UNIT-1

FUMDAMENTAL OF COMMUNICATION
 Chapter-1
Nature and Process of Communication
Communication-Communication is defined as the process of sharing information, ideas
and feelings so as to create mutual understanding and cooperation among people.
Characteristics of communication-
1. Two way process: It involves both information and understanding. Communication is
not complete unless the receiver has understood the message properly and his
reaction or response is known to the sender. Understanding is the end result of
communication but it does not imply agreement.
2. Continuous Process: A communication process is a continuous process where
information is shared between the people involved in the communication endlessly.
For example, a manager gives instructions to his subordinates to complete various
jobs at work.
3. Pervasive Function : Communication is a pervasive function and therefore, it applies
to all phases of management and to all levels of authority.
4. Mutual Understanding :The two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in
which participants not only exchange information, news, ideas and feelings but also
create and share meaning. In general communication is a means of connecting
people.
5. Multi Media : Communication is generally understood as spoken or written words.
But in reality, it is more than that. It includes everything that may be used to convey
meanings from one person to another, e.g., movement of lips, or the wink of an eye or
the wave of hands may convey more meaning than even written or spoken words.
6. Flows in all Directions : Communication flows downward from a superior to
subordinate and upward from subordinate to a superior. It also flows between two or
more persons operating at the same level of authority.
7. Cooperative Process : It takes to two complete communication. There should be a
sender and a receiver. If a person shouts in a forest when no one is present there is no
communication.
8. Dynamic Process : Communication Is a Dynamic Process Composed By Multiple
Elements And Steps. Communication is a dynamic process composed by multiple
elements and steps: a sender, encoding, messages, channels, noises, a receiver,
decoding, the receiver's response and feedback, and context.
9. Goal Oriented : communication is not an end in itself, but rather a means to
achieving some goals of the communicating parties.
10. Inter-Disciplinary : Interdisciplinary communication refers to the ability of
professionals to mutually understand each other and to draw on each other's
expertise. When communication is fluid and ideas can flow freely, our ability to achieve
and problem solve will improve.
11. Contextual : Contextual communication is defined as the bidirectional transfer of information
between two parties where both sides are aware of the relational, environmental, and cultural
context of the exchange. Simply put, it means that all entities involved know what the
conversation is about.
Context of Communication may be two types:(a)Physical Context, (b)Verbal Context
12. Sharing :Communication includes the sharing of ideas, concepts, imaginations, behaviours
and written content. Communication is simply defined as the transfer of information from one
place to another.
Significance of Business Communication-
1. Effective Planning and Decision Making : Communication is essential for decision-
making and planning. It enables the management to secure information without
which it may not be possible to take any decision. The quality of managerial decisions
depends upon the quality of communication. Further, the decisions and plans of the
management need to be communicated to the subordinates. Without effective
communication, it may not be possible to issue instructions to others. Effective
communication helps in proper implementation of plans and policies of the
management.
2. Training and Development : Communication training and development is a specific
form of training geared toward improving communication skills and abilities in the
workplace to improve worker productivity, job efficiency, and overall ability to
communicate with fellow employees.
3. Motivation and Morale : Communication is the means by which the behaviour
of the subordinates is modified and change is effected in their actions. Through
communication workers are motivated to achieve the goals of the enterprise
and their morale is boosted. Although motivation comes from within yet the
manager can also motivate people by effective communication, e.g.. proper
drafting of message, proper timing of communication and the way of
communication, etc.
4. Coordination : Management is the art of getting things done through others
and this objective of management cannot be achieved unless there is unity
of purpose and harmony of effort. Communication through exchange of
ideas and information helps to bring about unity of action in the pursuit of
common purpose. It binds the people together and facilitates co-ordination.
5. Leadership :Communication is the basis of effective leadership. There cannot
be any leadership action without the effective communication between the
leader and the led. Communication is absolutely necessary for maintaining
man to man relationship in leadership. It brings the manager (leader) and
the subordinates (led) in close contact with each other and helps in
establishing effective leadership.
6. Effective Control: communication assists in controlling process. It helps
controlling organizational member’s behaviour in various ways. There are
various levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines that
7. Sound Industrial Relations : Industrial relation is the relation between workers and
management in work place. Good industrial relation is always desired for business
success. Communication plays a vital role in creating and maintaining good industrial
relation.
8. Corporate Image : In the present business world, every business enterprise has to
create and maintain a good corporate image in the society. It is only through
communication that management can present a good corporate image to the outside
world. Effective communication helps management in maintaining good relations
with workers, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government and community at
large.
