(1) The Letter Head / The Heading / The Head Address:
The Letter Head is printed at the
top center of the letter-sheet. Sometimes it is also written on the left or the
right side of the letter-sheet. It consists of the name, the business and the address
of the company. It also includes the telephone number, fax number, E-mail
address, and website, if any. It also includes emblem (logo or symbol) of the
company. The Letter Head should be simple and dignified. Most companies prefer
a simple design in a single colour.
(2) The Date:
Generally, The date is written two
or three spaces below the last line of the letterhead. It is always on the
right hand corner. The date consists of the date, name of the month and the
year. The date is written in two styles.
(a) The British
Method :
4th July, 2011
12th August, 2008
(b) The American
Method :
July 4, 2011
August 12, 2008
The British Method is also called
the ordinal numbers method and the American Method is called the cardinal numbers
method. The date should never be written like 7-2-02 or 7/2/02 because it shows
that the writer is careless or in a great hurry.
(3) Sender's Address
Including the address of the sender is optional. If you choose to
include it, place the address one line below the date. Do not write the
sender's name or title, as it is included in the letter's closing. Include only
the street address, city and zip code. Another option is to include the
sender's address directly after the closing signature.
(4) Inside Address
The inside address is the recipient's address. It is always best
to write to a specific individual at the firm to which you are writing. If you
do not have the person's name, do some research by calling the company or
speaking with employees from the company. Include a personal title such as Ms.,
Mrs., Mr., or Dr. Follow a woman's preference in being addressed as Miss, Mrs.,
or Ms. If you are unsure of a woman's preference in being addressed, use Ms. If
there is a possibility that the person to whom you are writing is a Dr. or has
some other title, use that title. Usually, people will not mind being addressed
by a higher title than they actually possess. To write the address, use the
U.S. Post Office Format. For international addresses, type the name of the
country in all-capital letters on the last line. The inside address begins one
line below the sender's address or one inch below the date. It should be left
justified, no matter which format you are using.
1.
Position:
the full name of the person, firm or company to whom you are addressing the
letter is written two spaces below the level of the date and two spaces above
the salutation and the attention line in the left hand margin. It may be typed
in the indented form or the block form like in the US. It is no longer the
right thing to write “ To” before the address.
2.
Contents:
name of the person, his designation, name of the company or firm and its full
postal address. The same details should be typed on the envelope
3.
Significance:
filing for future reference becomes easy’
4.
Important when window envelopes are
used.
The Attention Line
1. Position: when used, the
Attention line is to be placed two spaces below the inside address and two
spaces above the salutation. It is usually written in the centre of the page .
It may be used with or without the subject line.
2. Contents: contains the name of
the person to whom the letter writer would like to go in the company or
firm. It is underlined and can be used
in one of the following ways:
Attention of Mr. Patel
Attention: Mr. Patel
3. Confidential:
Attention Personnel Manager
4. Personal
Attention of Mr. Patel.
Remember
that since attn line is used to draw the attention of a particular person the
inside address should be of a general nature.: the ABC Company Ltd.
Significance: To attract attention
from a particular individual
(5) The Salutation:
The salutation is written beside the left –hand
margin, two spaces below the last line of the inside address. The salutation is
followed be a comma (,) or a colon (:). The salutation is a compliment or
greeting used to begin the letter. Just as “Good Morning” is used to begin a
talk. It is the written equivalent of the conversational “Hello”.
“Dear Sir” “Dear Medam” , “Respected Sir” is salutation.
- Position: Left hand side below the inside address or Attention line. It is typed flush with the margin and is never indented. IN NOMA form it is omitted.
- Contents: Greeting the person
3.
Sir, ( when subordinates write to their
superiors, very formal)
- Dear Sir/ Madam ( when addressing individual officers in an organization
- Sirs/ Dear Sirs
- Gentlemen: ( U.S.)
- Dear Mr. Patel,( Used when business relations are friendly)
- My dear Mr. Patel,( Used when relations are very friendly or close… very rare)
- Respected Sir,( No longer used in business letters only while applying for a job
- May it please your Excellency: ( formal way of addressing presidents, prime ministers)
- Dear Customer, Dear Reader,( used in Circular letters)
- Significance: Traditional way of greeting the reader of the letter
- It gives a clue as to the relationship between the letter writer and the reader.
