LECTURE 17

Business Letters

Introduction
Writing good business letters is an art
that all technical people should
master.
when writing a business letter, the
writer produces a one-sided
conversation with the reader in the
sense that he/she has to anticipate
the reader's questions and provide
answers to those questions.

What is a Business Letter?

A business letter is a letter written
in formal language, usually used
when writing from one business
organization to another, or for
correspondence between such
organizations and their customers,
clients and other external parties.

Types of Business Letters

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Letter of Transmittal
Letter of Thanking
Letter of Complaint
Response to a Letter of Complaint
Letter of Request
Response to a Letter of Request

Functions of the Business

Letter
1. It provides a record of the activity
for someone's file.
2. It allows the writer to provide more
context or explanation than is
usually possible on a form.
3. It helps the audience( reader )
remember what is to be done.

The Main Components of a Business

Letter

Business letters usually contain the following information (in this order):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Writer's address (street, city, country).

Date of writing
Recipient's name, job title, and address
Subject
Salutation or Greeting (Dear Mr./ Mrs./ Ms..)
Message (body of the letter)
Closing
writer's signature, typed name, and position of sender
In some situations, a business letter may also include the following optional
information:
Writer's Initials: typist's initials ( if writer did not type letter).
Enclosures (Encl:)
Carbon copy Recipients (cc:)
Photocopy recipients (xc:)

How Business Letters are Organized

Business letters are more personal than most other forms of
technical writing.
They emphasize the reader/writer relationship by the use of
such pronouns as I, we, and You.
Business letters share some organizational features with
technical reports. They need to:

orient the reader to the topic at hand,

explain why the writer is writing,
provide enough information to help the
reader understand what he/she is to do.
To be able to provide this information, you need to generate
ideas, analyze your audience, decide what you need to say,
and define your problem.

Basic Letter Formats

There are three common
formats for the business letter:
1.

The unblocked format.

2. The semi-blocked format.

3. The blocked format.
4. The AMS (Administrative Management
Society) simplified letter format.

The unblocked format

The first line of the paragraph is
indented a few spaces
The writer's address, the date, the
closing, the writer's signature , and the
typed version of the writer's name and
job title are indented two thirds of the
way across the page.

The semi-blocked format

The first line of the paragraph is
lined up with the left margin
There is an extra blank line between
paragraphs to signal the start of a
new paragraph.
The writer's address, date, closing,
and signature are indented as in the
unblocked format.

The blocked format

The first lines of paragraphs and all the
other address, date, closing and
signature information are lined up with
the left margin.
There is an extra blank line between
paragraphs.

The AMS simplified letter

format
Sometimes, the writer does not know the name or
marital status of the reader. As a result, he/she
will have a problem writing a salutation
Dear..). This has given rise to a new letter
format called the AMS simplified letter format.
In this format, the salutation is omitted.
The subject line replaces the salutation and is
typed in all capital letters.
In other respects, this format resembles the
blocked format, with every line beginning from
the left margin.

The Use of Letterhead

Stationery
When a writer is representing a company or
organization, he/she should use the organization's
letterhead stationery for correspondences with
people outside the organization.
When using letterhead, the location of the writer's
address, city, state will be changed.( see figure
11-1. p. 209)
These are usually given in the letterhead typed at
the top of the page.
If a letter requires more than one page, the
additional pages are called continuation pages
are typed on plain paper, not letterhead.

Forms of Address

Letters normally begin with some sort of salutation (except

for the AMS simplified letter style).
In formal correspondence, it is customary to use the
recipient's title and last name: Dear Dr. Smith.
If the person does not have a title, use Mr. or Ms.
In the American business world, it is becoming increasingly
common to address people by their first name as a sign of
goodwill. However, sometimes it is seen as disrespectful.
So, try to make sure whether it is acceptable or not.
If you do not know whether the reader is male or female,
do one of the following:
Use the complete name: Dear J.L Williams.
Use both titles: Dear Mr. or Ms. Williams.
Use a memo format: To: J.L Williams.

From: your name.