1. The Heading. This contains the return address (usually two or three lines) with the date on the last line.

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1 Business Letters A business letter is more formal than a personal letter. It should have a margin of at least one inch on all four edges. It is always written on 8½"x11" (or metric equivalent) unlined stationery. There are six parts to a business letter. 1. The Heading. This contains the return address (usually two or three lines) with the date on the last line. Sometimes it may be necessary to include a line after the address and before the date for a phone number, fax number, address, or something similar. Often a line is skipped between the address and date. That should always be done if the heading is next to the left margin. (See Business Letter Styles.) It is not necessary to type the return address if you are using stationery with the return address already imprinted. Always include the date. 2. The Inside Address. This is the address you are sending your letter to. Make it as complete as possible. Include titles and names if you know them. This is always on the left margin. If an 8½" x 11" paper is folded in thirds to fit in a standard 9" business envelope, the inside address can appear through the window in the envelope. An inside address also helps the recipient route the letter properly and can help should the envelope be damaged and the address become unreadable. Skip a line after the heading before the inside address. Skip another line after the inside address before the greeting. 3. The Greeting. Also called the salutation. The greeting in a business letter is always formal. It normally begins with the word "Dear" and always includes the person's last name. It normally has a title. Use a first name only if the title is unclear--for example, you are writing to someone named "Leslie," but do not know whether the person is male or female. The greeting in a business letter always ends in a colon. (You know you are in trouble if you get a letter from a boyfriend or girlfriend and the greeting ends in a colon--it is not going to be friendly.) 4. The Body. The body is written as text. A business letter is never hand written. Depending on the letter style you choose, paragraphs may be indented. Regardless of format, skip a line between paragraphs. Skip a line between the greeting and the body. Skip a line between the body and the close. 5. The Complimentary Close. This short, polite closing ends with a comma. It is either at the left margin or its left edge is in the center, depending on the Business Letter Style that you use. It begins at the same column the heading does. The block style is becoming more widely used because there is no indenting to bother with in the whole letter.

2 6. The Signature Line. Skip four lines (quadruple space: should have 3 blank lines )and type out the name to be signed. This customarily includes a middle initial, but does not have to. Women may indicate how they wish to be addressed by placing Miss, Mrs., Ms. or similar title in parentheses before their name. The signature should start directly above the first letter of the signature line in the space between the close and the signature line. Use blue or black ink. Business letters should not contain postscripts. (P.S. at the bottom of the document) Some organizations and companies may have formats that vary slightly. Business Letter Styles The following pictures show what a one-page business letter should look like. There are three accepted styles. The horizontal lines represent lines of type. Modified Block Style Block Style Modified Semi-Block Style

3 When do you write a business letter? Business letters represent you when you conduct transactions in writing. For example, you might write to request a price list, apply for a job, or inquire about a refund policy. Although your letter should not be particularly personal in tone, it should reflect courtesy, clarity, and an understanding of your reader's needs. In business, time is valuable. Make it easy for your reader to help you by writing simply and by including only the information your reader needs. Do I have to send a cover letter with my resume? You always send a personalized cover letter with a resume. The cover letter should highlight aspects of your background relevant to the position. To help you recall past achievements and activities. You should start keeping a personal file containing documents that outline your accomplishments. (Honor roll announcements or certificates, sports awards, academic awards, nominations, recognitions, etc.) You won t have a lot of work experience to include in high school, so be sure you have other clubs, organizations, etc. that show your involvement in school and the community. Business letter style Make your letters readable and direct. Choose short, accurate word choices, short sentences, and orderly paragraphs. These are easy to read, understand and remember. Use personal pronouns, active voice, and action verbs. Avoid formal and stuffy expressions (like "thanking you in advance," "as per," "be advised," or "enclosed herewith") and don't use technical terms (use Layman s Terms instead) unless you are positive your reader will understand them as you do. Don't write to impress; write to explain. Preparing your letters Make your letters readable by typing them on 8 by 11 inch typing paper. Check your text for clarity, completeness, and readability, and don't ever forget to proofread. Minor errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar hurt your credibility. Make sure that your letters look neat and tidy on the page. Sloppy appearance will detract from even a well written letter.