9. Team Work : Communication in teams is more than just efficient work. It allows
everyone on the team to be educated on any topic that may affect their work.
Moreover, it develops trust, builds camaraderie among the team members, boosts
morale, and helps employees stay engaged in the workplace.
10. Democratic Management : Communication is also essential for democratic
management. It helps to achieve workers participation in management by involving
workers in the process of decision-making. In the absence of an efficient system of
communication, there cannot be any delegation and decentralization of authority.
11. Coping with Change : Effective communication plan during a change process helps in
controlling the inertia or fears due to a change by explaining how the change will
affect the people associated with it and why it is being implemented.
The Process of Communication -
1. Sender: The person who intends to convey the message with the intention of passing
information and ideas to others is known as sender or communicator.
2. Message: This is the subject matter of the communication. This may be an opinion,
attitude, feelings, views, orders, or suggestions.
3. Encoding: Since the subject matter of communication is theoretical and intangible, its
further passing requires use of certain symbols such as words, actions or pictures etc.
Conversion of subject matter into these symbols is the process of encoding.
4. Channel and Medium: The person who is interested in communicating has to choose
the channel for sending the required information, ideas etc. This information is
transmitted to the receiver through certain channels which may be either formal or
informal.
5. Receiver: Receiver is the person who receives the message or for whom the message
is meant for. It is the receiver who tries to understand the message in the best
possible manner in achieving the desired objectives.
6. Decoding: The person who receives the message or symbol from the communicator
tries to convert the same in such a way so that he may extract its meaning to his
complete understanding.
7. Feedback: Feedback is the process of ensuring that the receiver has received the
message and understood in the same sense as sender meant it.
Principles of Effective Business Communication (7C’s)-
Definition: The 7 C’s of Communication is a checklist that helps to improve the
professional communication skills and increases the chance that the message
will be understood in exactly the same way as it was intended.
1. Clarity: The message should be clear and easily understandable to the
recipient. The purpose of the communication should be clear to sender then
only the receiver will be sure about it. The message should emphasize on a
single goal at a time and shall not cover several ideas in a single sentence.
2. Completeness: The message should be complete, i.e. it must include all the
relevant information as required by the intended audience. The complete
information gives answers to all the questions of the receivers and helps in
better decision-making by the recipient.
3. Conciseness: The message should be precise and to the point. The sender
should avoid the lengthy sentences and try to convey the subject matter in
the least possible words. The short and brief message is more
comprehensive and helps in retaining the receiver’s attention.
4. Consideration: The sender must take into consideration the receiver’s
opinions, knowledge, mindset, background, etc. in order to have an effective
communication. In order to communicate, the sender must relate to the
target recipient and be involved.
5. Correctness: The message should be correct, i.e. a correct language should
be used, and the sender must ensure that there is no grammatical and
spelling mistakes. Also, the message should be exact and well-timed. The
correct messages have a greater impact on the receiver and at the same
time, the morale of the sender increases with the accurate message.
6. Courtesy: It implies that the sender must take into consideration both the
feelings and viewpoints of the receiver such that the message is positive
and focused at the audience. The message should not be biased and must
include the terms that show respect for the recipient.
7. Concentration(Attentiveness): The communication should be concrete,
which means the message should be clear and particularly such that no
room for misinterpretation is left. All the facts and figures should be clearly
mentioned in a message so as to substantiate to whatever the sender is
saying.
Command Over Spoken And Written
English
Communication skills are of four main types: These skills and the time spent by a manager
on each are as follows: 1. Writing 9%, 2. Reading 16%, 3. Speaking 30%, 4. Listening 45%.
Pronunciation Meaning: By using the correct sounds when you speak, others can quickly
understand what you're trying to say. If you are great at grammar and know many
different words, good pronunciation will help others hear and understand you even more
clearly.
Features of English Pronunciation-
1. Word Stress: stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain
syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or sentence. Correct primary
stress helps the listener to understand your speech. If you slightly mispronounce a
word, but the primary stress is correct, you can often communicate it's meaning. So,
stress is important, especially for words you use often. The primary stress can change
the meaning of words with the same spelling. However, if you want the same sentence
to mean something different, you can stress a different word.
I. I didn't steal your wallet, someone else did!
II. I didn't steal your wallet!
III. I didn't steal your wallet, I just borrowed it!
IV. I didn't steal your wallet, I stole his wallet!
V. I didn't steal your wallet, I stole your cell phone!
2. Rhythm: Rhythm is the sense of movement in speech, marked by the stress, timing, and
quantity of syllables. Adjective: rhythmic. In poetics, rhythm is the recurring alternation of
strong and weak elements in the flow of sound and silence in sentences or lines of verse.
