TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 3: Writing Effective Business Correspondence

Lesson 1 Communication in Business and Organization
Lesson 2 Personal and Business Letters
Lesson 3 Characteristics and Elements of a Business Letter
Lesson 4 Basic and Optional Parts of a Business Letter
Lesson 5 Business Letters Punctuation and Styles
Lesson 6 Types of Business Letters
Lesson 7 Writing Memoranda

Learning Outcomes
 At the end of the Chapter, the students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate how communication works in business and in organization;
2. Compare personal and business letter;
3. Evaluate and explain the characteristics and elements of a business letter;
4. Compose basic and optional parts of a business letter;
5. Discuss and write different types of business letter;
6. Distinguish different business letter punctuations and styles; and
7. Analyze and write a memorandum.

LESSON 1. Communication in business and Organization

Communication in Business
Effective communication is the key to success in business. That is why business
depends so much in communication. People must communicate to plan products, hire,
train, and motivate workers, coordinate manufacturing and delivery, persuade costumer
to buy, and bill them for sale (Locker 2006).
Business communication refers to how people communicate, whereas
organizational communication deal with whom to communicate. Understanding the
requirements of a good business communication, developing good communication
skills, and understanding the channels of communication in your organization will
ensure success in your career (Custodio et al., 2013).
Communication in organization
An organization according to Rosales et al. (2009) is comprised of people who
are committed to a common goal and are ready to share information and resources in
pursuit of a desired goal. Communication in organization is relaying messages or
information between or among people inside and outside an organization
Three Basic Functions of Communication
 To inform
 To promote goodwill
 To persuade
Formal and Informal Channels of Communication
1. Formal Channel of communication follows the usual pattern of an organization
chart where the superiors are classified from the subordinates through
connecting the lines of communication to every member the organization.
2. Informal Channel of communication follows an unstructured channel of
communication where lines and patterns of the organization are vague. This is
sometimes referred as grapevine because it usually relays more information then
the formal communication through chismis or rumor-mongering.
 Lesson 2. Personal and Business letters
Personal Letters
 Is a written type of communication of an individual to another concerning
personal or family affairs rather than business matters.
 Maintains and develops personal relationships with whom people you
consider a friend or a family.
 Lastly, this type of letter can be type-written or handwritten depending on the
length of the content.
Business letters
 Is a formal type of written letter concerning business transactions and other
business related issues and information.
 A business letter is commonly written on an 8 ½ x 11 inch-size clen bond paper.
 It follows a certain margin and free from dirt and scratches in order to build a
good impression to the reader.
Personal versus Business Letters
1. Nature: Business letter or commercial letter is impersonal and universal in
nature. Personal letter is fully personal nature.
2. Purpose: Business letter is exchanging various business-related issues and
information. Personal letter is exchanging personal or family-related affairs and
information.
3. Scope: Business letter scope is wide and contains various types of business
information. Personal letter scope is limited and contains only personal
information.
4. Structure: Business letter follows officially recognized structure. Personal letter
does not follow any recognized structure.
5. Formality: Business letter maintains formal rules and procedure. Personal letter
is informal.
6. Size: Business letter generally is concise in size and avoids irrelevant matter.
Personal letter may be concise or large in size.
7. Type: Business letter can be categorized differently. Personal letter generally
cannot be categorized.
8. Salutation: Business letter salutation can be Sir, Dear Sir, Dear Mr. etc.
Personal letter salutation are Dear friends, my dear x, dear x etc.
9. Language: Business letter language should be easy and simple. Personal letter
language may be easy, poetic, emotional, etc.
10. Copy: Business letter copy of business letter should should always be
preserved. Personal letter copy of personal letter may or may not be preserved.
11. Method: Business letter uses direct and persuasive method. Personal letter only
direct method.
Whether you are a personal or a business letter, the way construct the message and
the way the receiver decodes the message are very important.
The Technique of Writing Business Letters
Four basic psychological techniques according to Mager and Mager (1968):
1. Write from the “you” attitude. Every person is interested primarily in himself and
thus responds to a letter written from his point if view. A good letter should have
a preponderance of you’s and minimum of I’s. but more than this, your letter
should have the reader’s viewpoint in mind throughout the text.
Compare:
I : I was happy to hear that my letter of January 5 th provided sufficient
information for the completion of the order for us.