4 PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER 4455 Turnbolt Avenue Austin, Texas RETURN ADDRESS..Always provide your address so that your reader can contact you. September 14, 2006 DATE.. The date is useful for record-keeping. Underwood Computers Mr. Ronald Underwood Technology Avenue Houston, Texas Dear Mr. Underwood: I am writing this letter to express my appreciation for the wonderful assistance we received from your staff during the past month. Your salespersons did a terrific job in analyzing our company's needs and providing us with options which were well within our budget for the project. The equipment was shipped in a timely fashion and the installation was as easy as we were told it would be. When a few minor problems arose, your technical assistance staff were very responsive and the problems quickly resolved over the telephone. Please thank all of the people who were instrumental in getting the project up and running on time. Sincerely, Joseph Goodenhour RECIPIENT ADDRESS.. Give the reader's name and address as they appear on the envelope in which your letter is mailed. SALUTATION or attention line.. Address the reader by name punctuated with a colon. When writing to a manager you do not know by name or to a department, use an attention line. (Example: "Attention Claims Manager.") Avoid stuffy "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam" salutations. INTRODUCTION.. Begin your letter with a short statement of your subject and reason for writing. YOUR TEXT.. Explain your subject fully and clearly. Be accurate and don't waste your reader's time with unnecessary details. CLOSING.. End your letter by saying something helpful or courteous to your reader. If you thank your reader, explain why. COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE.. "Sincerely" is a good choice. Punctuate your close with a comma. YOUR SIGNATURE A TYPED COPY OF YOUR NAME

5 Steps for creating a Cover Letter 1. Open the Okamoto Letterhead and place the insertion point on the paragraph mark below the border, press enter 2. Using the ruler, set a left tab at Press Tab, insert the current date using this format (April 17, 2006) 4. Press the enter key four times (QS 3 blank lines) after the date 5. Type the following: Ms. Helen Weiss Personnel Director National Computer Sales 15 Main Street Hartford, CT (2 spaces between state and zip) 6. Press enter twice (1 blank line) 7. Type Dear Ms. Weiss followed by a colon (:) 8. Create an AutoText Entry 9. Select National Computer Sales (don t select the paragraph mark at the end of the text) 10. Click insert on the menu bar and select AutoText 11. Click New on the AutoText submenu 12. When word displays, the Create AutoText dialog box, type ncs as the entry name 13. Click OK (if word displays another dialog box, click the yes button) Sometimes in a letter you do not want compound words, proper names, dates, units of time and measure, abbreviations, and geographic destinations to be divided at the end of a line. These words should fit as a unit at the end of a line or be wrapped together to the next line. To accomplish this, you will need to use nonbreaking spaces or nonbreaking hyphens. 14. click after the colon in the salutation and press enter twice 15. Type I am responding to the full-time computer sales position advertised in yesterday s and then press the spacebar 16. Press CTRL + I to turn on italics 17. Type New and then press CTRL+Shift+spacebar (word inserts a nonbreaking space after the word, New) 18. Type England and then insert another nonbreaking space 19. Type Tribune and then press CTRL +I to turn off italics 20. Press the period key (word wraps the words in the newspaper title, New England Tribune, to the next line) 21. Press the spacebar. Type As indicated on the enclosed resume, I have the credentials you are seeking and believe I can be a valuable asset to ncs 22. Press the F3 key (word will use your autotext entry for ncs and convert to National Computer Sales) 23. Press the Period key. Press the enter key twice to double-space 24. Type I recently received my bachelor s degree in information and computer technology from Hartford College. The following table outlines my areas of concentration and then press the colon key 25. Press the enter key twice We will create a table in the document to show the areas of concentration using the Table feature on the main menu. A table is a collection of rows and columns the intersection of a row and a column is called a cell. Within a table, you can rearrange rows and columns, change column widths, sort rows and columns, and sum the contents of rows and columns. You can also format and chart table data. Tables can be shaded,

