Ironically, with the progression of technology (including
the Internet, email, blogging, "tweeting," and text messaging), formal business letters
have fallen as a method of correspondence. This is not to say that they are no longer
used at all, however, and there is a proper format to follow in order to be completely
professional and technically correct.
A business letter
basically has 6 parts if it is not written on business letter-head, professional
business paper with a logo and address already printed. The basic parts, and a few tips
about each, are as
follows:
- Sender's
Address: this can be omitted if the letter is written on pre-printed
letter-head which already contains an
address. - Date: date the
letter is sent, month is fully spelled
out. - Inside Address: address
of recipient, positioned in a way that when the letter is tri-folded, this address would
show up in an envelope window pane (this is standard even if you are using solid
envelopes and must re-print the address on the
outside). - Salutation: the
greeting; use proper title and actual name of recipient if known; only use a "familiar"
name if you know the recipient personally; follow the greeting with a
colon. - Body of Letter: the
main thing to remember here is that the paragraphs do not need to be indented, only
separated by a line of
space. - Closing: leave 4
lines between the closing remark ("Sincerely,") and your full typed name. Sign your
name with a pen in the space.
If you are
including anything in this formal letter, such as a resume or document of some sort, you
will also include at the bottom of the letter (one line after the closing) a list of
enclosures following the abbreviation Enc. for
enclosure. You can either put the number of enclosures or list the
titles if there are many.
The links below will provide more
detailed explanation, as well as sample letters.
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