Pronunciation. In fact, native speakers of English are so accustomed to the rhythm of the
English language that the weak sounds of the unstressed words are not a language problem.
Even if English speakers do not hear all the unstressed words in a sentence, they can still guess
the missing words from the overall rhythm of English.
For example, in the sentence:
‘The cat sat on the mat while eating its favourite food’
The stressed words are the words in bold. ‘Eat’, ‘mat’ and ‘food’ are all only one syllable, so these
are easy to pronounce. The word ‘eating’ has two syllables so you need to know this is
pronounced with the stress on the first half of the word (‘eating’).
However, the unstressed ‘ing’ ending of the word ‘eating’ still needs to be stressed more than the
less important words in the sentence. This creates the regular stress-timed rhythm of English.
3. Intonation: Intonation describes how the voice rises and falls in speech. The three main
patterns of intonation in English are: falling intonation, rising intonation and fall-rise intonation.
The level of pitch may change from one word to another in the same sentence. The part of a
sentence over which the same level of pitch is maintained is known as a tonegroup. The most
heavily stressed syllable in a tone group is called ‘nucleus’ or intonation pattern.
4. Pause or Internal Juncture: Pauses allow you to punctuate your spoken words, giving
your listeners clues as to when one phrase, one sentence, or one paragraph ends,
and the next begins. Juncture, is the manner of moving (transition) between two
successive syllables in speech. An important type of juncture is the suprasegmental
phonemic cue by means of which a listener can distinguish between two otherwise
identical sequences of sounds that have different meanings.
English Spelling- Some spelling rules-
Rule-1. Never add or subtract a letter at the ‘joint’ in a word.
Rule-2. After q always use u
Rule-3. When ‘full’ is added to some word. One ‘L’ should be deleted.
Rule-4. In case ‘full’ is added to any word which ends with ‘y’ then ‘y’ is converted into
‘i’.
Rule-5. In case some word is added to a word which ends with ‘LL’ one ‘L’ Is deleted.
Rule-6. While putting suffix after a word which ends with ‘L’ and which contains a vowel
before ‘L’ then ‘L’ is made ‘LL’.
Rule-7. If ‘well’ or ‘will’ is added to a word, an ‘L’ will not be deleted.
Rule-8. In case ‘i’ and ‘e’ together create a sound of ‘ee’ in nay word, ‘i’ will come first
and ‘e’ thereafter.
Rule-9. If there is ‘c’ before ’e’ in a word, then ‘e’ will come first and ‘i’ thereafter.
Rule-10. While adding ‘ing’ to a verb which ends with ‘e’ then ‘e’ is deleted.
Rule-11. No change is made while adding ‘ing’ to a verb which ends with ‘ee’, ‘oe’, or
‘ye’.
Rule-12. While adding ‘ing’ to a verb which ends with ‘ie’, the ‘ie’ is converted into ‘y’.
Rule-13. While adding ‘ing’ or ‘ed’ to a verb in which there is single vowel before the last
letter (except w, r, y) then the last letter is written twice.
Rule-14. While adding ‘ing’ or ‘ed’ to a verb in which ends with ‘c’, the ‘c’ is converted
into ‘ck’.
Rule-15. While putting suffix (except ‘ous’ to a word which ends with ‘y’ and in which
there is any consonant before ‘y’, the ‘y’ is converted into ‘i’.
Rule-16. While adding ‘able’, ‘ous’, ‘age’ and ‘ish’ to a word which ends with ‘e’, the ‘e’
is deletd.
Rule-17. While adding ‘ous’ with a word ending with ‘our’ the letter ‘u’ is deleted.
Rule-18. While adding ‘full’ to a word which ends with ‘LL’, each word lose one ‘L’.
Rule-19. While adding a word beginning with a consonant to a word which end with ‘e’
ratain ‘e’.
Rules for making plurals-
Rule-1. In most words add ‘s’.
Rule-2. In words ending with ‘o’ add ‘es’.
Rule-3. In word ending with consonant ‘y’ change the ‘y’ into ‘i’ and add ‘es’.
Rule-4. In word ending with vowel ’y’ add ‘s’.
Rule-5. In words ending with ‘f’ or ‘fe’ change the ‘f’ or ‘fe’ into ‘v’ and add ‘es’.
Rule-6. In a few words vowels are changed.
Rule-7. In some cases no change is made.
Word Groups- One useful way of learning English is to grasp words by their
beginning or endings.
