UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA WRITING LAB

BUSINESS LETTER COMPONENTS

1. Letterhead or Return Address

 Company name*
 Street address or post office box number
 City, state, ZIP code
 Area code and phone number*
 Cable address or fax*
*Letterhead only (Do not include your name or phone # in the return address)
2. Date Line
 October 19, 20XX (NOT “Oct. 19th”)
 19 October 20XX (Military or European style)
 Fixed: Type on third line below letterhead at left margin or beginning at center
line.
 Floating: Date line position varies with length of letter. Type inside address on
fifth line below date line.
 Personal business letters with no printed letterhead: type as last line of return
address.
3. Personal or Confidential Notation
 Type notation if needed on second line below date at left margin in all caps:
PERSONAL
4. Reference Notations
 When the guide words “When replying, refer to” are not printed on the letterhead
but are desired, type on the second line below the date line or below any
notations that follow it, and type your appropriate reference number or filing
code two spaces after the colon: When replying, refer to: CD-1703
 When replying to a letter that contains a reference number, type a reference
notation on the second line below the date line or below any notation after it:
In reply to: G2467 Or Refer to: G2467
 When you must give both your and addressee’s reference, type yours first (as in
A above), skip a line, and type his or hers. For Example:
When replying, refer to: CD1703
Or
Your reference: G2467
 Some writers prefer to give addressee’s reference notation as a subject line (see
#8 below).
5. Inside Address
 Type on fifth line below date line or on third line below any notation(s) following
date line
 Preferably, inside and outside addresses are the same and include addressee’s
name and job title, name of organization, street address or post office box
number, city, state, and ZIP.
 Addressee’s name/title or organization name:
1a. Write the name exactly as the person or business does in her/his/its
correspondence to you. For example:
Maine St. Investments (not Main Street Investments)
Mr. William B. Sachs (not Wm. B Sachs or W.B. Sachs or Willie B.
Sachs)
2a. Include addressee’s job title and department if known:
 Mr. Jon Sleik Or Ms. Eleanor A. Hill
Vice President and General Manager Director of Training
Section, Southern Corporate Division Creative Dining
(Note: if title runs over to a second line, P.O. Box 13340
Indent turnover two spaces Orlando, FL 32659
Dr. Antoinette E. Maroni Or Mr. J.C. Lee, President
President, Haines & Company
3a. For generally accepted forms of address for government officials et al.,
see “Forms of Address,” Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.
Avoid double titles: Dr. Ann Smith Or Ann Smith, M.D. (Not Dr. Ann
Smith, M.D.)
Break a long company name into two lines for balance.
 Street names and numbers
Use figures (except for One) for street numbers.
Spell out street names that are numbers 1 through 10.
For example: 915 West Seventh Street
Add the letters d, st, or th to numbers over 10 that represent street names.
For example: 707 West 16th Street
Preferably, spell out street, avenue, building, and directional words such as east
and northwest.
 State and ZIP codes:
Use the two-letter state abbreviations (both capitals, no period thereafter)
preferred by the U.S. Post Office. Spelling out the state name is also correct.
Type the ZIP code on the same line as city and state, leaving two spaces between
state and ZIP.
6. Attention line (used in 23 percent of business correspondence)
 Type on second line below inside address at left margin.
 Type the word attention in all capitals or in capital and small letters, number
abbreviated, not underlined, and followed by a colon.
For example: Attention: Mr. Todd W. Baldwin or
ATTENTION: REAL ESTATE REPRESENTATIVE
 Many companies now omit the attention line and sample type the name of the
person or department above the company name in the inside address. Whenever
possible, omit the attention line. Address the letter directly to an individual in the
organization, by name and title.
7. Salutation
 Type on second line below inside address (or attention line if used). Follow with
a colon.
 Salutation must agree in number with the first line of the inside address.
 For Martine’s Corporation, use Ladies and Gentlemen: (both sexes work there).
 Do not use “Dear” before Ladies and Gentlemen unless you know to whom you
are writing in the sense of individuals. In this instance, you should use “Dear
Ladies and Gentlemen.”
 For Mr. Steve Adams, use Dear Mr. Adams: or Dear Steve:
 “When you do not know whether you’re writing to an individual or a group (for
example, when writing a reference of a letter of recommendation), use “To whom
it may concern.”
 Reply to a letter from M.A. Hadley as Dear M.A. Hadley:
 When you’ve used an attention line, the letter is considered addressed to the
whole organization rather than to the person named on the attention line. Hence,
 the correct salutation is Ladies and Gentlemen:, not “Dear Mr. Name-In-
Attention-Line.”
8. Subject line (used in 38 percent of business correspondence)
 Type between salutation and body, with one blank line above and below, flush
left or indented according to format of body paragraphs.
 Type either in capital and small or in all-capital letters, not underlined; begin
with the word “Subject” Or “In re” Or “Re” (Each is followed by a colon.)
RE: MEADOW GLEN MALL TAB Or Subject: Direct Mall Piece
9. Body (average business letter is 125 word in three paragraphs)
 Begin on second line below salutation or reference line.
 Single space within but double space between paragraphs five spaces.
 Block paragraphs flush left, or indent paragraphs five spaces.
 Place on page based on letter length, visualizing “frame” of white space around
letter. Bottom margin should be at least six lines deep. Use this guide:

MARGIN GUIDE

Letter Width of Spaces in Margins: Line Spaces in Line:

Length: Margins: Pica Elite Length: Pica Elite

Long 1” 10 12 6 ½” 65 78
Medium 1 ½” 15 18 5 ½” 55 66
Short 2” 20 20 4 ½”

10. Complimentary Closing

 Type on second line below last line of body, starting at center page or flush left,
followed by a comma.
 More Personal: Sincerely, More Formal: Very truly yours,
Cordially, Very sincerely yours,
Sincerely yours, Very cordially yours,
Cordially yours, Respectfully yours,
11. Company signature
 Use to emphasize that a letter represents the views of the company as a whole,
not just the company employee who wrote it.
 Type in all capitals on second line below complimentary closing, beginning at
same point as complimentary closing.
12. Writer’s Name and Title
 Ordinarily, type name on fourth line below the company signature (if used) or the
complimentary closing (if the letter is short, leave up to six lines blank for
signature; if long, reduce to two blank lines), beginning at the same point as
complimentary closing or company signature.
 Signature should be I form by which writer wishes to be addressed. A man
should not include Mr. in his signature unless he uses only initials or has a name
that could also be a woman’s:
Mr. J.G. Eberle or Mr. Lynn Treadway
 If given in the typed signature, do not enclose Mr. in parentheses:
Sincerely,
Mr. Lynn Treadway
  If given in the handwritten signature, do enclose Mr. in parentheses:
Sincerely,
Lynn Treadway
 A woman should always include a courtesy title (Ms., Miss, or Mrs.) in her
signature unless she is called by a special title (Dean of Students, etc.). If she
signs her name without a title, she puts her reader in the awkward position of
having to decide what to call her in the reply.
 A secretary who signs a letter at the boss’s request customarily signs the boss’s
name, followed by his or her own initials.
Type the writer’s name, if used, his or her title and department to achieve a good
visual balance. If a title takes two or more lines, block them to the left.
 John Sleik
Vice President of Marketing & Development
and General Manager, Southern Division
 Robert R. Wright, III
Director of Marketing
13. Reference Initials
 If the writer’s name is typed in the signature block, type the typist’s
initials alone
on the second line below the writer’s name and title. If the writer wants his/her
initials included, they precede the typist’s. Type them in either all capital letters
(use colon—DMD: GDL) or all small (use slash-dmd/gd) letters.
 When someone other than the person who signs it writes the letter, use
the writer’s and the typist’s (not the signer’s and the typist’s) initials.
14. Enclosure Notation
 Always refer to the enclosures in the body of the letter.
 Type on the line below the reference initials the word Enclosure or an
appropriate alternative (Enc. or Check enclosed). It is wise to include the number
of enclosures and (when necessary for legal purposes) to identify each by name.
15. Copy Notation
 Type on the line below the reference initials or enclosure notation the initials cc
or c (copy) with or without a colon thereafter and follow on same line with name
of person to receive copy.
 If several people are to receive copies, type their names below the first name,
arranged by rank or alphabetically. Do not repeat cc or c.
 When using both first names and/or initials with the last names, omit personal
titles except in formal letters and/or if using nicknames with last names.
For example:
cc: Mr. Able or J. Able or cc: Jim Able
Miss Blue S. Blue Sandy Blue
Ms. Capp M. Capp Peggy
Capp
 Note this distinction:
Cc: Mr. R.R. Parent (received copy of letter only)
Cc/enc: Mr. T.W. Baldwin (received copies of letter and enclosure)
16. Postscript
 Use a postscript for emphasis to express effectively an idea that you have
deliberately withheld from the body of the letter.
 Type flush left or indented (according to body paragraph format) on second line
below what was typed last, beginning with no abbreviation at all or one of these:
 PS: or PS.
17. Second Pages
 Use plain paper (never a letterhead), using same margins as on first page.
 Type a second page heading on the seventh line down from the top of the page,
giving 1) addressee’s name, 2) page number, and 3) date. On the third line below
last line of heading, resume letter.
 Always have at least two lines of a paragraph at the bottom—and at the top—of
the next page. Never have just the complimentary closing on the last page.
 Don’t divide the last word on a page.

STANDARD TWO-LETTER ABBREVIATIONS FOR ADDRESSING ENVELOPES:

AL Alabama LA Louisiana OK Oklahoma

AK Alaska ME Maine OR Oregon
AZ Arizona MD Maryland PA Pennsylvania
AR Arkansas MA Massachusetts RI Rhode Island
CA California MI Michigan SC South Carolina
CO Colorado MN Minnesota SD South Dakota
CT Connecticut MS Mississippi TN Tennessee
DE Delaware MO Missouri TX Texas
DC District of Colombia MT Montana UT Utah
FL Florida NE Nebraska VT Vermont
GA Georgia NV Nevada VI Virgin Islands
GU Guam NH New Hampshire VA Virginia
HI Hawaii NJ New Jersey WA Washington
ID Idaho NM New Mexico WV West Virginia
IL Illinois NY New York WI Wisconsin
IA Iowa NC North Carolina WY Wyoming
KS Kansas ND North Dakota
KY Kentucky OH Ohio