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Business Letters
Writing a Business Letter

E. Tadena & E. Sevilla

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Definition

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Words chosen to express the writers ideas

Appearance of the document

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It is because non-verbal message of the professional-looking documents suggests that they were sent by the people or companies who are

CAREFUL INFORMED INTELLIGENT SUCCESSFUL

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Business Letter
The appearance of a letter is a powerful nonverbal stimulus All the below contribute to the readers first impression of the writer of the letter and the business:
Stationery quality and size Letterhead and envelope design Letter format

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Stationery
Measured in Two ways: 1. weight- most commonly used: 20-pound paper 2. percentage of cotton in the paper why? Because cotton doesnt yellow over time compared to wood pulp and its strong and soft. Apprpopriate quality- 25 percent and above cotton content Advantages- superior appearance, excellent texture and longer life

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OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
Letter size- 8 by 11 inches (commonly used) Other sizes- 7 by 10 inches professionals (lawyers,doctors,architectsand engineers) 1. monarch/club/executive size- 7 by 10 2. baronial/colonial size- 5 by 8 Color White- standard color ivory, light tints of gray,brown and blue Advantage- Warmth of tone compared to austerity of pure white.

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1. Light- colored papers are distinctive and often appropriate AVOID usind bright or dark colors that makes reading difficult and may appear frivolous(carefree and not serious) 2. Color of paper may link to a company/ industry ex: Lumber company may use light wood-grained stationery.
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Letterheads
Preprinted stationery with the organization's logo, name and address. Primary purpose- to convey information (to identify the organization or individual whom it represents and at the same time supply the reader with the address and any other important information) Secondary purpose- Ornamental and decorative. (should contribute to the general attractiveness of letter layout.)
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 Most essentials details in letterhead: Names and Address of sender Address includes names of city, town, province and street address. Other Details: telephone number, cable address, nature of business, commercial design, trademark, picture of product and all descriptive identification Presentation: should be in legible type and Page well-balanced and should not occupy more13

 Avoid making ornate and wordy letterhead. The trend is toward simplicity. Include only essential info.

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Top & Bottom Margins Without Letterhead: Top & Bottom Margins should be approximately equal. With Letterhead: The margin at the top between the top edge of the page & the first typewritten item- is usually somewhat greater than that of the bottom. Left Margin An inch & a half is preferable( when the letter is short it maybe wider) Right margin An inch or less than an inch(5/8) is preferable (when the letter is short, it may be wider )

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Spacing

Standard Practice- single space all letter and double space between paragraphs & between other units( inside address and salutation) Text or body of short letters may be double spaced but inside address is typed single.

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Punctuation Styles
General Rule: There should always be a comma BETWEEN the names of city and state, town and province, day of the month and the year- but NOT between month and the day.

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Closed Form Last line of heading (dateline) Last line of inside address(names of city and state) All preceding lines of heading & inside address Salutation Complimentary close Open Form No need for punctuation marks in heading, inside address, salutation and complimentary close. Some business letter prefer to retain colon on salutation and comma in complimentary.

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Indention
1. Indented Form Each line of heading & inside address is uniformly indented 3 or 5 spaces more than the line precedes it. Paragraph beginnings indented 3 or 5 spaces. Complimentary Close aligns date line Signature is indented 2 to 3 spaces to the right of the point when complimentary close started.

2. Purely Block Form All parts of the letter starts with the left hand margin( no indentions) Most efficient but businessmen did not like to adopt this. 3. Block Form Heading and inside address are blocked. All paragraphs begins with the left margin(no indentions) Complimentary close aligns date line. Signature is blocked with complimentary close Division between paragraphs is double spaced. Used extensively because of its ease & symmetrical, parallel-like appearance

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4.

Semi-Block Form Combination of block form and indented form All paragraphs are indented

5. Hanging/ Overhanging Form Heading, inside address, and signatiure conforms with block style Paragraphs beginnings align with the left margin and other lines are indented from left margin

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 This form should not be used in the letters of conservative organizations & institutions(bank and law firms) since the novel appearance of this form is not consistent with the dignified character of these organizations.

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Letter Format
1. Full Block All parts of the letter begin at the left margin Easiest format.

2. Simplified often used when letter is addressed to company rather than an individual; when gender of receiver is unknown or marital status of a female receiver is unknown No salutation & complimentary close. 3. Modifeid Block The date( or return address and date), complimentary close & signature block begin at the horizontal center of the page.

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Envelope
An envelope should be printed on the same quality & color of stationery as the letter it carries. Proper preparation of envelopes is important because it introduces your message and makes the first impression.

Standard envelope sizes: Large envelope: No. 10,is 9 by 4 1/8 inches Small envelope: No. 6 , is 6 by 3 5/8 inches

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It seems trivial, but the way a letter is folded contributes to the recepients over all impression of your organizations professionalism.

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Personal Business Letter Styles and Punctuation

There are two types of letter styles that are acceptable in business:
Block style all lines in the letter begin at the left margin (no tabbing or indenting) Modified block style date line, complimentary closing and writers identification begin at midpoint Semi-modified block style - date line, complimentary closing and writers identification begin at midpoint and all body paragraphs are indented (or tabbed over)

There are two types of letter punctuation that are acceptable in business:
Mixed punctuation there will be a colon (:) after the salutation and a comma (,) after the complimentary closing Open punctuation there will be NO punctuation after the salutation or complimentary closing

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Guidelines for Your Letter

Font Size: 12 Font Style: Times, Times New Roman, or Arial Spacing: 1 or 2 spaces after punctuation ending a sentence (stay consistent within the document) 1 space after a semicolon 1 space after a comma 1 or 2 spaces after a colon (stay consistent within the document) 1 space between state abbreviation and zip code Block Style with Open Punctuation Top Margin: 2 inches Side and Bottom Margins: 1 inch
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Personal Business Letter Order and Spacing

2 Top margin Date QS (Press Enter 4 times) Inside Address DS (press Enter 2 times) Salutation DS (press Enter 2 times) Body SS the text within the paragraph and DS between the paragraphs Complimentary Closing QS Writers ID (name and address)
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