Silent letter words
Double letter words
Common Homophones-Words that sound similar but have different spelling and,
meaning are called homophones.
Good Speaking-Good speaking requires two type of skills :
1. Courtesy- In order to make your speaking style civilised and attractive, the following
words may be used:
Thanks, Please, With great pleasure, Same to you, Welcome, Please allow me, Please
excuse me, Sorry, Pardon, After you.
2. Knowledge: In order to command gain over spoken English improve vocabulary. Speaking
can be perfected by participating in debates and discussions. Speaking is an art and like
any other art it requires regular practice.
Mistakes in Spoken and Written English-
3. Jargon: The technical terms used in an inappropriate context are known as jargon.
4. Verbosity: Verbosity implies using more than the needed words.
5. Tautology: Tautology means the practice of needlessly saying the same thing more than
once in different words.
6. Pomposity: Means using difficult, longer and unfamiliar words.
7. Colloquialisms: The expressions and grammatical forms used in familiar speech but being
inappropriate in formal writing are called colloquialisms.
8. Slang: Slang refers to words and phrases that are considered outside of standard English
but are in common colloquial use.
 EFFECTIVE LISTENING
Meaning: Listening may be defined as the process of hearing, understanding and
interpreting the spoken words.
Difference between listening and hearing-The following points are vital so far as
the difference between hearing and listening is concerned
1. An individual’s ability to perceive sounds, by receiving vibrations through ears, is
called the hearing. Listening is something done consciously, that involve the
analysis and understanding of the sounds you hear.
2. The hearing is the primary and continuous in nature, i.e. the first and foremost
stage is hearing, followed by listening and it occurs continuously. On the other
hand, listening is temporary, as we cannot continuously pay attention to
something for long hours.
3. The hearing is physiological, which is through one of our senses in the living
organisms. On the contrary, listening is a psychological (conscious) act.
4. While hearing is a passive bodily process that does not the involve use of the
brain. As opposed to listening, it is an active mental process, which involves the
use of brain to draw meaning from words and sentences.
5. Hearing involves receipt of the message through ears. Conversely, listening
encompasses interpretation of the message received by ears.
6. The hearing is an inborn ability but listening is a learned skill.
7. In the hearing, we are not aware of the sounds that we receive, however in
the case of listening, we are completely aware of what the speaker is saying.
8. Hearing involves the use of only one sense i.e. ears. In contrast, listening,
involves the use of more than one senses i.e. eyes, ears, touch etc. to
understand the message completely and accurately.
9. In the hearing, we are neither aware nor we have any control over the
sounds we hear. On the other hand, in listening, we are aware of what the
other person is saying and so we listen to acquire knowledge and receive
information.
10. Hearing does not require focus whereas listening does.
Importance of effective listening-
1. It helps us to understand the people and the world around us.
2. In our society, listening is essential to the development and survival of the individual.
3. Relationships depends more on listening skills than on speaking skills.
4. A good listener is always in a better position to deal with his problems and
relationships.
5. It helps a person to grow in his career.
6. It keeps a person well informed
7. It helps an organization to meet its objectives.
8. Being listened to spells the difference between feeling accepted and feeing isolated.
9. A good listener rarely involves himself in controversies and misunderstanding.
10. Listening skills are critical to effective leadership.
The Listening Process-
1. Sensing or selection-This is a kind of physiological process. The sounds impinge on the
listener’s ear. It is only when he takes these in that he can go further in the process of
getting at the meaning. The listener has to focus his attention on the message to the
exclusion of all other sounds that may be present in the immediate surroundings.
2. Interpretation: The sounds have to be interpreted, that is, the listener tries to
understand the message that is being put across against the background of his own
values, beliefs, ideas, expectations, needs, experience and background and, of
course, taking into account the speaker’s viewpoint.
3. Evaluation: The listener makes a critical analysis of the information received,
judging whether the message makes sense while separating fact from opinion.
4. Response: The listener gives a verbal or nonverbal response, and takes action
accordingly.
5. Memory: This involves storing the message for future reference.
Types of Listening-
6. Passive listening: Passive listening is when someone hears but does not fully
process or respond to shared information. This can be due to several factors, such
as distractions, lack of interest, confusion, or boredom, among others. Passive
listeners are often disengaged from the conversation, and they may not remember
what was said. This type of listener might not even realize that they aren’t actively
engaged in the conversation. They might be thinking about work, the grocery list, or
something else entirely. For example, if you are in a meeting at work and someone
is talking, but you are not really paying attention because you are thinking about
the list of things you need to get done, you are practicing passive listening.
