Technical Writing
GUIDE TO THE ESSENTIALS IN WRITING
BUSINESS LETTER
1. The Heading
1. Use good quality paper when you send a letter This contains the return address
to someone to show respect to the receiver and (usually two or three lines) with the
for the receiver to have favorable impression date on the last line.
on you and your company. Sometimes it may be necessary to
2. Go with the standard white bond paper for the include a line after the address and
letters, though some companies make use of before the date for a phone number,
color coding in different departments to fax number, E-mail address, or
facilitate easy recognition and quick response. something similar. Often a line is
3. Utilize and 8 and 1/2 inches by 11 inches skipped between the address and date.
standard short bond paper. That should always be done if the
4. Use good quality size 10:20 window envelope, heading is next to the left margin. It is
whatever is applicable. not necessary to type the return
5. Use 1 inch margin on all four sides of the address if you are using stationery
letter and justify paragraphs to have more with the return address already
professional appearance. imprinted. Always include the date.
6. . Employ single - spaced text; double space 2. The Inside Address
between paragraphs. This is the address you are sending
7. 7. Use the standard and formal font styles - your letter to. Make it as complete as
Times New Roman and Arial -with font size possible. Include titles and names if
12 in encoding your letters. However, if you you know them. This is always on the
are printing your letter on a company paper left margin. If an 8½" x 11" paper is
with its letterhead, of course, the letterhead folded in thirds to fit in a standard 9"
may be pre - designed with the preference of business envelope, the inside address
the company owner/s. can appear through the window in the
8. 8. Refrain from using varied font styles on the envelope. An inside address also helps
same letter, doing such within a professional the recipient route the letter properly
letter is NOT allowed. and can help should the envelope be
9. 9. Avoid using unnecessary highlights like: damaged and the address become
FULL CAPS, bold, italics, underline, colored unreadable. Skip a line after the
quotations; overuse of highlights cause in heading before the inside address.
different impact on different readers. Skip another line after the inside
10. 10. Unnecessary highlights may draw address before the greeting.
emotional impact; your letter may appear 3. The Greeting
shouting! 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. For more on the form
of titles, see Titles with Names. The
greeting in a business letter always
ends in a colon.
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. ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMPANY
Skip a line between the body and the PROMOTIONS
close. 3. Typist's initials
5. The Complimentary Close If someone else types the letter for
This short, polite closing ends with a you, include your initials in capital
comma. It is either at the left margin letters and the typist's initials in
or its left edge is in the center, lowercase letters three lines below
depending on the Business Letter your signature. Separate the sets of
Style that you use. It begins at the initials with a colon (:) or slash (/):
same column the heading does. The e.g., JD/anj
block style is becoming more widely 4. Enclosures
used because there is no indenting to If you have enclosed additional
bother with in the whole letter. documents along with your letter,
6. The Signature Line indicate so by typing Enclosure or
Skip two lines (unless you have Enclosures either three lines below
unusually wide or narrow lines) and your signature or one line below the
type out the name to be signed. This typist's initials. You may also list
customarily includes a middle initial, which documents are enclosed, if you
but does not have to. Women may have included several; if you do so,
indicate how they wish to be use the abbreviation Encl. If there is
addressed by placing Miss, Mrs., Ms. more than one enclosure, state how
or similar title in parentheses before many in parentheses ():
their name. The signature line may e.g., Enclosures (3)
include a second line for a title, if Encl: photos (2) of damage to car,
appropriate. The term "By direction" repair estimates (3)
in the second line means that a 5. Courtesy copies
superior is authorizing the signer. The Use this line if you are sending copies
signature should start directly above of the letter to others in addition to the
the first letter of the signature line in addressed recipient. Include it three
the space between the close and the lines below the last element of the
signature line. Use blue or black ink. letter. Write each person's name on a
Business letters should not contain separate line, and list each person in
postscripts. alphabetical order:
e.g. cc: Jane Doe
OPTIONAL ELEMENTS FOR BUSINESS
LETTERS
John Smith
1. Attention line If you don't want the reader of the
If your letter is addressed to a letter to know that copies were sent to, you
company, you may include an can mark the carbon copy in the file... but use
attention line to indicate the intended "BCC" or "bcc" instead of "CC" or "cc". We
recipient of your letter (e.g., CEO, call this blind carbon copy.
chief financial officer, marketing
director). The attention line goes two 6. Confidential notation/line
lines below the recipient's address: If the letter is to be only read by the
e.g., Attention: Director of Customer person it is sent to, it should have a
Service notation in the form of the word
2. Subject or reference line "PERSONAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL"
A subject or reference line may be placed four lines directly below the
useful to alert the recipient to the date.
purpose of your letter. Include it two 7. Postscripts
lines below the attention line or This is an afterthought or extra
recipient's address. Use Subject: or comment or piece of information
Re: to begin this line, or write the located at the bottom of the letter after
subject in capital letters: the complimentary close.
Re: Policy number AM4758Z6 Examples: P.S. PS. PS: PS- ps ps:
If a second postscript is to be used it
may follow the notation "pss:"
8. Several pages
If a letter is to involve more than one
page, the pages should be numbered.
You should try to balance the
information so you don't have only a
couple of lines on the last page...
either precise the information or put a
little less on each page so it can run
over and make the last page seem not
so empty. Don't use letterhead
stationary on anything but the first
page of a letter.
