Lec.

Aaminah Hassan
LETTER WRITING
Aaminah.hassan@ceme.
nust.edu.pk
Communication
Skills HU-109
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GENERAL TYPES
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FORMAL INFORMAL

 To people you don’t know  To people you know

such as friends or relatives

To an organisation such as a

bank or the council

Possibly letters of complaint

or letters asking for
information

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 Personal letter :
 informal letter , free style or pattern
 Varied in tone, style, language, presentation,
content

DIFFERENCES  Business letter:

 formal written message, conventional form
for specific audience
 More structured
 Set pattern in form and style.

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4 Letters for request
Exchange information
Request for action
Give instructions or guidelines
Why to Express an opinion,
write
business Reinforce business relations
letters?
Maintain good public relations
Motivate or persuade people

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5 KINDS OF BUSINESS
LETTERS
 Letters
of Inquiry (request for
information)
 Letters placing orders
 Instruction Letters (consist of
routine directions)
 Complaint and Adjustment
letters (dissatisfaction
regarding defective product,
bad service)
 Acknowledgement Letters
 Invitation Letter (Invitation to
someone)
 Job Letters
 Request Letters
 Recommendation Letters
 Termination letters
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 Sales Letters
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Prewriting
 Audience analysis,
 purpose identification
 Scope determination
 Analysis of the action desired

PREWRITING
 Who is my reader
 Why am I writing
 How much should I write?
 What do I want the reader to do?

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 Attention must be paid to both the parts of

FORM AND business letter and to the choice of format
with standard writing conventions.
STRUCTURE

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8 ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

 Letterhead or  Body or text,

return/senders address
 Complimentary close,
 Date line,
 Signature,
 Inside address,
 Name and title lines,
 Attention line,
  Enclosure line,
Salutation,
 Subject or reference line,  Copies line,
 Postscript.

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Letterhead Examples

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 A Letter Sample

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Sender’s address/Business
Letterhead Bredgade 51 DK 1260
Copenhagen K. DENMARK
Date November 27, 2013
Inside address Soundsonic Ltd.
25 Warwick House, Warwick Street,
Forrest Hill,
London SE23 1JF UNITED KINGDOM

Attention line For the attention of the Sales Manager (optional)

Subject title Quadraphonic sound systems (optional)

Salutation Dear Sir or Madam,

Body of Please would you send me details of your quadraphonic sound systems which were
the letter advertised in the April edition of Sound Monthly.
I am particularly interested in the Omega range of equipment that you specialize in.
•Looking forward to hearing from you

Complimentary close Yours faithfully,

Signature B. Kaasen (Ms)

Title (p.p.) Production Manager

Enclosures Bill of loading (5 copies (optional) 12/06/2022

Bill of exchange (1 copy)
Copies c.c. Messrs. Poole & Jackson Ltd. Solicitors (optional)
11  How to Address a Formal Letter: Mr., Dr., Ms., or Mrs

 The appropriate title for writing to a male is Mr. For a female,

use Ms. Ms. is more professional than Mrs. even if you know the
person you are writing to is married.

 If you don't know the gender identity : use a gender-neutral

greeting and simply include their first and last name,
 e.g. "Dear Tristan Dolan." 

SALUTATION  Use a general salutation if you do not know the name of the
person your are writing to

 General Salutations
 To Whom It May Concern
 Dear Hiring Manager
 Dear Human Resources Manager
 Dear Sir or Madam

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point
13 to
Remember
1. The top margin is 2”, side and
bottom margins are 1".

2. Typist initials are the initials of

the typist and are used when
someone other than the writer
prepares the letter. Lowercase
letters are used, with no space,
and with no punctuation,
appearing a double space below
the signature.

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 Acceptable types of letter punctuation in

business:
Personal
/Business
 Mixed punctuation- there will be a colon (:)
Letter after the salutation and a comma (,) after the
complimentary closing
Punctuation
 Open punctuation – there will be NO
punctuation after the salutation or
complimentary closing

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 Job seekers create application letters, also
SOLICITED called cover letters, to send to prospective
LETTER AND employers in an attempt to get an interview.
UNSOLICITED
LETTER  If a job is advertised and available, the
person sends a solicited application letter

 If the job was not announced, the person

sends an unsolicited letter hoping there
might be an open position within a company

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 The goal of a solicited application letter is to
Contd. obtain an interview for a specific job
position which the writer mentions in the
letter

 Example:
The sender states that she is applying for the
accounts payable clerk position that is open and
announced/advertised by the company.