2. Active Listening: Active listening simply means that you’re completely
focused on the person who is talking to you, and you’re showing very
obviously with your body language that you’re giving whoever is speaking
your full attention. When you’re engaged in active listening you’ll be giving
off a range of subtle verbal and non-verbal cues to show you’re listening. For
example, active listening might require stopping all other activities and
avoiding distractions to show that listening is your priority—while
maintaining eye contact, keeping your body turned towards the speaker,
nodding, and saying “Mmhmm.” Mirroring the speaker’s body language
and/or facial expressions can send them the message that you’re interested
in what they’re saying.
3. Biased (or projective) listening – intentionally disregarding the other person's
views; they take in certain information, but because they have differing
views they do not accept (take in) anything in contrast to their views and
selectively omit it.
4. Sensitive/Empathic listening: Empathic listening is a structured listening and
questioning technique that allows you to develop and enhance relationships
with a stronger understanding of what is being conveyed, both intellectually
and emotionally. As such, it takes active listening techniques to a new level.
5. Marginal Listening: This level occurs when we pay attention to what is being
said at first and then are easily distracted. Much like those with a short
Barriers to Effective Listening-
1. Noise: “Noise” is the disruption or hindrance in communication process anywhere along the way
as shown in the figure. It can occur at any point in the communication process. Noise can be the
sound of someone coughing, a truck driving by, or two people talking close at hand. It can also
include disruptions such as a letter being lost in the mail (either traditional or electronic), a
telephone line going dead, or one of the participants in a conversation being called away before
the communication process is completed.
2. Perceptual and Language Differences: Perception is in general how each individual interprets the
world around him. People generally want to receive messages which are significant to them.
Example: A person is on leave for a month due to personal reasons (family member being
critical). The HR Manager may be in confusion whether to retain that employee or not, the
immediate manager might think of substitute because his team’s productivity is being hampered,
the family members might take him as an emotional hold.
3. Information Overload: Managers are bordered with a pool of information. It is necessary to control
this information flow else the information is likely to be misinterpreted or forgotten or overlooked.
As a consequence, communication is less effective.
4. Inattention: At times we just not listen, but only hear. Example: A traveller may pay attention to
one “NO PARKING” sign, but if such sign is put all over the city, he no longer listens to it.
Therefore, repetitive messages should be dismissed for effective communication.
5. Time Pressures: Frequently in an organization, the targets have to be achieved within a specified
time period, the failure of which has adverse consequences. In a haste to meet deadlines, the
formal channels of communication are shortened, or messages are partially given, i.e., not
completely channelled. Thus ample time should be given for effective communication.
6. Emotions: Emotional state at a peculiar point of time also affects
communication. If the receiver feels that communicator is angry he
understands that the information being sent is very bad.
7. Complexity in Organizational Structure: Greater the power structure in an
organization (i.e. more the number of managerial levels), more are the
chances of communication getting lost. Only the people at the top level can
see the overall picture while the people at low level just have knowledge
about their own area and a little knowledge about other areas.
8. Poor Retention: Human memory cannot function outside a limit. One can’t
always retain what is being told especially if he is not interested or not
attentive. This leads to communication collapse.
9. Lack of Interest: An individual is unable to concentrate on the topic in which
he has no interest. Lack of interest thus hampers the process of listening.
10. Ego: A person may not accept the viewpoint of the speaker due to his
superiority complex. For example- a high level manager may not listen
properly because the speaker is an ordinary worker who does not satisfy or
match the ego of the listener.
Guidelines for Effective Listening- Listening is very important aspect of
communication. Around 20% of overall communication is listening. Therefore, one
should strive for adopting good listening habit. There are following guidelines for
good listening:
1. Preparation before listening: As already mentioned that listening plays
important role in communication. So one should prepare himself before starting
listening. In preparation, there are following guidelines:
(i) Stop talking: Human brain can perform one activity efficiently at a time, so
during listening there should be no talking by the listener.
(ii) Remove distraction: Noisy fan, traffic noise, entrance of unauthorized persons
may interrupt the listening process. All these barriers should be removed.
(iii) Good environmental conditions: There should not be extraordinary cold or
warm environment and ventilations should be proper.
2. Listening to understand, not to refute: There could be many topics to which the
listener has reservations. Apart form these reservations, the listener should try his
best to understand the message.
3. Focusing the attention: There may be many objects on which the listener should
construct a mental outline of where the speaker is going in his speech.
4. Concentration on context: The listener should keep in mind the
background and theme of speech. This thing enables him to
absorb the material quickly and efficiently.
