5 Tips for Writing a Circular Letter

A circular letter is an effective way for your organization to communicate the same information
to a large group of people, either internally (e.g., to explain new procedures to staff) or externally
(e.g., to tell customers about a special offer).

And to help you with your next circular letter, we have five top tips to share:

1. State your main point in the first paragraph.

2. Use the right tone to connect with your readers.
3. Keep your circular letter concise and use simple language.
4. Share only authorized information.
5. Proofread your letter before you send it.

Let’s look at each of these tips in more detail.

1. Get Straight to the Point

Nobody wants to waste time reading a load of small talk! Your readers should be able to see at a
glance what the letter is about and why it’s important to them. Otherwise, they might not bother
reading to the end.

Set out your main reason for writing in the first paragraph, preferably in the first sentence. You
only need to introduce the subject briefly to give the reader an idea of what they will learn by
reading on. The finer detail can come later.

2. Use an Appropriate Tone to Address Your Readers

When writing a circular letter, think about your audience’s expectation and how you want your
readers to feel, then use a tone or voice that conveys that feeling.

For example, if you’re writing to members of a gym about a special offer on spin classes, you’ll
want your readers to feel energetic and motivated. You could evoke such feelings by using short,
punchy sentences and imperative verbs:

You won’t always be able to choose a tone that works perfectly for every reader, so think about
the type of person your letter is most relevant to or the people who are most likely to take up
your offer. Are they relatively young or old? How familiar are they with your company? Think
about this “ideal customer” as you write, and you should be able to find a tone that will hit the
spot.

If you’re writing an internal letter, you should still think about how you want your readers to
feel. For example, if you’re announcing possible redundancies, you’ll want to ensure that staff
feel supported and valued.
3. Use Simple Language and Be Concise

To make sure your letter is accessible and easy to read, keep it concise and use simple language.
Compare the following, for example:

4. Don’t Share Any Sensitive Information

Make sure that you don’t give away any confidential or sensitive information in your letter that
might reflect poorly on your team or organization.

This is especially important when writing a circular letter for a large audience, as most
organizations will have information they do not want to share with competitors or the general
public. When drafting a letter, then, make sure to consider whether you could be accidentally
revealing more than intended.

If your letter is going out by email, moreover, be sure that you don’t display the distribution list
(i.e., the email addresses of all the recipients), especially if you’re sending an external letter. This
would be a serious breach of data protection rules.

5. Proofread Your Circular Letter

Finally, don’t forget to proofread your letter or, better still, get a professional proofreader to do it
for you. When you’re busy concentrating on the style and content of your writing, it’s
surprisingly easy to miss typos and other mistakes.

Circular No. ____

25th October 2018

Revised Working Hours

All Employees of XYZ Company,

This is to inform all employees there will be a change in the working hours of the
organization effective immediately. As you know we now do not function on any
Saturdays since last month. So we only have 5 working days in a week, a revision in
the working hours was necessary to ensure the quality of work does not suffer. Hence
one hour will be added to the previous 9 hour work days. The revised working hour
will be as follows:

 Working Days: Monday to Friday (except holidays)

Working Hours: 8:30 am to 6:30 pm (These hours will include the one-hour lunch break)