Business Letters

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Ms. Jackielyn S. Andalecio
BUSINESS LETTERS
FUNCTIONS OF A BUSINESS LETTER
 A business letter serves a record for
future references.
 It leaves a more durable impression
on the receiver’s mind than an oral
message.
 Since it can reach anywhere, it is used
to widen the area of operations.
 It is used as a legal document.
 It is used to build goodwill.
2
TYPES OF LETTER
Letter
Personal Non-personal
Personal letters are Non-personal letters

written to are used for
exchange news or business purposes.
to seek favor.
3
Non-personal/Business Letter
Circular Bank The Application Letters
Enquiries letters corresponde correspondence letters to the
& replies nce of a company press
Sales secretary Interview
letter letter
Order & Insurance Correspondenc
their References
correspondence e with State &
execution Central Gov’t.
Appointment
letter
Credit & Import-export
status correspondence
Confirmation &
enquiries promotion letter
Complaint & Agency Retrenchment &

adjustment correspondence resignation letter
TYPES OF BUSINESS LETTER
Business Letter
Demi- Internal
Official Form
official or
Letters Letters
Letters Memos
STRUCTURE OF BUSINESS LETTERS
 Heading  Complimentary
 Date Close
 Reference  Signature
 Inside Address  Identification
Marks
 Attention Lines
 Enclosure Notation
 Salutation
 Copy Notation
 Subject
 Postscript

6
Body
HEADING
Most business organizations use
their printed letterheads for the
correspondence with others.
Generally, it contains the name, the
address, the telephone number, and
the telegraph address if any.
7
A good letterhead should be:
readable,
informative and Mandatory elements:
attractive BUT  firm name,
 address (including zip code
not too and area code)
attention  telephone number,
occupying Optional elements:
 website
 a logo,
 the executive’s name and
title,
 a list of board directors or
other governing bodies.
HEADING
DATE
The date should be typed two
spaces below the last line of the
letterhead. The date, month, and
year should be indicated in the
upper right hand corner.
REFERENCE
Some letter heads contain two
lines to indicate references.
REFERENCE
INSIDE ADDRESS
The full address of the person or
organization you are addressing,
should be written two spaces below
the date and two spaces above the
attention line, or if there is no
attention line, two spaces above the
salutation.
13
INSIDE ADDRESS
14
ATTENTION LINE
To ensure prompt attention, sometimes
a letter which is addressed to a firm or
company is marked to particular officer
in that organization. This is done by
writing an attention line two spaces
below the inside address and two spaces
above the salutation.
15
ATTENTION LINE
16
SALUTATION
The salutation in a letter, an essential
ingredient, is like greeting a person
when you meet him/her. It is placed
two spaces below the attention line or
if there is no such line, two spaces
below the inside address.
SUBJECT
The purpose of the subject line is
to let reader know immediately
what the message is about. Like
attention and reference lines, it
saves time.
BODY
The main purpose of a letter is to
convey a message and the main
purpose of the message is to
produce a suitable response in the
reader. This is done mainly through
the body of the letter.
BODY
First paragraph: Reference to any
correspondence should be
given.
Second paragraph: The main message should be
stated.
Closing paragraph: State what action you expect
the reader to take; indicate
your expectations, wishes, or
20 intentions.
COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
The complimentary close is a

courteous leave taking polite way
of ending a letter. It is typed two
spaces below the last line of the
body of the letter.
21
22
SIGNATURE
The signature is the signed name of
the writer. It is placed below the
complimentary close. The name of
the writer is generally typed four
spaces below the closing line,
providing enough space for the
signature.
IDENTIFICATION
MARKS
These marks are put in the left
margin to identify the typist of the
letter, one or two spaces below the
signature. Usually the initials of the
officer who dictated the letter are
put first.
IDENTIFICATION
MARKS
If the letter has been dictated by Sabrina
Paula Shukla and typed by Patricia Galvo:
SPS/PG
SPS:PG
PG
Pg
25
ENCLOSURE
If there is anything attached to the
letter, it must be indicated against
the enclosure line which is typed
two spaces below the
identification marks.
COPY NOTATION
Sometimes copies of a letter have to
be sent to some people other than
the addressee. In such cases, the
names of these persons should be
typed just below the reference initials
or the enclosure notation, if any.
27
POSTSCRIPT
Postscript is something written after
the letter is closed. Writing a
postscript (P.S.) indicated that the
writer had forgotten to include
something important in the body of
the letter or he had not planned his
letters properly.
FORM AND LAYOUT
Stationery
Typing
Margins
Envelope
STATIONERY
White papers should be
preferred as the letters
stand out clearly or it
makes easy reading.
Standard size: 8.5 by 11
inches; Other sizes used
are 8*10 inches, 5*10
inches, 5 ½*8 ½ inches,
and 7 ¼*8 ½ inches.
TYPING
Most business letters
are typed.
Typing saves time and
gives a tidy appearance
to the letter.
Care should be taken to
get the letters neatly
typed.
MARGINS
Margins in a letter add to
its attractiveness.
Left, right sides: 1 inch
Top, bottom: 1 ½ inches
32
ENVELOPE
Envelope should be
chosen to suit the size of
the paper on which the
letter is typed. If a
window envelope is used,
the letter should be
folded such that the
inside address will be
displayed. The number of
folds should be minimum
as per as possible.
33
STYLE OF PRESENTATION
1. Indented form
2. Full block form
3. Modified block form
4. Semi-indented/ Semi-block form
5. Hanging indentation form
6. NOMA form
INDENTED FORM
FULL BLOCK FORM
MODIFIED BLOCK FORM
SEMI-INDENTED/BLOCK FORM
HANGING INDENTATION FORM
NOMA FORM
Bisen, V. & Priya. (2009). Business communication. New Delhi:
New Age International Ltd.
Guffey, M. E. & Loewy, D. (2010). Essentials of business

communication (8th ed.). USA: South-Western.
Locker, K. & Kaczmarek S. K. (2009). Business communication:

Building critical skills. NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Ober, S. (2009). Business communication (7th ed.). Boston, MA:

South Western, Cengage Learning.
Seglin, J. & Coleman, E. (2002). The AMA handbook of business

letters. USA: AMACOM.
REFERENCES
Thank you!
Ms. Jackielyn S. Andalecio
Email: Website:
jandalecio@feucavite.edu.ph www.inveiglingbeginnings.wordpress.com

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Business Letters

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Ms. Jackielyn S. Andalecio

Personal letters are Non-personal letters

Complaint & Agency Retrenchment &

The complimentary close is a

Guffey, M. E. & Loewy, D. (2010). Essentials of business

Locker, K. & Kaczmarek S. K. (2009). Business communication:

Ober, S. (2009). Business communication (7th ed.). Boston, MA:

Seglin, J. & Coleman, E. (2002). The AMA handbook of business

Ms. Jackielyn S. Andalecio

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