5. Taking notes: Listener should keep on taking notes. Hence, he
should jot down ideas rather than sentences. In this way,
he/she could make the message safe for a long time.
6. Curbing the impulse to interrupt: One should avoid interrupting
the speech until the speaker invites questions. This habit puts
the speaker and listener both at ease.
7. Asking questions: Asking right question on right time is quite
different form interruption. Listener should have an idea to
know right time to ask questions.
8. Summary & evaluation: The listener should summarize and
speech but not during listening process.
Characteristics of Good and Effective Listener-
Good and effective listener tries to give maximum amount of thought to the speaker’s ideas being
communicated, leaving a minimum amount of time for mental exercises to go off track. A good
listener:
1. Is attentive- Good listener must pay attention to the key points. He should be alert. He should
avoid any kind of distraction.
2. Do not assume- Good listener does not ignore the information he considers is unnecessary.
He should always summarize the speaker’s ideas so that there is no misunderstanding of
thoughts of speakers. He avoids premature judgements about the speakers message.
3. Listen for feelings and facts- Good listener deliberately listens for the feelings of the speaker.
He concentrates totally on the facts. He evaluates the facts objectively. His listening is
sympathetic, active and alert. He keenly observes the gestures, facial expression and body
language of the speaker. In short, a good listener should be projective (i.e. one who tries to
understand the views of the speaker) and empathic (i.e. one who concentrates not only on
the surface meaning of the message but tries to probe the feelings and emotions of the
speaker).
4. Concentrate on the other speakers kindly and generously- A good listener makes deliberate
efforts to give a chance to other speakers also to express their thoughts and views. He tries
to learn from every speaker. He evaluates the speaker’s ideas in spare time. He focuses on
the content of the speaker’s message and not on the speaker’s personality and looks.
5. Opportunizes- A good listener tries to take benefit from the opportunities arising. He asks
“What’s in it for me?”
Thanking You
 UNIT-3

BUSINESS LETTER WRITING AND PRESENTATION

Business Letter-A business letter is a professional, formal letter that is sent by one company to another. These letters can be
used for professional correspondence between business clients, employees, stakeholders as well as individuals.
Need/Reasons of writing a business letter:
1. To provide a convenient and inexpensive means of communication without personal contact;
2. To seek or give information;
3. To furnish evidence of transaction entered into; and
4. To provide a record for future reference;
Functions of a business letter:
5. Promotional Functions: By promoting new products and providing better services to business organizations, improving
and enhancing the quality of their products. Customers should be informed through these developments. Business
organizations have to expand their market by tapping new areas. All-round expansion is possible only if the organization
continues to be well-informed by letters to those people and letters promoting them.
6. Informational work: Professional letters provide valuable data about previous policies, transactions and all other activities
of the organization. Modern businesses can not depend on memory like the old days. If they are available then the letters
are ready reference. New policies can be developed by studying earlier. Not only is it necessary to maintain good
correspondence, but it is also more necessary to make them available in the files.
7. Legal work: Trade letters can provide evidence in legal disputes, if any, which is in a transaction. They are useful as legal
documents in quotes and offers.
8. Goodwill work: Trade letters promote goodwill among business parties that trade. They make a good rapport between the
parties in business transactions.
5. Convey information: The fundamental reason for any business letter is to pass on information in
regards to business exercises. Information can be transmitted through the business letter to clients,
providers, indebted individuals, government experts, monetary organizations, bank, and insurance
agencies and to any different gatherings related to the business.
6. Conclude exchange: This is one of the particular reasons for the business letter. To finish up in finished
exchanges business letter are as often as possible utilized.
7. Creation of interest: Business letter particularly round letters used to make interest for new items.
Round letters can convey many individuals at a similar time.
8. Creation of generosity: In this electronic period, messages can be sent inside a couple of moments
through electronic media however a very much beautified business letter has its own significance in
creating a positive picture of the company.
Essentials of effective business letters:
9. Clear-The language used in the business letter must be clear. It helps the receiver to understand the
message immediately, easily, and clearly. Any ambiguity will lead to the misinterpretation of the
message stated.
10. Simple-The language used in the business letter must be simple and easy. One must not write a business
letter in difficult and fancy words.
11. Concise-The message written in the letter must be concise and to the point.
12. Concrete-The message is written must be concrete and specific. By using concrete language, a reader
will have a clear picture of the message.
13. Accuracy-One must always check for the accuracy of the business letter. Accuracy generally means no
error in grammar, spelling, punctuations etc. Correct personnel should be targeted for communication.
