Detailed notes follow.

Transcription

1 Business Writing A business letter has eleven parts. Here they are, in the order in which they appear on a business letter: 1. A = Your mailing address 2. B = The current date 3. C = The recipient s (person receiving the letter) address 4. D = The salutation 5. E = The introductory paragraph 6. F#1 F#2 F#3 etc. = The body paragraphs 7. G = The complimentary close 8. H = Your signature 9. I = Your name, typed below your signature 10. J = Enclosures 11. K = Carbon copies Detailed notes follow. PART A = Your Address Do not write your name here! Your name appears only at the bottom of your letter. Addresses go from smallest to largest (street number and street name city province) Use separate lines for the street and city information. If you need to, the city and province can go on the same line or different lines. The postal code can also appear on the same line as the province, or it can go on a separate line. The use of a country is only required on international mail PART B = Date Do not use any abbreviations here. Learn how to spell February.

2 Page 2 Stop using digital format. It varies from the US (mm/dd/yy) and the UK (dd/mm/yy). Write out the entire date. Ensure that you have the correct date. This is a problem especially if you are using a form letter, or repeating versions of the same letter, such as a job application, for different recipients. PART C = Recipient s Information Write each of the following pieces of information on a different line, as follows: Recipient s Name Recipient s Job Title Recipient s Company Name Recipient s Address Line 1 Recipient s Address Line 2 Recipient s Address Line 3 Recipient s Address Line 4 (if needed) If you do not know the recipient s name, leave it out. However, if this letter is a job application, then you might be wise to find out! PART D = Salutation The salutation is the Dear Dr. Smith or whoever will receive this letter. Use a colon here. Also, if you do not know the person to whom you are addressing, you can write Dear Sir or Madam: Furthermore, you must never address the person using his or her first name and last name. Use only the last name. For example, my letters to Johnny Depp must all be addressed to Dear Mr. Depp: Finally, never address a woman recipient as either Miss or Mrs. The former, Miss, is used for single women. The latter, Mrs. is used for married women. Unless the woman herself has requested that you use one of these titles, you should always use Ms. which is used for all women, regardless of marital status, just as Mr. is used for men. This does not mean that you cannot call your female teachers Miss when you are speaking to us or when you need help with something. That is just lovely. Thank you. If the recipient is a doctor, then use that title. He or she went to school for seven or more years. Thanks, doctors!

3 Page 3 PART E = Introductory Paragraph This paragraph should be very short between 1 and 3 sentences. Explain why you are writing this letter. Do not indent this or any paragraph when writing block style letters. Paragraphs are separated by a single line space instead. If this is a job application letter, include that information and where you found out about the job etc. here. PART F#1 F#2 F#3, etc = Body Paragraphs Again, keep your letter as brief as possible, but the body paragraphs will be longer than the introductory paragraphs. Remember, you do not indent these paragraphs. Separate them with a single line space instead. PART G = Complimentary Close A complimentary close is a word or phrase such as Sincerely Be sure to use a comma here. If you prefer, you can use another close like Yours truly but capitalize only the first word of your close - Yours is capitalized, truly is not. Also, be sure that you are spelling sincerely and truly correctly. When you add the suffix ly to sincere, you keep the letter e because it is preceded by a consonant r. On the other hand, when you add the suffix ly to true, you drop the e because it is preceded by a vowel, u. PART H = Fancy Signature Give yourself 4 or 5 line spaces for your signature, to be written in blue or black ink after you print your letter. Bear in mind that this signature should be legible. Some students think it is cool to have a rock star signature, or to sign in the form of a graffiti artist s tag. The business letter is not the place to display your lack of good penmanship, or your potential criminal behaviours. And, obviously, you do not type your signature. PART J = Enclosure This is only used when you enclose something else besides the letter in your envelope such as your résumé, or a pair of defective sunglasses with the receipt.

