Writing a Business Letter Created by: Courtney Branch

Students will be able to: Name and define the parts of a letter. Name and recognize the block style used for business letters. Use block style correctly to format a letter that you write for Mrs. Oldaker’s class.

Business Letter Basics Sender’s Address For a company this would be located in the letterhead. If there is no letterhead, then you put the sender’s (your) address at the top of the letter one line above the date. Do not write your name or title – only the street address, city, and zip code.

Business Letter Basics Date This indicates when the letter was written. If it takes you several days to finish your letter use the date you finish the letter. Write out the date – June 16, 2011

Business Letter Basics Inside Address This is the address of the recipient (who you are writing to). It’s best if you have a specific name of who you are writing to …this may mean doing some research on the internet. Use a formal, polite tone, for example, Mrs. Courtney Branch, Mrs. Angela Williams Use the personal title (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Rev., Dr.) that best fits the person you are writing to, if you don’t know if a woman is married or not, use Ms.

Business Letter Basics Salutation The salutation is the greeting of the letter. Use the same name as the inside address. Again, use a formal polite tone. If you are not sure exactly who you are writing to you may use To Whom It May Concern: A colon (:) comes after the salutation.

Business Letter Basics Where does it all go? Sender’s Address – Don’t use your name here. You will sign the letter with your name. This is just your address. 54 Wrightsville Street Hickory, NC 28601 October 4, 2011 Mrs. Angela Williams, Principal Arndt Middle School 3350 34th Street Drive NE Dear Dr. Fonseca: Body of the letter starts here. One space between the Sender’s Address and the date. One space between the date and the Inside Address. Notice that I used Mrs. William’s title and the school name to be as specific as possible. One space between the Inside Address and Salutation. One space between the Salutation and the Body of the letter. See how all the lines begin at the 1 inch margin mark on the left hand side of the paper? This is called left justified. A block letter is the simplest to use because everything is left justified.

Business Letter Basics Body For block format all the paragraphs are single spaced. There is a blank line between each new paragraph. Don’t indent paragraphs for block format. Don’t be too wordy. Know what you need to say and say it in a brief, intelligent way. Remember your audience. Be formal and polite. Make good word choices.

Business Letter Basics Body THIS IS A SUGGESTED FORMAT FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT. YOUR PAPER MAY BE DIFFERENT. The first paragraph should state your purpose and main idea. This is the introduction to your letter. The next paragraph should justify the decision you made and stated in the first paragraph with at least 3 well explained reasons. The next paragraph should include the trade-off for your decision. You may include your closing in the third paragraph or it may be a paragraph all by itself.

What is a trade-off? The “trade-off” is the down side of your decision. Example: Although aluminum costs less and is easier to recycle, some critics complain that it changes the taste of the drink. However, in blind taste tests many subjects could not tell a difference between aluminum canned drinks and those in plastic. (I made this up and it is not true!) In argumentative writing, this idea is called the counter-argument. I know you may say …, but … Kids do this all the time to get what you want from the parents. Example: I know a new laptop will cost $1,000.00, but I will be able to work on my school projects at home and you always say an education is priceless.

What is a trade-off? You want to show that you have thought about the trade-off of your decision – any negative aspects there may be. Then you want to address this concern with why you still think your decision is best.

Business Letter Basics Closing This is done one line after your last paragraph. Capitalize the first word only and put a comma after it: Thank you, Then leave 4 blank lines for the sender’s signature.

Here is a simple example Here is a simple example. Notice it leaves off the sender’s address and does not have a specific recipient. This would count against your grade for this project. You want to be as specific as possible.

Another example. Explanations are in bold.

This letter is written on stationary that has letterhead at the top This letter is written on stationary that has letterhead at the top. The letterhead has the sender’s address and sometimes phone number or e-mail address. If you are writing on letterhead you don’t include the sender’s address again. There are other formats of business letters. This is written in the semi-block style. Notice the date, closing, and signature are tabbed over. Also, the paragraphs are indented.