Lecture 5 Formal Business Letters

8/3/2019 Lecture 5 Formal Business Letters

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FORMAL BUSINESS LETTERS

Effective letter writing is the key to successfulbusiness

Letters go to someone outside your organization

Essential link between you and your businessconnections

Letters promote and confirm most businesstransactions


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FORMAT (INDENTATION)

All letters have six major parts:

THE HEADING / LETTERHEAD

THE INSIDE ADDRESS

THE SALUTATION

THE BODY

THE COMPLIMENTARY CLOSING

THE SIGNATURE


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OPTIONAL PARTS

Subject / Reference / Attention

lineTypists initials

Enclosure notation

Distribution notation


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HEADING / LETTERHEAD

Your address, your street address,

city, state, postal code

The date

Dont include your name

Each line should begin at the same

margin

Can be placed on the left or right


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INSIDE ADDRESS

The inside address includes the full name,

position, company and address of the recipient of

your letter

It is always placed at the left margin and 3 to 6

lines below the heading

You can abbreviate titles (Mr., Mrs.) but you should

not abbreviate ranks such as Lieutenant, Captain,

Professor

Full Name

Position

Company

RecipientsA

ddress


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SALUTATION

Salutation is your greeting to your reader

Two lines below the inside address;

followed by a comma

Always written to the left margin

Must agree with the addressee of the

inside address


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BODY

Begin two lines below the salutation

Body should fall over the centre of the

page


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ORGANIZATION

Organize your message into three parts:

A brief introduction: which statesthe purpose of the letter immediatelyunless you are conveying bad news

One or more body paragraphs:which contain specific detail

A conclusion: which establishes agoodwill or encourages your reader toact


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ORGANIZATION

E.g.: If you will call us within the next fewdays, we can send our sales representative

to demonstrate our software capabilities.

Be courteous, direct and confident

Avoid slang, abrasive, pompous or abrupttone (I demand that, Im appalled at yourslow response)


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COMPLIMENTARY CLOSING

Two lines below the body; followed by acomma

Only the first word is capitalized

Yours truly, Yours sincerely, Truly yours

Very truly yours (formal)etc

Can be on the left or right side of themargin


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SIGNATURE

Your full name is typed four lines

under the complimentary closing

Sign your name between the two

(complimentary closing and the

name)


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SPECIAL ELEMENTS

SUBJECT / REFERENCE /ATTENTION LINE

Occasionally, a subject, reference or attention line isplaced between the inside address and the

salutation to alert the reader to:

The subject, file reference, previouscorrespondence, account no. etc

Subject: Invoice No. 786

Attention: Mr. Umer

Re: Your letter ofDecember 10, 2008


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TYPISTS INITIALS

If your letter is typed by someoneother than you. Place your initials

in capital letters and the typistsinitials in small letters (lowercase) and use colon betweenthem

Example :

MAK : ah


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ENCLOSURE NOTATION

If you send materials or

documents with your letter, add

an enclosure notation two linesbelow the typists initials

E.g.: Enclosure : photocopy ofrelevant documents


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DISTRIBUTION NOTATION

If you are sending copies of your

letter to other readers, add a

distribution notation two lines below

the last element

E.g.: C : Mr. Hisham

C : Ms. Ayesha


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SECOND PAGE

If a letter requires a second

page, type the recipient's name,the page number on the leftmargin and date on the right

side


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GOOD NEWS LETTERS

Inquiry and Request letters

Order letters

Congratulatory letters

Thank you letters


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GOOD NEWS LETTERS

Sales or service offer letters

Employment application and coverletters

Promotion letters

Transmittal letters


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BAD NEWS LETTERS

Negative response letters

Complaints

Collection letters


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BAD NEWS LETTERS

Refusal letters

Suspension letters

Solicitations

Should be courteous


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REFERENCES

A Grammar of Contemporary English

by Sidney Green Barren

Fundamentals of English Grammarby Discoll

Professional and Technical Writing

Strategiesby Van Alstyne

www.englishgrammar.com

Documents

Lecture 5 Formal Business Letters