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Whatever the reason, your message should be clear, to the point and courteous.
Keep in mind that an effective business letter always communicates with a person first and a business second. If your letter is a first-time correspondence and you do not know, or are unsure of whom to address, do your best to find out. Addressing your letter to a person improves the likelihood of receiving a reply. It is perfectly acceptable to make a phone call asking for the name of a contact person.
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We need to be clear on: Who you are targeting. The purpose of the letter. What you want the reader to do.
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Step 8: Signature Your signature will go in this section, usually signed in black or blue ink with a pen.
Step 9: Printed Name on the business letter The printed version of your name, and if desired you can put your title or position on the line underneath it. Skip a line between the printed name and the enclosure.
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Step 1: Letterhead, or write your address at the top of the letter (formal only)
If you're writing a business letter and company letterhead is available, make use of it. If you simply want your letter to look more professional, you can design a letterhead on a word processing program. Otherwise, begin your letter by writing your name and address in the top righthand corner of the page. This will identify you to the recipient and provide them with an address to answer your letter. Your name should be on the first line, your street address on the second line and your suburb / town and your state / territory (all in capital letters) and postcode on the last line. (See an example below)
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If you're sending a semiformal or informal letter via email, there's no need to add the date the email will be timestamped.
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Ms / Miss / Mrs / Mr / Dr ... house number, street place area code COUNTRY (in capital letters)In American English, the area code is usually at the same level as the place, separated by a comma.
Position: on the left
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Some Salutations for Business Emails Dear If you're trying to get your email noticed, such as when you're applying for a job, you may think "Dear So-and-So" is too trite. Not so. "Dear" is the one of the most appropriate salutations you can use. Personalize by using the recipient's most honorable title, such as Ms., Dr., Professor, Min., etc. If you don't know the recipient's gender, use both the first and last name in the salutation, such as "Dear Robin Smith." Otherwise, use the first name (Dear Gila).
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Some Salutations for Business Emails Dear If you are writing to colleagues and people with whom you are very familiar, "Hello [First Name]" could suffice, provided there are no formal rules in your employee handbook that speak to the issue. The standard way to open a business letter is withDear, the person's name (with or without a title), and a colon, like this:
Dear Donesiur: Dear Ms. Donesiur: Dear Mr. and Dr. Donesiur: Dear Professor Donesiur: Dear Donesiur:
Unless you are certain that a woman prefers Miss orMrs., use the title Ms. If you are writing to two people, use both names in your salutation, like this: Dear Mr. Trujillo and Ms. Donne: Dear Alex and Drenda:
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Some Salutations for Business Emails More Formal "Greetings," "Good Morning/Afternoon" or "Good Day" followed by the name of your recipient are acceptable email openers. Don't worry about what time your recipient will read the email. A time peg tells when you wrote the email and roughly how long you've been waiting for a response.
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Some Salutations for Business Emails Group Always use the highest degree of courtesy when addressing a group. Some recipients may be familiar or colleagues, while you may only be marginally acquainted with others. "Greetings All" and "Good Day Team" work well. It's also acceptable to address a group of two to four people by name: "Dear Mr. Jones and Ms. Evans," for formal cases or "Dear Sarah, Bob, Joe and Sam," for work colleagues. "Ladies" and "Gentleman" represent an acceptable degree of politeness when everyone in your group is the same gender.
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Some Salutations for Business Emails Familiar People "Hi" works well when writing to people with whom you're very familiar. However, you can simultaneously personalize your salutation to show appropriate levels of affection and to respect your recipient's time. Get right to the point, with for example, "Congratulations Mary!" or "Good News John." There's no manual to tell you when a recipient crosses the line from formal to familiar. Only time and relationship guide, but if your recipients tells you "You can call me" by my first name, your future salutations can be more informal.
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Some Salutations for Business Emails Please AVOID With the abundance of information available on the Internet -- or that which is only a phone call away -- it's poor form to use generic salutations like "Dear Sir/Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern." Using such indicates you didn't take much time to consider the person to whom you are writing. Worse, a common business email salutation crime is to assume "Dear Sirs" covers it all. Even it if you don't mean it as such, that opening comes across as sexist.
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Why put
Salutation?
Business letters are a formal type of writing, and its considered polite to start with a greeting. Although you can get away with starting emails Hi or Hello, letters follow more conservative conventions.
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Quote any invoice or other reference number of state the subject of the letter. Be brief - few words. Use of reference - "Re" i.e. "Re: Incorrect payment invoice 12345" is not necessary. Personal preference.
There are three common methods to distinguish the subject line from the body of the letter: Use "Subject:" or "Re:" Type the subject in bold letters Type the subject in capital letters
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American English
In American English, the subject line can also be placed between the recipient's address and the salutation (with a blank line in between).