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 When a person writes an unsolicited letter,
Contd. she hopes that the company has any
position, within a certain area, available.

 This letter is more general and the writer

states that she is applying,

 Example: Letter to any type of managerial

position within the company.

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SOLICITED  When writing a solicited letter, address the
main point of the letter immediately
/UNSOLICITED without spending too much time on
LETTERS unnecessary details.

 An unsolicited letter must immediately catch

the reader’s interest. Employers expect
solicited letters when a job opening was
announced, however, if no opening was
posted, employers generally are not
expecting to receive application letters.

 Therefore, an unsolicited letter must focus

on benefiting the reader and the company.

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FORMATS  BLOCK FORMAT

OF  MODIFIED BLOCK FORMAT

BUSINESS 

SEMI BLOCK FORMAT
SIMPLIFIED FORMAT
LETTERS

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BLOCK
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FORMAT

 Your Name
Address
Address
Phone
Today’s Date

 Recipient’s Name
Company
Address
Address
Address

 Dear (Recipient’s Name),

 This block format business letter template illustrates how quick and easy communications can be to type. Paragraphs are not
indented. This is a format you can use for all business occasions.
Notice that all elements in this letter are left justified. This formatting provides a crisp, modern look that many people prefer.
If you have any enclosures to include in this letter, make a note at the bottom left, a few spaces below the signature block.
Just write “enclosures:” and follow up with the names of any items inside the envelope. A brochure, an application, or a copy
of an invoice are some of the things you might think about including.

 Sincerely,
 Your First name, Last name, and Title
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 Modified block style business letters are less

Modified formal than full block style letters. If you are
corresponding with someone you already
block have a good working relationship with, the
modified block style letter is a good one to
letters use.

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 26 MODIFIED BLOCK FORMAT
Your Name
Address
Address
Phone
Today’s Date
 Recipient’s Name
Company Name
Address
Address
Address

 Dear (Recipient’s Name):

 The paragraphs are not indented. Modified block letters are just a little less formal than full block letters.
Notice that the sender’s address, the closing, the signature, and the signature block all start near the center of the page. In
some cases, people who prefer to use this format begin these elements five spaces to the right of the center of the page.
If you have any enclosures to include in this letter, make a note at the bottom left, a few spaces below the signature block.
Just write “enclosures:” and follow up with the names of any items inside the envelope. A brochure, an application, or a
copy of an invoice are some of the things you might think about including.
 Sincerely,
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 Your First name, Last name, and Title
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 28 SEMI-BLOCKED FORMAT
 Your Name
Address
Address
Phone
Today’s Date
 Recipient’s Name
Company
Address
Address
Address

 Dear (Recipient’s Name),

 This semi-block business letter format looks very much like the block letter format, except the Paragraphs have been
indented. Semi-block format letters are just a little more formal than modified block business letters. The only elements of this
business letter format that are not left justified are the first lines of each of the paragraphs. If you have any enclosures to
include in this letter, make a note at the bottom left, a few spaces below the signature block. Just write “enclosures:” and
follow up with the names of any items inside the envelope. A brochure, an application, or a copy of an invoice are some of the
things you might think about including.

 Sincerely,
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 Your First name,Last name, and Title
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 30 SIMPLIFIED FORMAT

Unlike block and modified block, simplified format does not include a
salutation. The recipient’s name will typically be worked into the first sentence of
the letter. Also, simplified format does not include a complimentary closing. The
signature comes immediately after the body of the letter followed by the printed
name which will typically be in all capital letters.

 Today around all the business houses, this style is widely used when the writer of
the letters does not want to give importance to formality. Since the formality is not
adopted here, this style goes to the heart of the addressee. This style give more
importance only to the core matter of the letter.

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You bought a second hand car for $700. It had

only been running for a week when the engine
broke down. The garage says it will cost over
$400 to repair.

Write a letter:

Exercise A) to the garage where you bought the car

asking for your money back.

B) to your solicitor explaining what has

happened and asking for advice.

C) to a friend explaining what has happened.

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