The Caption Line/ The Subject
Line
a)
Position:
It is placed below the salutation just above the body of the letter. In full
block form it is typed on the left hand side but in all other forms in the
centre of the page.
b) Contents: Short title to the
letter. It consists of three letters Re: , Ref. or Subj: Ref can only be used
in connection with some written communication
c) Ref:
Your letter dated July 3, 2008.
d) In
the US Re, Ref considered unnecessary and they use a heavy underline.. This is
placed above the salutation
e) Significance: reader understands at
a glance what the letter is all about
f) Filing
purposes.
(6) The Body
/ The Text / The Script of Letter:
The first
line of the body begins two spaces below the salutation. It appears between the
salutation at the beginning and complimentary close at the end. It is that part
of the letter which contains the message or the information to be communicated.
This is the most important part of the letter. The letter is divided in the
following parts.
(a)
Introductory paragraph
(b)
Main paragraph
(c)
Closing paragraph
The closing begins at the
same horizontal point as your date and one line after the last body paragraph.
Capitalize the first word only (for example: Thank you) and leave four lines
between the closing and the sender's name for a signature. If a colon follows
the salutation, a comma should follow the closing; otherwise, there is no
punctuation after the closing.
(7) Enclosures
If you have enclosed any documents along
with the letter, such as a resume, you indicate this simply by typing
Enclosures one line below the closing. As an option, you may list the name of
each document you are including in the envelope. For instance, if you have
included many documents and need to ensure that the recipient is aware of each
document, it may be a good idea to list the names.
1.
Position:
It must be typed a space or two below the signature in the left margin.
- Contents:
Information about additional papers sent along with the letter.if more
than one paper is enclosed then we can indicate the exact number : Encl:
4.
Encls: 1. Cheque
2. Demand Draft
3. Transport receipt. - Significance: This is very important for the clerk. If it is indicated then he will extract them safely.
(8) Typist initials
Typist initials are used to indicate the
person who typed the letter. If you typed the letter yourself, omit the typist
initials.
(9) A Note About Format and Font
When writing business letters, you must
pay special attention to the format and font used. The most common layout of a
business letter is known as block format. Using this format, the entire letter
is left justified and single spaced except for a double space between
paragraphs. Another widely utilized format is known as modified block format.
In this type, the body of the letter is left justified and single-spaced.
However, the date and closing are in alignment in the center of the page. The
final, and least used, style is semi-block. It is much like the modified block
style except that each paragraph is indented instead of left justified.
If your computer is equipped with
Microsoft Office 2000, the Letter Wizard can be used to take much of the
guesswork out of formatting business letters. To access the Letter Wizard,
click on the Tools menu and then choose Letter Wizard. The Wizard will present
the three styles mentioned here and input the date, sender address and
recipient address into the selected format. Letter Wizard should only be used
if you have a basic understand of how to write a business letter. Its templates
are not applicable in every setting. Therefore, you should consult a business
writing handbook if you have any questions or doubt the accuracy of the Letter
Wizard.
Another important factor in the
readability of a letter is the chosen font. The generally accepted font is
Times New Roman, size 12, although other fonts such as Arial may be used. When
choosing a font, always consider your audience. If you are writing to a
conservative company, you may want to use Times New Roman. However, if you are
writing to a more liberal company, you have a little more freedom when choosing
fonts.
As far as punctuation after
the salutation and closing is concerned, the standard is to use a colon after
the salutation (never a comma) and a comma after the closing. There is also a
less accepted format, known as open punctuation, in which punctuation is
excluded after the salutation and the closing.
(9) The
Complimentary Close:
The
Complimentary close is written on the right two spaces below the last line of
the body. It should not extend into the right hand margin. The Complimentary
close is a polite way of saying “ Good bye”. Just as the salutation is the
written equivalent of “Good Morning” or “Hello”. So, the complimentary close is
the written equivalent of “Good Bye”
“Yours
faithfully / Yours sincerely / Yours truly” is complimentary close.
