Writing business letters

Business e-mail

Business e-mail is a very convenient and frequently used form of correspondence. Bear in mind that although an e-mail is a quick way of sending messages it cannot replace formal business letters.

Also, even though an email is an informal way of communicating, when writing at work, you need to remember to:

A formal business letter

A formal business letter is an official legal record of company agreements and decisions. It may be read by many people in the company before it is sent. It should represent the company style of dealing with clients and stakeholders. Many companies will instruct their employees on the preferred style of communication. Generally, when writing business letters, we should be using formal and polite language (avoid abbreviations and contractions).

There are several different types of letter formats, and most word-processing software nowadays includes some templates to help you with writing. In this chapter we will focus on what all the types have in common.

Every business letter should include the following parts: date, inside address, salutation, body of the letter, complimentary close, signatures, and end notations (enclosures, etc.).

First, let’s look at the layout of a business letter below: Fig. 9.1.

The date should be written in the top left hand corner of the letter. Remember about different ways of writing dates in different countries using English in correspondence. The British and most of Europeans write date-month-year and Americans use the month/day/year structure.

Example:

The salutation is a traditional way of greeting the person or persons you are writing to. Use Dear and the person’s name (first and last, preceded by a title) if you know him or her; use Dear Sir or Dear Madam if you do not know them. If in doubt you can always use Dear Sirs. After salutation use the following punctuation marks:

Fig. 9.1. Layout of a typical business letter

A memo

When a memo is addressed to more than one person, all the names appear in the To line. If the list of names is very long, write Distribution in the To line, and then, below the last line, write Distribution and follow it with an alphabetized list of names. Subject lines tell readers what the message is about and set the stage for reading with understanding.

Fig. 9.2. Example of a short memo

Memo writing generally follows the rules of letter writing; however, there may be more technical jargon and abbreviations in it as people receiving it are from the same company. Also, variety is present in headings as different companies choose different formats. Some people prefer to hand write their memos, although most are now typed and electronically sent. Signatures on memos are often only initials.

Table 9.1. Correspondence phrases

Writing business letters, emails or memos can be easy if you collect some books and workbooks with templates of business correspondence. Remember that business correspondence is a formal way of contact paying attention to form and content. You make first impression on someone, therefore keep in mind principles and tips of effective business writing. Remember that Practice makes perfect – the more you write, the better your writing becomes.

Essential Vocabulary