You : Thank you for your assurance that you had sufficient information for the
Completion of your order.
2. Accentuate the positive. Even a letter that has say “No” can be written from a
positive point of view. Make it an absolute rule never to start and end your letter
with a negative.
Compare:
Positive: Thank you for your order. The merchandise will go out to you as soon
as…
Negative: We regret to inform you that we will not be able to ship your order
until…
3. Make your letter smile. A business letter should leave a pleasant impression, Get
a smile into your letter, a bit of your personality, an atmosphere of good will. A
sour letter, piqued attitude, complaining undertone, is comparable to a surly
manner in your conversation.
Some phrases have a built-in smile. Here are some friendly phrases that
you can and should use freely:
We should be glad to…
It is a pleasure…
Thank you..
We appreciate very much…
With our compliments…
4. Make your copy live. The reader should feel what you say. If possible, create a
visual experience. Let the reader see himself doing something-running a
machine, telling his friends about his triumphs, selling more accounts,
reinterpreted the same copy.
Lesson 3. Characteristics and Elements of a business Letter
Characteristics of a Business Letter
To ensure that we have writing an effective business letter, there are “Ten (10)
Cs” we should consider.
1. Completeness refers to being direct and brief without compromising the
complete information. The business letter should answer the question WHO,
WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and HOW to produce a good and complete
business.
2. Correctness refers to the correct grammar, punctuation, spacing,
information, and structure. It also refer to the correct format of a business
letter.
To attain the correctness, double check the spelling of the names,
address, letters properly, verify numbers and amounts, always check the
dictionary.
3. Conciseness refers to being direct and brief without compromising the
complete idea. In writing business letter, we should not include unnecessary
information which might confuse the reader.
Example:
Instead of saying: At the present time
Say: now
Instead of saying: Prior to
Say: before
Instead of saying: Pitch in
Say: join to
4. Coherence refers to the smooth flow of ideas in a business letter. The
content of a business letter should be in order and easy to follow.
Some of the devices that you may use to achieve coherence are use of
synonyms, use of transitional words, and use of sentence patterns.
5. Clarify refers to readability of information which is easy to understand. We
should bear in our minds that simple words are mero preferred than complex
ones.
6. Concreteness refers to the use of specific words not general words.
Example:
Instead of saying: Return of investment
Say: profit
Instead of saying: Market penetration
Say: successful selling
7. Courteousness refers to the politeness of the tone of the business letter.
Being friendly by showing positive approach is the key for successful
communication in business.
Example of positive and negative word;
Negative Positive
Bad good
sad glad
old new
hard easy
slow fast
 8. Consideration refers to the use of professional tone to show respect to the
reader of the letter. Also, we need to anticipate the “YOU” in writing our letter.
Example:
Instead of saying: We are glad to offer you the best services.
Say: You will be pleased to find must-try services in our
branch
Near you.
9. Consistency refers to the uniformity of the time and style of the writer of a
business letter.
10. Credibility refers to the personality of the writer as himself which might reflect
on his writings.
Elements of a Business Letter
There are three elements in the communication process that are also present in
business writing
 The sender of the letter is the one who is writing it. It is the one who protocols in
business writing that the receiver of the letter should be known by the sender.
The complete name, position, as well as address of the receiver should be
included in the letter. The sender or writer must be also knowledgeable in basic
grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics skills so that he might build a
good impression to the receiver of the letter.
 The message is very important in the communication process because it is the
reason that moves the sender to start communication process. The letter should
be well-written, simple, and understandable. Should be direct persuasive and
should avoid including unnecessary information. It should be concise and
complete so that everything you want to say is included.
 The receiver of the letters completes the elements of communication process.
The main role of the receiver is to carefully decode the message of the business
and provide a feedback that will complete the entire communication process.
Lesson 4. Basic and Optional Parts of a Business Letter
Basic Parts of a Business Letter
A business letter is composed of the following basic parts are:
1. Letterhead – This part of a business letter includes the company name,
company mailing address, and company contact numbers. It may also contain
the logo or symbol of the organization. In writing the heading of your business
letter, the lot and block number, street, barangay, municipality or city,
province, region, and even the zip code must be included properly.
2. Dateline – This part contains the month, day, and year when the business
letter was written. There are certain rules in writing the correct dateline:
A. You should not use abbreviations when writing the dateline. For
example,
 10-13-92 or 10-13-1992 0r 10/13/92 or Oct. 13, 1992
B. You should not include st, nd, or th after the day of the month. For
example, September 1st, October 2nd, or November 3rd.
C. You may use the conventional style, January 15, 2007 or military order
style, 15 January 2007.
3. Inside Address – This part consists of three line/s of the receiver on the first
line, the complete position of the receiver on the second line, the complete
division or department of the receiver on the third line, and the complete
company or organization followed by the complete address of the company or
the organization.