6. Coherent-The language used in the business letter must be coherent. The message must be in a logical way for
the clear understanding of the message. The flow of the message must be consistent.
7. Complete-One must write a complete message. It helps the reader to know about the issue and the solution to
be taken. It should provide all the necessary information. One must also keep in mind that the message should
be concise and short along with the complete details.
8. Relevance-The letter should only contain important information. Irrelevant information should not be included
and avoided in any business communication.
9. Courteous-The language used in the business letter must be courteous. A writer must always use open, friendly,
and honest wording in his letter. It does not mean that one must use slang and abusive words. One must always
add the words like please, thank you etc.
10. Neatness-A business letter must be neatly typed or handwritten. Proper spacing, indention, and use of
paragraph should be used.
11. Sincerity-Effective letters must reflect genuineness of feelings, concern for the reader and legitimacy of claims
made.
12. Public Image-Business letters reflect the image of the company. Therefore, all business correspondence should
be written so as to enhance the company’s image.
The layout of a business letter:
1. Letter Heading- The first and foremost part of the letter is the HEADING that contains the name and address of
the sender firm. The name of the firm is usually written or printed in bold capital letters followed by the nature of
business. The address of the sender should be complete and accurate in all respects, i.e. correct number or serial of
building, correct name of road, city or town, pin code etc. The heading should comprise of telephone number, telex
or fax number, e-mail id, address etc. These details forms the essential part of letter heading. Sometime business
concerns get their letter headings as per their convenience. Some letter heads contain address written in the centre
whereas some prefer on the right hand side while some prefer at the bottom.
2. Date- It represents the date when the letter is addressed by the sender. The date is written on the upper right
hand corner of the paper. It depends upon the style or approach followed in letter writing. The date can be
written in any of the fashions or style – 15/8/2007 or August 15, 2007 or 15 August, 2007. In some western
countries the first digit is treated as month and not day so some times it becomes confusing if the date is
written in figures. The ideal way of writing the date in a business letter is 15 August, 2007.
3. Sender's Reference Number- After the letter date there is a mention of reference number to the sender of the
letter. It represents the number of file or folder where the copy of letter sent out has been kept in records.
The reference number can be written/typed/printed in the following ways:
Ref. No. _________
(On left-hand side of upper portion of paper)
Or some Business Organizations make a cage and write as:
The reference number of the sender firm is denoted to easily locate the desired bill or information from the
records. The format of reference number comprises of initials of firm's name, name of department, year and
then the serial number of Despatch or Outward Mail Register. These details are the fundamentals of a
complete reference number. The specimen of reference number is given below:
Ref. No. XYZA/Sales/99/2345
The above reference number is quoted while responding or replying to the letter written by the sender. It
helps or facilitates in locating the desired letter in less time.
4. Inside Address- Inside Address represents the name and address of the person to whom the letter is written
or addressed. It is written after the reference number and the date in a business letter and should contain the
full name and address of the addressee – person or firm, number of building or plot, name of street, road,
name of town and city with its pin code number. There should be no abbreviation used while addressing
name and address of the addressee. The letter should be addressed in the name of firm and should have
prefix ‘Messrs' or ‘M/s' attached with the name of the company or firm. The inside address is always written
towards the left hand margin. In case of “window cover" envelops sufficient space should be left above and
below the inside address. The letter is folded in such manner that the inside address is visible through the
window. The inside address should be written completely and legibly.
5. Salutation- The next part after inside address is salutation. It can be describe as token of respect shown in business
letter to the reader. The customary form of writing salutation in a business letter is ‘DEAR SIRS' when we address
company or firm and ‘DEAR SIR' when we address a letter by the person's name or designation. When it is
addressed to lady we prefer to write ‘Madam' and when it is addressed to group of ladies we prefer the salutation
by ‘Mesdames'. If we address the letter to honorable dignitary or V.I.P or Highest Authority, then we may write ‘Sir'
as salutation to the letter. The salutation should be written on the left hand margin below the inside address and
after leaving two-lines space. The usage of words like ‘Gentlemen' or similar terms should be avoided as they
become obsolete in present context of business world.
6. Body of a Letter- The body of a letter refers to collection of lines or paragraphs of information included in a business
letter. The body of letter comprises of the following facts:
(1) Opening sentences – The opening sentences consists of few words in the beginning of a letter and they
are of great importance to both sender and receiver of the letter. The opening sentences are different for different
kinds of letters depending upon the subject-matter of the business letter.
