43 You're chill, but you're also probably a people pleaser, especially if you add that exclamation
00:48 point.
00:49 You might be a freelancer and you don't have one of those automatic email signatures with
00:52 best in your name, and you never will because that makes you feel like an imposter.
00:56 You feel free to end each email in the moment.
00:59 Although nine times out of 10, it is some variation of thanks.
01:02 Thank you.
01:03 Thanks again.
01:04 Thanks in advance.
01:05 You don't take yourself too seriously and neither does anyone else.
01:07 Cheers.
01:08 If you're ending your emails this way, you definitely spend some time abroad and it's
01:12 become your entire personality.
01:13 You also want to make sure you come off light and breezy, even when your email is not.
01:18 You need those reports in the next 10 minutes and you're asking everyone to drop everything
01:21 they're doing and give you what you need now.
01:23 Cheers.
01:24 If you end your emails with a dash, you're probably going through life in a constant
01:27 state of crippling anxiety.
01:29 You've already spent 15 minutes deciding how to end this email.
01:32 Best felt too bougie and thanks, well, you've already said thank you 65 times.
01:36 You were considering using thanks again just to switch it up, but you're also working on
01:39 not being so damn thirsty.
01:41 Or you give zero f**ks and you truly couldn't be bothered.
01:45 Let me know if I missed any and I'll cover them in part two.
01:47 Cheers.
01:48 What your email sign off says about you, part two.
01:50 Respectfully.
01:51 You're somewhere where there's a hierarchy, maybe the military or the government.
01:54 A certain level of respect is required.
01:56 Do you actually respect the person you're writing to?
01:59 Maybe, maybe not, but they don't really care as long as you pretend you do.
02:02 With gratitude.
02:03 This is the varsity level thanks and usually when you write it, you mean it.
02:07 You're not woo woo, but you've probably read some version of the power of now or the secret.
02:12 You might even have a gratitude journal that you used for three days, although you continue
02:15 to tell people how beneficial it was.
02:18 Regards.
02:19 You're polite, but boring, or at least your email personality is.
02:21 You could have a wild or kinky side, maybe you even do coke on the weekends, but your
02:25 coworkers would never know because you lock it up.
02:28 Except for that one holiday party where you got wasted and did a karaoke version of Shoop.
02:32 You're still trying to scrub that off the internet.
02:34 Warmly.
02:35 At some point in your life, you were told you come off as cold or unapproachable and
02:38 that traumatized you.
02:40 You also potentially just delivered some bad news and since you don't know how to connect
02:43 emotionally, warmly will have to do for now.
02:46 At least until you can get in to see a good therapist.
02:48 Blessings.
02:49 You consider yourself and your words a gift to the world.
02:51 You might be right, or you might be high off all the sage and palo santos you're burning.
02:55 Either way, you have at least one astrology app on your phone and if you haven't done
02:58 ayahuasca yet, you will, preferably in Peru.
03:01 This is not to be confused with "Have a blessed day," which you wrote after your
03:04 fellowship meeting straight from Jesus' mouth to their inbox.
03:07 Very truly yours.
03:08 You my friend are extra.
03:10 You might be a lawyer or someone who works with contracts.
03:13 You just redlined every single word in the message you were sent and then smirked as
03:16 you wrote "Very truly yours," aka go f*ck yourself.
03:20 Sent from my iPhone.
03:21 First of all, congratulations for not using an Android.
03:24 You are chaotic, but honest.
03:26 You're not trying to trick your boss into thinking you're working from your desk.
03:28 You sent this email at the beach, biatch!
03:31 Or you're over 65 and you didn't know you could even remove this signature.
03:34 In fact, you're going to text your adult kid right now and ask them how to do it.
03:38 You would try to Google it yourself, but last time you were alone on the internet, you gave
03:41 scammers your social security number.
03:43 How'd I do?
03:44 Do you feel personally attacked?
03:45 Did I get them all? Should I do a part three?
03:47 Let me know.
03:48 Warmly, Kelly.