4 Page 4 Use the plural, Enclosures, if more than one item is enclosed with the letter. PART K = c.c. Use this only if you are sending this same letter to someone else. CC literally means carbon copy, and details any other recipients who got an exact copy of this letter. Those exact copies are not re-addressed to those recipients, with a new Dear Whoever. It means the copy addressed to the recipient of this letter is printed or photocopied and sent to the other recipients, which is important in legal situations, or when sending political missives, etc. Some other important points: 1. Everything in these notes is aligned with the left margin. That is because this is a block format letter. If you want to indent, then you have chosen to use traditional format. That s okay, but it is very different from this format, and more difficult to do. 2. Use Times New Roman 12 as your standard business letter font. 3. Use quality, bond paper in white or light cream. You will know it because it is thicker than photocopy paper and often has watermark visible when you hold it to the light. 4. Letters should be centered on the page. That means, wherever possible, adjust your top and bottom margins to be equal, and your left and right margins to be equal. This may require adjusting font, line spaces etc. 5. Strive to keep your business letters under one page, and your résumé under two pages. 6. If you cannot get the word résumé on your letter because you don t have the thingy over the e, then you can do what I do. Misspell it with resuma. When it comes up in your spell checker, choose résumé. Just don t forget to do that! And do not ever use the word resume when you mean the word résumé. Sample business letters follow.

5 Page Pennywell Road St. John s NL Canada A1C 2L6 October 25, 2014 H.R.H. Elizabeth Windsor Queen Buckingham Palace London, England Dear Queen Elizabeth: Thank you for granting me the courtesy of an employment information interview last week for the position of regent. I very much enjoyed our conversation, and I learned some interesting facts about royal life. For example, I was surprised that taking a course in hand-to-hand combat is a requirement for all monarchs. I am now committed to brush up on my skills in the deadly arts. As well, I appreciate your common-sense tips on staving off hunger during walkabouts. I understand now why your hats must be a specific size and shape: you stash emergency sandwiches and cookies in them! And who could have imagined that you use a modified metronome to spare the aching arms that result from waving all day during tedious car trips? It certainly frees up your hands for texting your mates, as you say. I was disappointed to hear that some of your more ignorant subjects do not support your divine right of rule. It is interesting that, for centuries, your family has allowed the peons to believe that they actually control government through freely elected political representatives. Perhaps that kind of diversion tactic has allowed the daily rags carte blanche freedom to write stories against you and your lovely family. If only you would use your laser eyes to wipe out any dissenters who dare to defy you! Overall, though, I was thoroughly impressed with your enthusiasm for your job. Your dedication and your joie de vivre are inspirational. Thanks to your generous advice, I intend to pursue my own quest for the awesome thrill of regal domination. I welcome the opportunity to speak with you once I have risen to power. In the meantime, please accept this coupon to lunch at Taco Bell as a token of our new friendship. Sincerely, Enclosure c.c.: Ms. Bridget Ricketts, Principal, Bishops College

6 Page Pennywell Road St. John s NL A1C 2L6 October 25, 2014 Babbs McStabbs Manager Super Toy Company 2143 Giagantic Street Toronto ON M5W 1E6 Dear Ms. McStabbs: I recently purchased a BOBB toy for my child. Although advertised as a great educational toy, BOBB turned out to be nothing more than a bag of broken buttons. I am sending you both the BOBB and a copy of my receipt. I expect a full refund and a letter of apology. When parents purchase toys for children, we want them to have fun and to learn new skills as well. Your toy is boring. Furthermore, it certainly has no educational value. Finally, your toy is dangerous. The broken buttons are sharp, and can also pose a choking hazard. It is shocking that your company would sell such a dangerous toy. I am sending a copy of my letter to my lawyer, Pat Smartypants, who will advise me on whether I should consider taking further legal action. In the meantime, I demand that all BOBB toys be removed from store shelves immediately. I also expect my money and the cost of shipping to be refunded. Sincerely, Enclosure c.c. Pat Smartypants, Smartypants Sisters Law Firm