How to Organize Professional Business Letters
Learning how to write a professional business letter is one of the most basic, yet important, skills you can acquire as you begin your career. Whether you are writing a cover letter to accompany your resume when applying for a job, requesting funding for a project or sending a thank you along with an invoice, a well-formatted business letter is key to projecting professionalism. Some things just cannot be accomplished via email. The task is not as daunting as it seems, however. Once you have the basics down you will be able to quickly craft a letter for any occasion.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Word processing program like Microsoft Word or Apple Pages
- Address information, including contact names and titles
- Printer
- Good-quality paper
- Pen
Instructions
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1
Set the formatting in your word processing program to left-justified, single-spaced.
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Type your return address on the first two lines, spelling out words like "street" and "avenue." (State abbreviations are fine.)
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3
Skip a line then type the date, spelling out the month.
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Skip a line and type the name, company and address of the letter's intended recipient including titles like "Ms." or "Dr.," which can be abbreviated. Again, do not abbreviate words like "street" or "avenue."
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Skip a line then type the salutation, punctuated with a colon. For example, "Dear Dr. Edwards:" (type this without the quotation marks).
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Skip a line and write a brief summary of the letter's purpose, such as "Invoicing Procedures for ABC Project" without ending punctuation. Center and bold this line.
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7
Skip a line and readjust formatting to left-justified. Write the body of your letter, skipping a line between each paragraph.
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Create your signature block. A closing such as "Yours faithfully," "Respectfully yours" or "Sincerely yours," are all professional and appropriate. Skip four lines and type your name, then your title and company directly below.
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Skip two lines and type "Enclosures" and the number of pages you are including in parenthesis. You may omit this step if there are no enclosures or attachments.
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10
Print the letter. Sign it in the space between the closing and your typed name.
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Tips & Warnings
Most word processing programs offer business letter templates already formatted. Choose one that looks formal, not cutesy. The above instructions are for full block formatting, but modified block is fine as well. (The only difference is the placement of the return address and signature block on the right side of the page.)
Avoid using cutesy fonts, abbreviations or nicknames. Do not indent paragraphs.
