P ARTS OF A B USINESS L ETTER “Umm, You’re Eating My Trash!”

W HO W RITES L ETTERS T HESE D AYS ? There are many ways to communicate with people. With a partner, brainstorm several ways people communicate with others. When would writing a letter be the most effective form of communication?

T WO T YPES OF L ETTERS There are two types of letters: Friendly letters: Personal letters written to someone you already know Tone is informal Purpose: thank-you notes, party invitations, letters to friends Business Letters: Usually written to a company or someone you don’t know Tone is formal Purposes: apply for a job, complain, suggest a change, request a product, etc.

FORMATTING A BUSINESS LETTER Business letters follow a specific format. This helps the reader know where to find information. There are two standard formats for a business letter: BLOCK FORMAT MODIFIED BLOCK FORMAT

Source: businessletterformat.org

BLOCK FORMAT Source: businessletterformat.org

BLOCK FORMAT In this assignment, we will be using the BLOCK FORMAT. In block format, everything is aligned to the left- hand margin of the page. You do not indent paragraphs

P ARTS OF A B USINESS L ETTER There are six parts : Return address Inside address Greeting / salutation Body Closing Signature Line

T HE R ETURN A DDRESS The RETURN ADDRESS shows where the letter originated. It consists of three lines: 1st Line: The writer’s street address (do not use any abbreviations) 2 nd Line: City, state, and zip (you may abbreviate the state) 3 rd Line: The date (The month should be spelled out in full) Example: 123 Main Street Grosse Pointe, MI December 5, 2011

RETURN ADDRESS PRACTICE Write your return address on the lines below: _________________________________ Julia Schreiber lives in Dayton, Ohio. Her house is located at 525 Irving Avenue. Her ZIP is Write a return address for Julia on the lines below. Use today’s date. _________________________________

R ETURN A DDRESS : A NSWERS Julia Schreiber lives in Dayton, Ohio. Her house is located at 525 Irving Avenue. Her ZIP is Write a return address for Julia on the lines below. Use today’s date. 525 Irving Avenue Dayton, OH December 7, 2011

T HE I NSIDE A DDRESS The INSIDE ADDRESS contains the name and address of the recipient. It can consist of THREE or FOUR lines Three Line Inside AddressFour-Line Inside Address Person’s Full Name OR Company Street Address City, state, ZIP Person’s Name and Position Company Name Street Address City. State, ZIP

I NSIDE A DDRESS (C ONTINUED ) Example of a Three-Line Inside Address: Mr. Terry Breedlove 1581 Oxford Road Detroit, MI Smith Car Repair 191 Brown Street Centerville, OH 45458

I NSIDE A DDRESS (C ONTINUED ) Examples of a Four-Line Inside Address Mrs. Jamie Mauceri, President Mauceri Accounting Services 45 Second Street Mobile, AL Dr. David Zalenski, Chief Surgeon (capitalize the title) St. John Medical Center 555 Moross Road Beverly Hills, CA 90210

I NSIDE A DDRESS P RACTICE Write the inside addresses for each of the following: Tropical Tan is located at 388 Northam Drive. The city is Tampa. The state is Florida. The ZIP is Dr. Anne Hunsaker’s office is in the town of St. Louis. The state is Missouri. The street address is 15 Bugleboy Avenue. The ZIP is 54352

I NSIDE A DDRESS A NSWERS Tropical Tan 388 Northam Drive Tampa, FL Dr. Anne Hunsaker 15 Bugleboy Avenue St. Louis, MI 54352

I NSIDE A DDRESS P RACTICE Todd Sollar is the assistant principal of Parcells Middle School. The school is located at 77 Mack Avenue in Evart, New York. The ZIP is Susan Shelton is the director of packaging for the Crispy Crunch Potato Chip Co. The company is located in the town of Knoxville, which is in the state of Tennessee. The ZIP is The address is 609 Country Creek Way.

I NSIDE A DDRESS A NSWERS Mr. Todd Sollar, Assistant Principal Parcells Middle School 77 Mack Avenue Evart, NY Ms. Susan Shelton, Director of Packaging Crispy Crunch Potato Chip Co. 609 Country Creek Way Knoxville, TN 34980

T HE G REETING The GREETING is also called the SALUTATION. It appears below the inside address. It is always followed by a colon (:) If you know the person’s name, use the LAST NAME only Examples: Mr. Smith, Mrs. Nianouris, Dr. Frazo, Miss Jenkins If you don’t know if a woman is married or not, use Ms. To Whom It May Concern is used when you don’t know the name of the person to whom you’re writing.

G REETING P RACTICE Write a greeting line for the following people: Elizabeth Michels Mr. Thomas Madigan Miss Jennifer Passage Dr. Christine Flanagan A person in the complaints department of the Winter Wool Hat Co.

G REETING P RACTICE A NSWERS Write a greeting line for the following people: Elizabeth Michels Dear Ms. Michels: Mr. Thomas Madigan Dear Mr. Madigan: Miss Jennifer Passage Dear Miss Passage Dr. Christine Flanagan Dear Dr. Flanagan: A person in the complaints department of the Winter Wool Hat Co. To Whom it May Concern:

T HE B ODY The BODY of your letter is the most important part. It is the main message of a letter. The body is where the writer states the purpose for writing gives facts, examples and statistics asks for change makes suggestions explains how he or she can be reached

T HE C LOSING The CLOSING in a business letter is written after the body. It is aligned to the left It is always followed by a comma The first word begins with a capital letter All other words are written in lower case. Common Closings: Yours truly, Sincerely, Respectfully, Sincerely yours,

T HE S IGNATURE The SIGNATURE comes after the closing. This is where the writer signs his or her name. Leave space between the closing and the signature to sign your name. Your typed name will appear below your signature.