6 borders, formatted independently from the rest of the document; individual rows, columns, or cells can be formatted independently as well) The first step in creating a table is to specify the number of rows and columns, this is the dimension of the table. You often do not know the dimensions needed so you can create one row initially and then add more rows as needed. The following steps show how to insert a 1 x 2 (pronounced one by two) table a table with one row and two columns 1. Click the Table button on the menu bar 2. Click Insert Table on the submenu 3. Enter 2 columns and enter 1 row, click OK 4. With the insertion point in the left cell of the table, type, Computer Hardware and then press the tab key 5. Type 30 hours and then press the tab key (word enters the table data in the 1 st row of the table and adds a second row to the table the insertion point is in the first cell of the 2 nd row) 6. Type Computer Software and Programming and then press the tab key. Type 21 hours and then press the tab key 7. Type Professional Communications and then press the tab key. Type 15 hours and then press the tab key 8. Type Business and then press the tab key. Type 15 hours The tab key advances the insertion point from one cell to the next in a table. Pressing CTRL+Tab will insert a tab character into a cell The table in this project currently extends from the left to the right margin. You want each column only to be as wide as the longest entry in the table. 1 st column must be wide enough to accommodate the words, Computer Software and Programming; and the 2 nd column must be wide enough for the phrase, 30 hours. 1. Right click the table and then point to AutoFit on the shortcut menu 2. Click AutoFit to Contents on the AutoFit submenu Other ways to resize a table 1. You can drag a column boundary, the border to the right of a column to desired width 2. You can drag a row boundary, the border to the bottom of a row to desired height 3. You can resize the entire table by dragging the table resize handle, the small square that appears when you point to the bottom-right corner of the table 4. You can change rows and columns to a specific dimension by going to Table on main menu and clicking on table properties enter desired measurements and click OK Changing the Table Alignment 1. Position the mouse pointer in the table so the table move handle appears (four-sided arrow) upper lefthand corner of the table 2. Click the table move handle 3. Click the center button on the formatting toolbar 4. Click the paragraph mark below the table 5. Press the enter key 6. Type In addition to my coursework, I have the following sales and computer experience and then press the colon key. Press the enter key 7. Press the Asterisk key (*) 8. Press the spacebar 9. Type Worked as an intern at Computer Discount Sales, selling hardware and software components to home and small business customers 10. Press the enter key (word converts the asterisk to a bullet character, places another bullet on the second list item, and indents the two bulleted paragraphs)

7 11. Type At Hartford College, tutored students having difficulty with computer classes and then press the enter key 12. Type Prepared all fliers and newsletters for the New England Ski Club and then press the enter key 13. Press the enter key (word removes the last bullet because you pressed the enter key twice 14. Type the following paragraph As you can see by my resume, I am well qualified for this position. I will call you next week so we can set up a time to discuss my career opportunities at ncs (press F3). If you would like to speak to me before then, please call me at (860) Press the enter key twice. Press the tab key. Type Sincerely and then press the comma key 16. Press the enter key four times. Press the tab key. Type Benjamin Kane Okamoto and then press the enter key twice 17. Type Enclosure: Resume as the final text 18. Press enter twice and type your name 19. If your letter goes onto two pages you will need to adjust the actual letterhead so that it is smaller or decrease the size of the top margin so it is closer to the edge of the paper this letter should be one page only absolutely no more than one page Should I proofread the resume and cover letter? You should be absolutely certain that your resume and cover letter are error free. Check spelling and grammar using word. Proofread for errors. Set the documents aside and then proofread again. Ask others, to proofread them also. Address and Print an Envelope 1. Before going to the Tools option on the main menu select the inside address 2. Word will automatically put the address in the delivery address field for you don t forget to enter Benjamin s address in the return address add your name under the city, state, zip code line 3. Include the delivery point barcode option on your envelope 4. Add the envelope to the document 5. Print preview the two documents and check the formatting 6. Print the document (the envelope will print first) 7. Remember you will need to feed the No. 10 size paper into the printer 8. Pretend that you are Benjamin Kane Okamoto and sign the letter (in blue or black ink) be sure it is professional looking and legible. 9. Staple the envelope to the front of the cover letter and put them in the basket to be graded