Writing Business Letters
A good business letter is brief, straightforward, and polite. If possible, it should be limited to one single-spaced typewritten page. Because it is so brief, a business letter is often judged on small, but important, things: format, grammar, punctuation, openings and closings. A business letter is not the place to try out fancy fonts or experimental writing styles.
There are two main styles of business letters:
Full block style: Align all elements on the left margin.
Modified block style: Down the middle of the page, align the return address, date, closing, signature, and typed name; align other elements on the left page margin.
Below are the elements of a standard business letter and their functions:
Return Address:
Your address (or the address of the company you represent). If you are using preprinted stationary, there is no need to retype the information.
Date:
Leave two blank lines after the return address. Always spell out the month and include the day, a comma, and the year.
Inside Address:
Leave two blank lines after the date. Then type the address of the person or company to whom you are writing.
Salutation:
Type Dear, followed by the person's name. End the line with a colon. If you don't know the
name of the person, use a title instead (i.e., Dear Editor, Dear Madam).
Body:
Align your message on the left margin. Skip a line before starting a new paragraph, but do not indent the paragraph's first line. Make sure that each paragraph is clear and concise.
Closing:
Leave two lines of space after your last body paragraph, then use a conventional closing, followed by a comma (i.e., Sincerely, Sincerely Yours, Respectfully).
Signature:
Your signature should appear below your ...