BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE - PURCOM

• Elements of a Business Letter


  • Letterhead or Heading
  • Dateline
  • Inside Address
  • Salutation
  • Body of the Letter
  • Complimentary Close
  • Signature Block
  • Reference Initials
• Letterhead or Heading


  Contains the name of the sender, the street address, town, province and country, zip code which are typed on the top lines immediately above the dateline
• Dateline


  Contains the date of the letter, should not be abbreviated nor should a number be used to indicate the month
• Inside Address


  Considered the introductory or complimentary address, address of the receiver of the letter, typed 2-3 spaces below the dateline
• Salutation


  Considered as the greeting and an expression of courtesy to put the reader in a friendly state of mind
• Body of the Letter


  Most important part, typed 2 spaces below the salutation unless there is a subject line
• Complimentary Close


  The part that closes the letter cordially, typed two spaces below the body of the letter
• Signature Block


  Identifies the writer, name of the writer is typed 4-5 spaces below the complimentary close
• Reference Initials


  Initials of the writer, typist, or stenographer, typed in the lower corner of the letter
• Optional Parts of a Business Letter

  • Attention Line
  • Subject Line
  • Enclosure Notation
  • CC Notation (Carbon Copy Notation)
  • BBC Notation (Blind Carbon Copy Notation)
  • Postscripts
  • Mailing Notation
• Attention Line


  Needed if the business letter is addressed to the company rather than to an individual. If the writer chooses to address the letter to a certain person in the company, an attention line is used.
• Subject Line


  Used to immediately inform the reader what the letter is about, typed 2 spaces below the salutation, may be typed in capital letters or underlined for emphasis
• Enclosure Notation


  Reminder that there is an attachment, usually typed under the typist's or stenographer's initials
• CC Notation (Carbon Copy Notation)


  Typed after the enclosure or reference initials, shows that other copies of the letter are being sent to one or more persons other than the addressee
• BBC Notation (Blind Carbon Copy Notation)


  Used if the writer does not want the reader to know that he is sending a copy of the letter to another person, the writer should retain a copy of the CC or Bcc notation in his files
• Postscripts


  Emphasizes a point made in the letter, designed to draw attention
• Mailing Notation


  Note indicating the special postal service such as "registered or certified", should be indicated on all copies of the letter
• Styles/Forms of a Business Letter


  • Full Block Style
  • Modified Block Style
  • Semi-Block Style
  • Simplified NOMA (National Office Management Association)
• Full Block Style


  • Most used style because of its simplicity, all basic parts are aligned along the left margin, optional parts are also flushed to the left margin
• Modified Block Style


  • Preferred by many letter writers, heading, dateline, complimentary close, signature block are flushed to the right, inside address, salutation, and body are aligned to the left, no indention is made at the beginning of each paragraph
• Semi-Block Style


  • Almost exactly the same as the modified block except that the first line of the paragraph is indented
• Simplified NOMA (National Office Management Association)


  • Omits the salutation and the complimentary close, all parts are flushed to the left margin as in the full block
• Punctuation Styles


  • Open Punctuation
  • Standard Punctuation
  • Closed Punctuation
• Open Punctuation


  Uses no punctuation
• Standard Punctuation


  The salutation and the complimentary close are followed by a punctuation mark. A colon follows the salutation and a comma follows the complimentary
• Closed Punctuation


  Punctuations marks appear at the end of every line except the message