(10) The
Signature:
The
Signature is written just below the complimentary close , near the right hand
margin. Sometimes , it consists of only the name of the writer.
(a)
A sole trader will put his signature by writing his
own name.
(b)
Any partner of a partnership firm can sign letter on
behalf of the firm.
(c)
In big business houses, it is not possible for all
partners or owner to write or reply all the letters. So, a responsible employee
of the firm is given power to sign the letters. Thus, the employee who signs
the letter on behalf of the other is said to sign per procurationem (per pro).
It means that such a person is legally authorized to sign letters.
Per Pro M. Patel and Company
Nitin R. Raval
The signature is proof that the person signing has
written that letter. It help to pin point responsibility for the writing of the
letter.
The
Confidential Notation
a)
Position:
optional part and used only when the contents of the letter are meant solely for andexclusively for one person.
b)
typed below the reference line on the
left hand side
c)
Always remember if it is typed in the
letter is must also be typed on the envelope.
d)
Contents:
Confidential/Private/Personal.
Significance: Is not opened by the
staff but received by the person whose
name is written. Useful incase of character of employees, status enquiries,
high level policy decisions.
Copy to the notation
1.
Position: It is typed two spaces below
the Enclosure notation, in the left margin. Though very few companies use carbon
copies , the phrase has remained as an indication that a copy of the letter is
being sent out to another person.
- Contents: When we send identical copy of the original letter we use the abbreviation c.c.. When a frest letter id typed we have to write cop: When we send identical copy of the original letter we use the abbreviation c.c.. When a frest letter id typed we have to write copy to c.c. The President Wool Merchant’s Association Shepwool Street Kanpur
3.
b.c. This means blind or blank copy is
sometimes used before an address. When an existing copy has to be sent to a
third party without informing the recipent of the original letter.
- Significance: This is important for filing.
Initials of the
Dictator and typist.
1.
Position: This is typed at the end of
the letter always in the left margin.
- Contents: The initials of the dictator are typed first followed by the initials of the typist. Initials of the dictator should be in capital letters and that of the typist in small letters.
PRST/tm, T.W./p.r.,PT im,M:j
Significance: this is
imp from the point of view of the sender of the letter. In business houses it
becomes necessary to pinpoint responsibilityfor letters that are sent out and
for future investigation of any mistakes in them.
The Post script
P.S. has no place in a business letter.
It is only permissible if information is received at the last minute and has to
be inserted in the letter. When P.S. is used it must be initialed or signed by
the letter writer to show that it has not been added by someone else.
Superscription
1.
It means that which is written on the
top or the outside. The details written on the envelope. The details are:
- Name and address of the addressee
- Name and address of the sender
- Mailing instructions, “Quick Mail”, Registered A.D.
- Attention line to draw the attention of the person.
Sample Letters
Block Format
March 16, 2001
Ernie English,1234 Writing Lab Lane,Write City, IN
12345
Dear Mr. English:
The first paragraph of a typical
business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a
friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use
a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until
the next paragraph.
Beginning with the second paragraph,
state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form
of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short
paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your
reasoning.
Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly
restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your letter is
employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information.
However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude
for the reader's time.
Sincerely,
Lucy Letter,123
Winner's Road,New Employee Town, PA 12345
Modified Block Format
March 16, 2001
Ernie English;1234 Writing Lab Lane;Write City, IN 12345
Dear Mr. English:
The first paragraph of a typical
business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a
friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use
a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until
the next paragraph.
Beginning with the second paragraph,
state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form
of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short
paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your
reasoning.
Finally, in the closing paragraph,
briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your
letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact
information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with
gratitude for the reader's time.
Sincerely,
Lucy Letter
Semi-Block Format
March 16, 2001
Ernie English,1234 Writing Lab Lane,Write City, IN 12345
Dear Mr. English:
The first paragraph of a typical
business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a
friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use
a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until
the next paragraph.
Beginning with the second paragraph,
state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form
of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short
paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your
reasoning.
Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly
restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your letter is
employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information.
However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude
for the reader's time.
Sincerely,
Lucy Letter
Reference