There certain rules that are worth considering in writing the inside address.
A. The inside address is like the address written inside the envelope.
B. You use Miss when addressing a single woman; Mrs. of married
woman. If the status is not known, use Ms. If the firm is comprised of
women; use Mesdames or its abbreviation Mmes.
C. Use Mr. in addressing a man. You may also use its plural form
messieurs (French) or its abbreviation Messrs.
D. You may abbreviate the title Doctor to Dr. for example, Dr. Moumin C.
Mohamadali.
E. The title Reverend should not be abbreviated and it should be
preceded by The. For example,
The Reverend Sonny Ramirez
F. You may not abbreviate the title Professor. For example,
Professor Hanan M. Poli or Prof. Hanan M. Poli but if only surname is
available, the title should not be abbreviated. For example,
Professor Haron
G. Company or organization position such as Supervisor, Manager,
secretary, Superintendent, Proprietor or even President may either
precede or follow the name of the receiver of the letter. For example,
Ms. Norsidah S. Haron
Proprietress
Elysian Events Specialist or
Ms. Norsidah S. Haron, Proprietress
Elysian Events Specialist
H. The title Honorable is used by Judges of the Court, Members of the
cabinet, Congressmen, Senators or other government officials who
hold an important position and office in the city, province, or country.
You may or may not abbreviate the title Honorable. For example,
Honorable Junaifa M. Pacasum or Hon. Junaifa M. Pacasum
4. Salutation – is composed of the word “Dear” followed by the last name of the
receiver of the letter. Use the colon (American English) at the end of
salutation or comma (British English). For example,
Dear Ms. Haron: or
 Dear Ms. Haron,
5. Body of the Letter – Thie consists the message of the writer. Some claim
that the first and last sentence are the most important parts of the body of the
letter. The first sentence should make the reader feel at ease and the last
sentence should make the reader pleased and content.
6. Complementary close – This is sometimes called closing, the part were
sender say goodbye to the receiver of the letter in formal way. You may use
the standard complimentary close such as Sincerely or sincerely yours or
Respectfully or very respectfully yours. We should take note that the first
letter of the first word is the only capitalized letter on the complementary
close.
7. Signature Line – This is composed of the complete typewritten name of the
writer and his official designation, or the name of the company.
Very formal or legal: Moumin Cosain Mohamadali
Less formal or business: Moumin Mohamadali
Moumin C. Mohamadali
8. Written Signature – This refers to the sender clearly scribing or affixing his
specimen signature on the space between the complementary close and the
printed name. Allot enough space (3-4 space) for this between the
complementary close and the signature line. The signature parts also follows
the certain rules:

Optional parts of a Business Letter

1. Attention Line – This is used when the letter urgently needs to be received
by the best person who can handle it. Commonly the attention line it at the
center.
For example: Elysian Events Specialist
San Mateo Rizal
Attention: Miss Hanan M. Poli
2. Subject Line – This is used in short reports to let the reader know the content
of the letter immediately. It may be placed above or below the inside address;
maybe flushed to the left, intended, or centered.
For example: Elysian Events Specialists
San Mateo, Rizal
Subject: Inquiry on Wedding Package
3. Identification Initials or Reference Initials – This is includes the initials of
the secretary or typist who took the dictation in lower case and initials of the
one who dictated or dictator in upper case placed at the lower left hand corner
of the letter two spaces below the last line of the signature part.
For example: EAG/ jtd
Or EAG/ go
 4. Enclosed or enclosed reference or enclosure notation – This is
composed of the attached materials on the letter. This usually abbreviated
Incl. and placed below the reference initials.
For example: Inc. Grade Sheet
Class Records
Anecdotal Records
5. Copy Notation – This consists the names or department of other people who
also received the letter.
5.1 Carbon Copy Notation (cc) – This notation is indicated on the original
copy and all the duplicate copies.
For example: cc: Mr. John Paolo Sarce
cc: Human Resource Department
5.2 Blind carbon Copy notation (bcc) – This is a notation not indicated on
the original copy but indicate on all duplicate copies.
For example: bcc: Miss Sarrah Mae Amate
6. Mailing Notation – This notation refers to the special postal services such as
air mail, special delivery, or registered mail.
Lesson 5. Business Letter Punctuations and styles
Punctuation Used in Business Letter
There are three ways on how to punctuate our business letters
1. Punctuation. In writing a business letter, open punctuation does not include any
punctuation after any parts of the letter except the body of the letter or the
message.
2. Standard Punctuation. This is most common style of punctuating a business
letter which includes punctuation on salutation and complementary close only.
The punctuation of salutation is colon while on complimentary close, it’s comma.
3. Mixed Punctuation. The format uses comma (British English) or colon (American
Style) after the salutation and uses comma after the complementary close.
Business Letter Style
There are several business letter styles that are accepted and being used in the
corporate world.
1. Full Block Style. In this style some make use of Open Punctuation and some do
not. All parts of this punctuation.
2. Modified Block Style. This type places the inside address and all paragraphs at
the left hand margin while the heading, dateline, and complementary close start
at the middle part of the paper or #3 on top ruler of MS Word going to the right
margin.
3. Semi-Block Style. This style is like a block style however it follows the rule of
indention to its paragraph. This style also makes use of standard punctuation.
 4. Simplified Style. This style is similar to the full block style, beginning all the
parts of the letter at the left margin. However, the heading is placed at the center
upper part of the letter. This style follow the open punctuation and omits the
complementary close. This spaces in between of every part from the very first
part of a business letter are 6,4,3,3,4-5.
5. Intended Style. This style makes use indentions which us uneven number of
speces in the various elements of the letter. Nowadays, this style is rarely use
because of its complexity of arranging the different elements of the letter.
6. Hanging-Intended Style. This style is another unique style of writing a business
letter. The first line of each paragraph is aligned with the inside address and
salutation flushed at the left. The lines succeeding the first line are intended five
spaces. It usually uses standard punctuation.
Lesson 6. Types of Business Letter
Writing Good vs Bad-News Business Letters
If the business letter directly affects and stir the emotions and feelings of the
reader, it is either a good or bad news business letter. If you are writing a letter
promoting someone from your employee in your company, if you are commending a
team in your corporation for beating the monthly sales, you are probably writing a good-
news letter, the good-news letter is light in mood expressing pleasant information.
Unfortunately, there will be times wherein you will be required to write a bad-
news letters. If you are writing a letter rejecting a job applicant, if you are writing a
thank-you letter for employee, or worst, writing a letter to fire a employee, you are
probably writing a bad-news business letter.
There are common types of business letters
1. Application letter is sometimes called cover letter, is composed persuasively
whenever you applying for you target job. This letter is accompanied by your
resume or additional information of you experience and skills.

There are three style of resume

a. Chronological Resume focuses on the employment history of the
applicant. This style is ideal for those who already have several work
experiences showing steady career growth.
b. Functional Resume focuses on skills rather than on employment history.
This style is ideal for those who are fresh graduates seeking for their first
job.
c. Combination Resume focuses on drawing the best features or strong
points of chronological and functional resume styles.

2. Letter of Inquiry is a letter that ask a particular information or assistance. This

type of business letter is direct and the questions are constructed to get the
information straightforwardly.
 3. Letter or Reply or Response is written in response to a letter of inquiry which
directly answer all the inquiries regarding the company’s products or services.
4. Letter of Request is commonly use everywhere. The main purpose of this letter
is to request for something you need.
5. Letter of Order is one type of business letter which is written for the purpose of
purchasing items that are for sale.

An order letter according to Rosales et al 2006

a. Name of the item order
b. Description of each item, giving size, style, finish, quality, material,
weight, or whatever will help in identifying the articled wanted
c. Catalog number of the item, if it is available
d. Quantity of each item want
e. Price of each item and the total price of the order
f. Metod shipment desired by the buyer
g. Address where the goods are to be shipped or delivered
h. Date of shipment
i. Credit references, if payment is made from an account
j. Mode of payment
Qualification and carter objective will help you select you format of your resume
1. Chronological Resume Format Includes:
 Applicant’s name
 Address
 Telephone number
 Job objectives
 Education
 Work history – listed job by job, beginning with the most recent position
2. Functional Resume Format focuses on the applicant’s skills rather than on
previous employment.
3. Combination Resume Format highlights the best features of 1 and 2
emphasizing the applicant’s capabilities while also including job history and is
recommended for fresh graduates.
Lesson 7. Writing Memoranda
Memo as defined be Collins Dictionary is a short official noted that is sent by one
person to another within the same company or organization to remind the recipient. It is
a clipped or shortened term for memorandum. It is one type of business
correspondence together with business letters, contracts, certifications, and
endorsements which is written for the purpose of effective management.
A memorandum just like any business correspondence must consist of the following
basic elements:
1. Heading – most of the time, companies create their own heading
2. Dateline – the actual date when the memorandum is issued
3. Number – refers to frequency of the issued memos
4. Receiver – the person whom the memorandum is to be sent
5. Sender – the person who issued the memo
6. Subject – the topic or title of the memo
7. x – an optional part which include the attachments