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Content 1. first paragraph: introduction and reason for writing 2. following paragraphs: explain your reasons for writing in more detail, provide background information etc. 3. last paragraph: summarise your reason for writing again and make clear what you want the recipient to do
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Why body of a
letter matters
Most Importantly know what not to write. A letter written in anger or to solicit pity is probably not a letter you should send. If you've already written such a letter and you're unsure about sending it, let it sit for a few days before you pop it into the mailbox you might change your mind.
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What you type here also depends on the tone and degree of formality. For example,
Respectfully yours (very formal) Sincerely (typical, less formal) Very truly yours (polite, neutral) Cordially yours (friendly, informal) If a colon follows the salutation, a comma should follow the closing; otherwise, there is no punctuation after the closing.
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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. Your handwritten signature (in the case of a mailed letter) should appear between the closing and your printed name. The space where you will sign should be four lines.
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If someone typed the letter for you, he or she would typically include three of your initials in all uppercase characters, then two of his or hers in all lowercase characters. If you typed it, just skip it since your name is already in the Signature Block. Common styles are below.
JAD/cm JAD:cm clm
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Enclosures. To make sure that the recipient knows that items accompany the letter in the same
envelope, use such indications as "Enclosure," "Encl.," "Enclosures (2)." For example, if you send a resume and writing sample with your application letter, you'd do this: "Encl.: Resume and Writing Sample." If the enclosure is lost, the recipient will know.
Copies. If you send copies of a letter to others, indicate this fact among the end notations also. If, for
example, you were upset by a local merchant's handling of your repair problems and were sending a copy of your letter to the Better Business Bureau, you'd write this: "cc: Better Business Bureau." If you plan to send a copy to your lawyer, write something like this: "cc: Mr. Raymond Mason, Attorney."
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The ending of a business letter should be professional and indicate distance between the writer and the recipient.
A personal letter's ending will vary depending on how close the writer is to the recipient. There are also formatting and style issues to consider when signing a letter. Position: on the left
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If you have included other items, write the word Enclosure or Enclosures or use the following abbreviation: Enc.
Next, place a colon and name the enclosures or put the number of enclosures in parenthesis. Finally, if copies of the letter are going to other recipients, write cc: and their names separated with commas as the final item of your business letter.
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Very Important Points to Remember While Writing a Business Letter : Abbreviations Never abbreviate part of the company name unless the company's registered name uses an abbreviation (Co., Inc., or &), and such abbreviation is shown on the company's official letterhead. Names of cities are never abbreviated; names of states are also never abbreviated. There is one exception: Use the official U.S. Postal Service postal state abbreviations on the envelope address.
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Very Important Points to Remember While Writing a Business Letter : Figures Figures are used for all house numbers except "one" (which is spelled out). If there is a numerical street number, separate the house number and street number by a dash: 378087 Street Note that there's no th after "87.
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Very Important Points to Remember While Writing a Business Letter : "Care of" Never use an abbreviation such as a percentage mark for "care of"; always spell the words out. Never use "care of " before a hotel name if the addressee is a guest there, and never use it before a company name if the addressee is employed there. However, if the addressee is temporarily receiving mail at the office of the company, "care of " may be used before the company name: Mr. Michael Emanuel Care of Contoso Pharmaceuticals 60 Wall Street New York, New York 98052
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Very Important Points to Remember While Writing a Business Letter : Titles An individual's name is always preceded by a title for example, Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss, Dr., or Col. It's permissible to place honorary initials after the name of an addressee; in that case, always omit the beginning title.
Reverend and Honourable are titles of respect and are preceded by the word "The." Mr. is omitted.
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Very Important Points to Remember While Writing a Business Letter : Business titles Business titles are never abbreviated.
When you are writing to a person holding more than one office within a company, use the highest title unless you are replying to a specific letter signed by him or her under another title as applying to the subject covered.
When you are writing to a department of a company, rather than to a person within the company, place the company name on the first line and the department on the second line:
A. Datum Corporation Electronics Department 120 Irving Mall Irving, Texas 10022
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Draft and edit many times, until you are happy with the tone, form, and content.
Do check all details. Mistakes in addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses could mean the letter does not reach its destination, becomes confusing to the recipient, or shows the sender to be negligent or forgetful.
Do fold the sheet of paper in thirds, to fit into the right size envelope.
Do use the best paper and sharp black ink. Do start and finish with an interesting phrase, without being too flowery. Do make sure the date on the letter is the same as the mailing date. That is, a letter should be posted the day the final draft is written.
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If the letter is being emailed, it should be word-processed, laid out properly in an A4 portrait document, and attached.
Sometimes writers forget to make a call for future action. It is vital to ask for an interview, or require a phone call, request a follow-up letter, or some other response. Make a clear indication of what you would like the person reading your business letter to do next.
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Dont include details unless they are relevant to the main reason for sending the letter.
Dont use clichs or hackneyed phrases. Make sure your idiom is correct. Avoid long paragraphs. Write the introduction last.
