Basics of Writing a Business Letter
Writing for a business audience can be quite different from writing a personal letter. When writing a business letter, it's best to be concise and succinct. Business letters are more formal and lack the creativity and emotion of personal letters. To write an effective business letter, it helps to understand some basic principles and guidelines.
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Your Address
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Include your address in the letterhead of the left top side of the letter. If you do not use letterhead, place your address at the top of the page one line above the date. You don't need to include your name or title either. Only include your street address, city and ZIP code.
Date
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Write the date you finished the letter at the top of the page, one line under your return address. Use the American date format when sending a business letter to somebody in the U.S. An example is, "May 20, 2001."
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Recipient Address
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Write the recipient's address one line below the date and make sure it's left justified. Include the name of the person you are writing to. If you don't have a specific person's name, find out who you should address your letter to by calling the company and asking. Include a formal title before the person's name, like Ms., Mrs., Mr. or Dr. Use Ms. unless you know the woman you are writing to prefers to be addressed as "Mrs."
Salutation
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Use the same name you used for the recipient address for your salutation. Leave a line above and below your salutation. If you know the person who you are writing to, it's okay to use the person's first name. If not, use their personal title and last name followed by a colon. If you don't know the recipient's gender, say, "To Whom It May Concern."
Body Copy
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The body of your business letter should start one line below your salutation. Use single space formatting and left justify each paragraph within the body of the letter. Leave a blank line between each paragraph. Begin by stating the purpose of your letter. Be concise and direct in the body of your letter. Use personal pronouns such as "I, we and you." Write in the active voice rather than passive. In the closing paragraph, restate the purpose of the letter.
Close
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The closing statement should contain a space above and below. Capitalize the first word only and use a standard, courteous closing statement like, "Best regards" or "Thank you." Leave four lines after the closing, type your name and then hand-write your signature between the closing and your typed name.
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References
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