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Lecture 05 writing a business letter
1. Creating a Business Letter
Presented by:
Dr. Akhlas Ahmed
Lecture # 05
Preston University
2. What is a Business Letter?
Why write one?
Written
Written
dispute
Written
Written
Written
to give information
to serve as evidence in cases of
to build goodwill
to remember facts
because they are convenient
To Whom is one written?
What should be in one?
What is proper format?
2
3. What are the types of Business
Letters?
Formal Business
May or May not be typed on Letterhead
Letterhead
Already contains your return address
You don’t need to retype it.
You may write if want to send letter on blank paper.
3
4. What are the Required Parts of a
Business Letter?
Letterhead or Heading
Dateline
Inside Address
Salutation
Body
Complimentary Closing
Signature
Typists Initials
Optional:
Enclosure
Attachment
4
5. What’s in The Heading
(your information)
Single Spaced – followed by four lines
Always includes the date
As the last entry
Business Letter
Your return address
(no letterhead)
Only abbreviation is Postal Code - NJ
May include Phone#, Fax#, Email@
Date
Formal Business Letter
(on letterhead)
Date only
5
6. What is the Inside Address
(addressee’s information)
Person’s Name, Title
Company Name/Department
Company Address
Single Spaced
Followed by one blank lines
(Enter Key twice)
6
7. What is the Salutation? (a greeting)
Dear Mr. Sloan
Dear Dr. Smith
Dear Ms. Jones
Gentlemen
Dear Sir or Madam
7
8. What is the Body? (The actual letter)
Brief and to the point!
Guideline – 3 paragraphs (at least)
Strictly Business
Brief Introduction
Contents - What I want
Conclusion and Thank you
Each paragraph:
Single Spaced
Followed by one blank lines
(Enter Key twice)
8
9. Complimentary Close
Sincerely,
Yours truly,
Respectfully yours,
Followed by three lines
(Enter Key 4 times)
After printing you will sign the letter here
9
10. Signature
Your Full Name
Your Title (if appropriate)
Mrs. Regina Sikorski
Computer Club Moderator
Followed by one lines
(Enter Key twice)
If optional parts are required
10
11. Optional Parts
Typist Initials
If your secretary typed this for you
RES/js
Enclosure
If something else is in the letter or
package
Followed by one lines (Enter Key twice)
11
12. What are acceptable formats for a Business
Letter?
Block
All parts are Left Justified to the margin
Modified Block
All parts Left aligned
Heading, Close, Signature at
tab position 3.25
Indentation – choose either
No paragraph indentation
All paragraphs first line indent .5
12
13. What are acceptable punctuation styles for a
Business Letter?
Open
No punctuation after
Salutation or Complimentary Closing
Dear Mrs. Smith
Respectfully yours
Mixed
Punctuation after
Colon (:) after Salutation
Dear Sir:
Comma (,) after Complimentary Closing
Sincerely,
13
14. Understand that parameters can be mixed and
matched –8 Possibilities
Personal vs. Formal
Format Style
Punctuation Style
Mixed
Block
Open
Personal Business
Mixed
Modified
Open
Letter
Mixed
Block
Open
Formal Business
Mixed
Modified
Open
14
15. Example: Block/mixed punctuation
Software
Connections
1551 Riverwalk Pensacola, FL 32507
(904) 555-4422
November 3, 2009
Mrs. Edith Neal
Pensacola High School
719 Vista Boulevard
Pensacola, FL 32501
Dear Mrs. Neal:
Are you and your business students in a midyear slump? Do your classes need energizing?
Software Connection has the solution to your problem.
On Friday, November 20, Software Connection is sponsoring a Soft-A-Wareness seminar for
local schools. Students will have an opportunity for hands-on experience with the latest business
software. Professional programmers will be available to answer technical and career questions.
Drawings for free software will be held every hour—and a free lunch will be served to all
seminar guests.
Make plans now to attend. Simply indicate on the enclosed postage-free card how many students
you will be bringing, and mail it by November 6. We will do the rest!
Sincerely,
Erin Higgins
President
sls
Enclosure
15
16. Example: Modified Block/Open
Punctuation
Software
Connections
1551 Riverwalk Pensacola, FL 32507
(904) 555-4422
November 3, 2009
Mrs. Edith Neal
Pensacola High School
719 Vista Boulevard
Pensacola, FL 32501
Dear Mrs. Neal
Are you and your business students in a midyear slump? Do your classes need energizing?
Software Connection has the solution to your problem.
On Friday, November 20, Software Connection is sponsoring a Soft-A-Wareness seminar for
local schools. Students will have an opportunity for hands-on experience with the latest business
software. Professional programmers will be available to answer technical and career questions.
Drawings for free software will be held every hour—and a free lunch will be served to all
seminar guests.
Make plans now to attend. Simply indicate on the enclosed postage-free card how many students
you will be bringing, and mail it by November 6. We will do the rest!
Sincerely
Erin Higgins
President
sls
Enclosure
16
A personal letter is written to a friend or family member.
A business letter is written to an organization or a company.
Business letters should be brief and to the point. They have a proper format which
we will discuss. A guideline is three paragraphs, including
an introductory paragraph that explains who you are and why you are writing.
A main paragraph that includes what you would like the person to whom you are writing to do
A final paragraph thanking the addressee for listening
Personal Business Letters are the ones you would most often write.
Formal Business Letters are written on Letterhead, such as NorthenHighlands letterhead.
Some folks create their own letterhead. We will learn how to do that in a future lesson.
IN the mean time we will concentrate on creating Personal Business Letters, which mean you will put your return address in the heading
All parts of the letter are required except for Enclosure and Typist Initials. These are only used under specific conditions
Click on the hyperlink to show one sample
There are exact spacing rules for each part of the business letter.
The date is always placed in the heading. Your return address (and other optional parts) is mandatory in a Personal Business Letter (not on LetterHead)
The inside address is required. Try to find the exact name and title of the person to whom you are writing. If you cannot, you might try something like Customer Relations Department Manager.
It is best if you know the person’s name and title to write Dear “that”.
If you do not know the person’s name, use one of the last two choices.
The letter should be brief and to the point. Ideally, it is no longer than one page.
There should not be any unnecessary information in it, but it should contain all important facts. It should succinctly describe your reason for writing the letter, and what you expect the result of your letter to be.
These are samples of acceptable closing statements. Always allow four spaces after your close, so you can sign the printed letter in ink
If you are writing in a specific capacity (e.g. Secretary of Freshman Class), use your title. If not, skip the title line. Put your Title (Miss, Ms, Mr) in the signature, so the person replying knows how to address you.
If there is anything else in the letter or package use Enclosure.
If you type this for someone else, or your secretary typed it for you (e.g. Mr. Keenan’s secretary types letters for his signature) the Typists initials should be the last thing on the page
Block is easiest. There is no indenting. Set your paragraphs to Left Justified, and don’t tab anything.
Modified Block – set paragraphs to left justified, and set tabs at .5 and 3.5
Tab to 3.5 for all lines in the Heading, Complimentary Close, and Signature
Choose:
Either tab all paragraphs to .5, or no paragraphs to .5 (BE CONSISTENT)
Either Open or Mixed Punctuation is acceptable in both Block and Modified Block Styles.
Don’t mix them up.
If you use OPEN, there is no punctuation after the “Dear Sir”, or after the “Sincerely”
If you choose MIXED, there is a colon after “Dear Sir:” and a comma after the “Sincerely”