Business Letter
Business Letters
A business letter is more
formal than a personal letter. It should have a margin of at least one inch on
all four edges. It is always written on 8½"x11" (or metric
equivalent) unlined stationery. There are six parts to a business
letter:
1. The Heading.
This contains the return address (usually two or three lines) with the date on
the last line.
Sometimes it may be necessary to
include a line after the address and before the date for a phone number, fax
number, E-mail address, or something similar.
Often a line is skipped between the
address and date. That should always be done if the heading is next to the left
margin.
It is not necessary to type the
return address if you are using stationery with the return address already
imprinted. Always include the date.
2. The Inside Address.
This is the address you are sending your letter to. Make it as complete as
possible. Include titles and names if you know them.
This is always on the left margin.
If an 8½" x 11" paper is folded in thirds to fit in a standard
9" business envelope, the inside address can appear through the window in
the envelope.
An inside address also helps the
recipient route the letter properly and can help should the envelope be damaged
and the address become unreadable.
Skip a line after the heading before
the inside address. Skip another line after the inside address before the
greeting.
3. The Greeting.
Also called the salutation. The greeting in a business letter is always formal.
It normally begins with the word "Dear" and always includes the
person's last name.
It normally has a title. Use a first
name only if the title is unclear--for example, you are writing to someone named
"Leslie," but do not know whether the person is male or female. For
more on the form of titles, see Titles with Names.
The greeting in a business letter
always ends in a colon. (You know you are in trouble if you get a letter from a
boyfriend or girlfriend and the greeting ends in a colon--it is not going to be
friendly.)
4. The Body.
The body is written as text. A business letter is never hand written. Depending
on the letter style you choose, paragraphs may be indented. Regardless of
format, skip a line between paragraphs.
Skip a line between the greeting and
the body. Skip a line between the body and the close.
5. The Complimentary Close.
This short, polite closing ends with a comma. It is either at the left margin
or its left edge is in the center, depending on the Business Letter Style
that you use. It begins at the same column the heading does.
The block style is becoming more widely
used because there is no indenting to bother with in the whole letter.
6. The Signature Line.
Skip two lines (unless you have unusually wide or narrow lines) and type out
the name to be signed. This customarily includes a middle initial, but does not
have to. Women may indicate how they wish to be addressed by placing Miss,
Mrs., Ms. or similar title in parentheses before their name.
The signature line may include a
second line for a title, if appropriate. The term "By direction" in
the second line means that a superior is authorizing the signer.
The signature should start directly
above the first letter of the signature line in the space between the close and
the signature line. Use blue or black ink.
Business letters should not contain
postscripts.
Some organizations and companies may
have formats that vary slightly.
Block Format And Semi-Block Format
Block format features all elements of
the letter aligned
to the left margin
of the page. It has a neat and simple appearance. Paragraphs are separated by a
double line space.
Example:
123 Anywhere Place
New York, NY 10001
July 1, 2014
Mr. John Smith
XYZ Corporation
1000 Utopia Drive
San Francisco, CA 94109
Dear Mr. Smith:
My former colleague Joan Brown informed
me that you are seekingto hire an office manager. I worked with Ms. Brown at
Acme and have 10 years of experience as an administrative assistant. I have long
admired XYZ Corporation and would be honored to work for your company.
As you can see from my résumé, I have
performed many administrative duties in my previous positions at Acme and Ajax
corporations. At Ajax, I facilitated the company's transition from handwritten
to digital records. That work paved the way for my move to Acme, where I assisted
the director of innovation in tracking the development of new products. I helped
introduce the company's workflow management system, which enabled Acme to cut
the average development time of its software upgrades from 18 weeks to 12
weeks.
I would be pleased to speak with you
to discuss the details of the office manager position. Thank you for your consideration
of my application.
Regards,
Jane
Doe
Semi-block is similar to block but has a
more informal appearance. All elements are left-aligned, except for the
beginning of each paragraph, which is indented five spaces. Paragraphs are
separated by a double line space. Example:
July 1, 2014
Dear Katie,
I hope you are settled in comfortably
in Buffalo. I miss you already! But I know your new position will open up a lot
of career opportunities for you. It's also great that you'll be closer to your
family. And, at least for now, it's still warm!
I too have some good job news. My
former boss just told me about a great position at her new company. I would
still be doing administrative duties but would be managing the whole office, and
it'd include a nice bump in pay, too. She says she's already talked me up to
the guy I'd be working for, so I think there's a good chance it will come
through.
Besides that, everything else is going
pretty well. I think I have finally gotten past my breakup with Dave, and I'm beginning
to date again.
I'm already looking forward to
seeing you in December. As soon as the tickets for the winter extravaganza go on
sale, I'll book us a couple of tickets. Let me know if Rob decides to come,
too—if so, I'll make it three. Let's talk soon!
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