Layout of the letter and the envelope

Layout of the letter and the envelope.

 

The layout and presentation of a business letter are very important as they give the reader the first impression of the sender. A business letter consists of the following distinct parts: heading, reference, date, name and address of the addressee, attention line, salutation, subject heading, body of the letter, complimentary close, signature, inclosure line.

There are many ways to lay out a business letter, but a standard layout is called Block Style. It’s the most useful to learn, because it’s accepted everywhere.

 

Heading.

Business letters are usually typed on notepaper, bearing a specially designed heading which provides the reader with essential information about the organisation sending it. The letter-head or heading includes the names, address, telephone number, telegraphic address, telex number. It may also contain a trademark, status of the company. When writing a letter in return care should be taken to keep the address of the addressee absolutely identical to that given in the original letter.

 

Reference.

It may appear in figures, letters. There are some ways of stating reference:

In reply please quote reference to …

In reply please refer to …

It’s usually printed below the heading or on the same line as the date, but on the left.

 

Date.

It’s usually placed close to the heading on the right-hand side of the page. There are several ways of writing the date:

24^th October, 2005

24^th October 2005

24 October 2005

24 Oct 2005

By the way the abbreviations of the months are not frequently used, as many Englishmen think they look untidy. If they are used however, they are as follows:

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.

Englishmen don’t recommend writing a month in figures as they can be confused. But Americans often write months I figures, the first figure indicating the month:

10.24.2005

For computer used the international standard of organisation recommends to write letters with the year first followed by the month and date:

2005-10-24

2005 10 24

 

The name and address of the addressee.

 

The recognised place of the address is at the beginning of the first page of a letter 2-3 spaces under the references:

Mr A.V.Smith

Regional Manager

National Bank

PO box 12

1 Rose Street

London EC3 2AC

The words Mr and Mrs are spelt with or more usually without a fullstop.

 

Attention line.

Usually when a business letter is addressed to an individual it is used after the address and looks like:

For the attention of Mr R.Grey.

Care of Mr R.Grey.

C/O Mr R.Grey.

Attention: Mr R.Grey.

 

Salutation.

The following salutations usually open business letters:

Dear Sir, Dear Sirs,

Dear Sir/Madam

Dear Madam.

When the two correspondents are acquainted or when they’ve done business together, it’s customary to use the name and write Dear Mr Brown,

Comma is usual but optional. No punctuation in Block Style.

In American Style the salutations are as follows:

Gentlemen

Dear Sirs

 

Subject heading.

Every business letter should deal with one subject only. The subject heading is placed between the salutation and the body of the letter.

Re: Your collection 2121

Subject:

It is often omitted in business letters.

 

Body of the letter.

Writing a good business letter is an art that can be acquainted by a constant practice. A letter should have all the necessary points in a logical sequence with each idea or piece of information linking up with a previous one.

Here is a plan of the letter:

• acknowledgment,
• instructions, request for information,
• statement about enclosure,
• thanks.

 

          The first paragraph or sentence of the letter is a very important one since it sets the tone of the letter and gives the reader the first impression of the letter.

          The middle paragraphs which form the main part of the letter concern the points that need to be made, answers to be given or questions to be asked.

         When closing the letter the sender may encourage further correspondence, express thanks.

          If the letter extends beyond one page, additional sheets are used. But the typist should avoid using them if fewer than two lines appear on the sheet. If the continuation sheet follows then the following abbreviation is used at the foot of the proceeding page either in the centre or in the right-hand corner:

PTO (please turn over)

 

Complimentary close.

It is important that it should suit the salutations like:

Dear Sirs, Sir, Madam - Yours faithfully.

Dear Mr/Mrs Claim – Your sincerely, With all best wishes.

 

Signature.

It comes under the complimentary close, after the signature, name, position, office, e.g.:

Yours faithfully

D.A.Brown

D.A.Brown

Sales Manager

Export Department

 

Enclosure.

If there are any of them-leaflets, prospectuses with the letter-these may be mentioned in the body of the letter. Many companies write Encl. at the bottom of the letter. If there are a number of documents, these are listed:

Encl.

Bill (3 copies)

Insurance (1 copy)

 

Envelope.

The face of the envelope contains the stamp, the name, the address of the addressee. The back contains the name, address of the sender.