Dont forget that grammar, punctuation, syntax and word choice affect meaning, and must impress the recipient with your language skills and abilities.
Dont neglect the very important steps of drafting, editing, checking, and proofing your business letter. Dont use all caps or emphasize too much in italics.
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A business letter should never have more than two folds in the paper.
Be careful not to switch from singular to plural mid-sentence, or vice versa. "Tenant" is singular and calls for the singular "its." "Tenants" corresponds with the plural "their." Words like "its" and "their" need to agree with the words such as "tenant" and "tenants" to which they refer.
Use an apostrophe in "it's" only when you mean "it is." "Its" without an apostrophe describes ownership, such as "its bond offering".
One trick to help you decide which word to use is to substitute "he" for "who" and "him" for "whom." Just rearrange the part of the sentence in question all the words following "employee" and say it aloud with "he" or "him" to figure out whether to use "who" or "whom. Avoid "is because.
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Dont use vague, sweeping or ambiguous statements. Be as clear as possible in your business writing. Avoid phrases like This would suggest, or It is advisable, and similar preambles that avoid taking responsibility for a statement or recommendation. Youll be perceived as a much more confident and knowledgeable professional if you take ownership of your analysis and recommendations. Also avoid statements that could leave the reader wondering who or what youre talking about. For example. They want us to or "Mike said that was a bad idea..." These statements beg the questions: Who are they? and What is that?
Avoid jokes, humor, sarcasm and anecdotes. Using humor or sarcasm in your writing sets your tone, and you may come off as sounding unprofessional, uninformed, or just plain ridiculous. Anecdotes on the other hand, while interesting, are best saved for verbal communication because they waste the time of a business audience who just wants to get to the point.
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Dont use vague, sweeping or ambiguous statements. Be as clear as possible in your business writing. Avoid phrases like This would suggest, or It is advisable, and similar preambles that avoid taking responsibility for a statement or recommendation. Youll be perceived as a much more confident and knowledgeable professional if you take ownership of your analysis and recommendations. Also avoid statements that could leave the reader wondering who or what youre talking about. For example. They want us to or "Mike said that was a bad idea..." These statements beg the questions: Who are they? and What is that?
Avoid jokes, humor, sarcasm and anecdotes. Using humor or sarcasm in your writing sets your tone, and you may come off as sounding unprofessional, uninformed, or just plain ridiculous. Anecdotes on the other hand, while interesting, are best saved for verbal communication because they waste the time of a business audience who just wants to get to the point.
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Use passive voice wisely. In business writing, the use of passive voice is frequently used to avoid specifically naming a person or group of people. This is okay as long it doesnt matter to the reader who specifically did something. For example: The reports were reviewed and recommendations were provided. (Passive) -versusKate reviewed the reports and provided the recommendations. (Active) Dont be overly casual in email communications. Make sure to use a clear subject line and start the email with the persons name and end it by signing yours, just as you would a formal letter. Also, try to avoid the jargon thats been developed for texting unless you know youre reader will understand.
Dont use fonts that are hard to read, or may not be compatible with another persons computer equipment. With the wide variety of fonts available, its tempting to use one that you think is particularly attractive. Many
seemingly attractive fonts can be hard to read, or your reader wont have access to the font on their equipment so the computer will substitute a font that can alter your formatting and make your communication difficult to read. Just about every computer has Arial and Times New Roman, making either of these wise choices.
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Recommendation You would write this letter if you were recommending someone for a particular position, placement or award. If one of your friends was being considered for election to the student council, you might write a letter to your principal describing why they would be suited to a leadership position. Acknowledgement In an acknowledgement letter you might be expressing thanks for something that someone has done, achieved or contributed. Appreciation An appreciation letter is a formal version of a thank you letter. You would send a letter of appreciation to someone in a senior position, such as your principal or the chairperson of a company.
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Enquiry You might also call this type of letter a letter of interest. Perhaps you have heard about a fun holiday program and would like to find out more about it. Application If you were writing a job application, you might describe your personal qualities, your educational qualifications and why you would be suited to the position. Reference In a reference letter you describe someone's characteristics or skills in order to help them get a job, placement or position.
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Announcement You write this type of letter to announce something. You might receive one saying that a teacher is leaving your school, a new teacher is arriving, or perhaps announcing an engagement, wedding or birth. Political campaign or lobbying These are likely to arrive in the period leading up to election times. Politicians release statements and leaflets describing why you should vote for them. Your household might sometimes receive letters from your local council alerting you to something happening in your suburb or community.
Lastly,
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About the writer: Sukh is a qualified BCA, PGDCA, MSC (IT) and Masters in Information Technology from
University of Ballarat (Australia) and also pursuing PhD in Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services and MBA from Amity University. He started his career at age of 15 as Web designer & developer with a USA based organization.
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