WRITING

BUSINESS
LETTER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART OF
BUSINESS
LETTER

THE 8C,S of
THREE
FORMAT OF business letter
A BUSiNESS
LETTER
writing a
business letter
 A form of written communication between a
sender and receiver used to transact business
which cannot be easily relayed orally
 It seek to explain, to sell, to introduce, to invite ,
to refuse, to promise, to complain, and organize.
Part of a
business letter
1. Letterhead (heading)

- It is found at the uppermost part of the

letter.
 Fullname
 Full address May be added:
 Company logo
 Contact number
 2. Date line
- It is typed two or four spaces below the letterhead.
 American Way: May 2, 1999
 British Way: 2 May 1999

3.Inside address
- It is written two to four spaces below
the Date Line. Use a tittle with every
name such as Mr., Mrs., or Miss, or if
the addressee holds some special tittle
like Doctor, Professor, or Honorable.

- The following forms are acceptable

 The Honorable Jose B. dela Cruz
 The Honorable Jose dela Cruz
 The Honorable dela Cruz
 4. SALUTATION
- Two spaces below the Inside address

- Use positive words like Dear, Dearest, My dear Most formal: Sir and Madam

PART OF
- Formal: My dear Sir: or My dear madam:

- Friendly/ Less formal: Dear Ms. Sy Dear Mr. Sy

A - Formal: Use colon ( : )

- Informal: Use comma ( , )

BUSINES - Plural: Gentlemen, Mesdames, or Ladies

S LETER 5. BODY
- The complete message of the letter.

- It is written between the salutation and complimentary close.

- It should be correct , clear, courteous, concise, and neatly written.

6. COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
- It is printed two spaces below the last line of the body and
aligned with the heading of the letter
• Very respectfully yours,
• Respectfully yours,
• Very truly yours, (officially used for business
purpose)
• Truly yours,
• Very sincerely yours,
• Sincerely yours,
• Very cordially yours,
• Cordially yours,
• yours cordially,
• Sincerely,
• Cordially,

7.SIGNATURE
- It may consist only of the name of the writer typed
on the fourth line space below the complimentary
close, followed by his signature

• v
Additional/
OPTIONAL
PARTS
 Additional/optional parts

ATTENTION
LINE Subject line
- Direct letter to a specific individual - States general subject so reader can
within a company. locate previous correspondence
- Between inside address and - Placed above or below the solutation
salutation.
 Additional/optional parts

Typists initials Enclosure notation

- Identifies who typed the letter if - Indicates items enclosed with letter
different from the writter. - Often names items specifically
 FULL BLOCK
Three formats of - Most common used

a business letter
Modified block
- Another widely-used format.

Semi-block
- Least used format
The 8c’s of business letter

01 clarity
- The use of precise, concrete, familiar
words, and the construction of effective
sentences and paragraphs are the best
ways of achieving clarity
• Here are some ways of achieving clarity or
clearness:
1. Think first before you write
2. Express yourself in simple and familiar
words
 X high- falutin
 X high- sounding
 Complex words
 e.g.
 Long and Familiar or
complicated common
• Conjecture
• Guess
• Utilize
• Use
• Ameliorate
• Improve
• Terminate
• End
• Edifice
• Building
• Indisposed
• ill
• Relative to my
• About
• In the near future
• Soon
• At all times
• Always
• Attached here to
• enclosed
The 8c’s of business letter
3. Maintain short sentences and paragraphs
4. Express yourself in the active voices than
passive voice
e.g.
Poor: The letter was received by me last
week
Better: I received the letter last week.
Poor: The board meeting was presided over
by the president of the company.
Better: The president of the company
presided over the board meeting
The 8c’s of business letter

02 conciseness
- Eliminate wordy expressions, avoid
unnecessary repetitions, and include only
relevant matter.

03 CONSIDERATION
- The YOU- viewpoint, which means
looking at the situation from the
standpoint of the reader, is what
consideration means.
The 8c’s of business letter

04 Courtesy
- An attitude of the mind that cultivates
goodwill and friendliness.
e.g. please, thank you, kindly, would you,

05 concreteness
- Trough words, the reader can form
images.
The 8c’s of business letter

06 cheerfulness
- “Smile and the whole world smiles with
you, cry and you cry alone.

07 correctness
- Right level of language

08 CHARACTER
-what makes a person special or
interesting? It is his unique personality.
Sample
business letter
 Writing a
memorandum
memo
- Short for “memorandum,” a memo is a type of
document used to communicate with others in the
same organization. Memos ( or memoranda) are
typically used for fairly short messages of one page or
less, but informal reports of several pages may also
employ memo format.
- Memos are distinguished by a header that includes
Date, To , From, and Subject Lines: other lines, such
as CC or BCC, may be added as needed.
 DATE: List the date on which the memo is
distributed
 TO: List the name of the recipient of the
memo. If there are several recipients, it’s
acceptable to use a group name, such as
“All Employees” or “Personnel Committee
Members.”
memo
 FROM: List the name and job tittle of the
writer(s).
 SUBJECT: Think of the subject line as the
tittle for the memo. Make it specific so that
readers can immediately identify the topic.
 Don’t over
01 communicate by email
- Use our communicate planning tool to
identify the channels that are best for
different types of message.
- Whenever possible, deliver bad news in
Make good use of person this helps you to communicate with

subject lines 02 empathy, compassion, and understanding ,

and to make amends if your message has
- The subject line of your email message should do been taken the wrong way.
the same thing. A black subject line is more likely
to be overlooked or rejected as “ spam” so always
use a few well chosen words to tell the recipient
what the email is about
03 Keep message CLEAR
and brief
- Email , like traditional business letters, need
to be clear and concise. Keep your sentences
short and to the point.
 If you need to communicate with someone about a
number of different topics, consider writing a separate
email for each one. This make your message clearer,
and it allows your correspondent to reply to one topic
at a time. It’s important to find balance here. You

01
don’t to bombard someone with emails, and it makes
sense to combine several, related, points into email. Be polite
When this happens, keep things simple with
numbered paragraphs or bullet points, and consider
“chunking” information into small , well organized
unit to make it easier to digest - People often think the email can be less formal
than traditional letters. But the message you send

02
are reflection of your own professionalism, values,
Check the tone and attention to detail, so a certain level of
- When you meet people fsce-to-face, we use the other person’s formality is needed.
body language vocal tone, and facial expressions to assess - close your message with “regards,” “your
how they feel. Email robs us of this information, and this sincerely,” or “ all the best,’’ depending on the
means that we can’t tell when people have misunderstood our situation. Recipient may decide to print email and
message share them with others, so always be polite
- Think about how your email “feels” emotionally. If your
intentions or emotions could be misunderstood , find a less .
ambiguous way to phrase your word.
proofreading

- Before you hit “send,’’ take review your email for

spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes.

- Your email messages are as much a part of your professional image as the
clothes you wear, so it looks bad to send out message that contains typos.

- As you proofread, pay careful attention to the length of your email. People are more likely to
read short, concise email than long, rambling ones, so make sure that your email are as short
as possible, without excluding necessary information.