Communication Basics (email, texting appropriately)

Freshman Year · Life Skills · Required Lesson

Communication Basics

25–30 minutes Medium Required

Destination

By the end of this conversation, the mentee should be able to match their tone to their audience and write one real, professional message.

Stop 1 of 4

Talk

Goal: Get a sense of how the mentee currently communicates across different contexts—friends, family, school, and beyond.

“You don’t need one communication style—you need a few, depending on who you’re talking to. The same person who texts in all lowercase with their friends can write a completely professional email an hour later. Both are correct, just for different audiences.”

Choose three to five questions

1. How do you usually text your friends versus how you’d text an adult—is there a difference?
2. Have you ever sent a text that got misunderstood because tone didn’t come across?
3. Have you ever emailed a teacher, coach, or other adult? How did you decide what to say?
4. Do you have an email address you actually check regularly?
5. What feels intimidating about messaging an adult you don’t know well?
Mentor Tip: This isn’t about correcting how mentees text their friends—that’s completely appropriate in that context. The goal is adding a second register for school, job, and adult communication, not replacing how they already talk to peers.

Stop 2 of 4

Learn

Match your tone to your audience

Texting a friendMessaging an adult
Casual, shorthand, emojis are fineFull sentences, proper spelling, minimal slang
Quick back-and-forth is normalGive them time to respond; don’t send “?” if they’re slow
Any time of day is usually fineStick to reasonable hours unless it’s urgent
Route 21 Big Idea:
Adjusting your tone for different people isn’t being fake—it’s a real communication skill that affects how seriously you’re taken, especially by teachers, coaches, employers, and landlords.

Texting rules that matter

Texting Adults & Professionals
No all caps — it reads as yelling, even if that’s not the intent
Reread before sending — tone is easy to misread in text, so a message that feels neutral to you might land as short or rude
Avoid heavy slang or abbreviations — with someone you don’t text often, spell things out
Save complex topics for a call or in-person talk — texting works for quick, simple things

A simple email template

This same basic structure works for emailing a teacher, a potential employer, a landlord, or a doctor’s office—short, clear, and polite goes a long way.

Stop 3 of 4

Try

Rewrite it for a different audience

Take a real message the mentee might send to a friend, and rewrite it for an adult audience—a teacher, employer, or someone similar.

Original message to a friend___________
Who the adult version is for___________
Rewritten, professional version___________
What changed the most between the two versions—word choice, length, tone?

Choose Your Route

Pick the video that best fits your time and interest today. You only need to watch one.

Level 1 · Quick Stop

How to Write an Email to Your Professor, Instructor, or Teacher

Approximately 3–5 minutes

A short, clear walkthrough of writing a respectful, professional email to an adult in a school setting.

Watch the Quick Stop
Talk afterward: Was there a tip in the video different from how you’d normally write?

Level 2 · Scenic Route

Business Communication Etiquette: Email, Phone and Text

Approximately 8–10 minutes

A broader look at professional communication etiquette across email, phone calls and texting.

Take the Scenic Route
Talk afterward: Which medium—email, phone, or text—feels most comfortable to you, and which feels hardest?

Level 3 · Open Road

The Modern Guide to Professional Communication

Approximately 10–15 minutes

A deeper dive into professional communication expectations across email, phone and text in today’s workplaces.

Explore the Open Road
Talk afterward: What’s one idea from the video that surprised you?
Mentor Reminder: Let the mentee choose the route whenever possible. The real rewritten message above matters more than the video.

Stop 4 of 4

Grow

Reflection

What’s one communication habit you’d like to work on?
Is there a real email or text to an adult you need to send this week?
Does adjusting your tone for different people feel natural or does it take extra effort?
What questions do you still have?

Practice on something real

The best way to get comfortable with professional communication is to actually send a real message, not just discuss the idea.

How can your mentor help?

How can Route 21 help?

Would a simple message template bank for common situations be useful to you?
Mentor Wrap-Up:
Did the mentee rewrite a real message, not just a hypothetical one? Do they understand this is about adding a skill, not replacing how they naturally communicate with friends?