(2) Paragraphs – The rest of the information is divided into suitable and convenient paragraphs and each
paragraph should have close link with each other. The paragraphs should be brief, concise and should be in
continuation to the subject matter.
(3) Closing sentences – The business letter is closed with a suitable and fitting closing sentence and consists
of a closing suggestion from sender's side about future course of action. It should be impressive, congenial and
friendly so that it leaves a good impression on the reader. Like opening sentences, they are different for different types
of letters.
7. Complimentary Close -The ideal business letter should be closed with suitable complimentary words like “Yours
Faithfully". The other customary words used are “Yours Truely" or “Yours Sincerely" etc. the words “truly" or
“affectionately" are used for personal and friendly letters while “Yours Sincerely" is used for demi-official (personal
cum official) letters. The subscription or complimentary close is written at the end of the letter. It can be written
either on right hand corner or on lower left hand corner of the page depending upon the style used in writing a
business letter. The subscription is accompanied with the name of a company or firm and can be written or
addressed as: Yours faithfully
8. Signature-The business letter should be duly signed by the Authorized Signatory of the company or firm.
The unsigned letter shows the negligence or unprofessional attitude of the sender and leaves a bad
impression on the reader. Signature is placed below the complimentary close. The name of the person
signing the letter is typed below the signature.
9. Identification Marks-In this part initials of the person dictating the letter and of the person typing are
given on the left hand margin.
10. Enclosures- Enclosures are referred to those paper, document, price-list, catalogues, samples etc that
are enclosed or attached with the business letter. The enclosures should be clearly indicated in the letter
as to how many paper or documents have been enclosed in the letter. The usual or common way of
writing enclosures in a letter is as under stated:
Encl: Five
ENCL: AS ABOVE
ENC: Cheque No. 012789 for Rs. 5000/-
If we know the exact number of enclosures then we should write down the number in words or figures or
we can use the words ‘As Above'. In case of cheque or draft we should write its particulars and details.
Enclosures are written on the left hand bottom corner of the end of the letter.
11. Copy Distribution- If we prefer to deliver the same letter to other person or office then we prefer to take
out its carbon copies and write the notations as under:
Copy to ---
Or
C.C. to ---
Or
Copy forwarded to ---
The above notations are written or typed at the end of a letter. It should start from the left hand margin
and may be typed on the original copy of letter or on the respective carbon copies. These notations or
endorsements should be signed by the authorized signatory.
12. Postscript-Postscript refers to the left over information to be incorporated in a letter and can be
written at the end of the letter in a blank space available on a paper or letter head. It should be
done by writing words ‘P.S' and should be signed by authorized signatory. It is advisable to avoid
writing the postscript in a business letter.
Forms of Business Letters:
13. General Form
14. The Indented Form
15. The Full Block Form
16. The Modified Block Form
17. The Semi-Block Form
18. The Hanging Indented Form
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Types of Business Letters:
1. Request Letters-A letter that contains a request for something.
Request letter may be written for the following purposes:
a. To make sales enquires
b. To place orders
c. To obtain necessary information
d. To grant credit
e. To claim adjustments
Structure of a request letter:
f. Beginning-Begin the request letter with a direct statement of the request. First of all,
state what you want and then explain your initial request.
g. Middle Part-Give justification and explanation for your request. State how the reader
will benefit by granting your request.
h. The End-In the last part of a request letter, specify the action you want and the time
limit for the action. Close the letter in a courteous tone.
Types of request letters:
1. Request letter for enquiry-Whenever a buyer wants to get some information about the
quantity, price, availability etc. of goods to be purchased, or about the terms of sale, etc.
he writes a letter of enquiry to the seller. Letter of enquiry are, therefore, information
seeking letters.
2. Reply to an enquiry-While replying to an enquiry, it should be ensured that the requested
information is provided. All replies must be sent at the earliest. An early reply reflect
business etiquette and genuine respect for the buyer. Replies should contain complete
information about prices, discount, credit, delivery etc.
3. Request letter for placing orders-Purchase order for a product is one of the simplest kinds
of request letters. Give adequate and precise information while placing order.
4. Request letter seeking credit-A business firm may make a direct request to its suppliers
for sale of goods on credit. Such credit requests may also be made to manufactures,
wholesalers and banks. In a credit request, it is necessary to specify the period you have
been in business, the existing accounts, name of your bank, your financial statements
and references needed.
5. Request letter seeking information-In a letter requesting some routine information or
action, state what you want and why it is in the interest of the reader to help you.
6. Request to customers and clients-Business firms often request their customers and
clients to provide some information. Such requests tend to be simple and short.