Business letters are formal written communications used to share ideas, promote products or events, complain to or support officials/businesses, ask for help, contact organizations, gain internships, help solve problems, express thanks, introduce oneself, recommend, formalize agreements, or request something. The document provides guidelines for organizing and writing business letters, including using the standard format, formal language, conciseness, clarity of purpose, and attention to formatting details like font, spacing, spelling, grammar, and trifolding. It outlines the typical anatomy of a business letter, including sender's address, date, recipient's address, salutation, single-spaced body in multiple paragraphs, closing, signature, and optional enclosures/copies.

1. Business Letters
What They Are & How to Write Them

2. People Still Write Letters?
• “Business letters” are really just formal
communications sent by snail mail.

3. Why Bother?
• Everyday people write business letters to:
– share ideas
– promote products or events
– complain to / support a public official or business
– ask for help
– contact organizations
– gain internships
– help solve problems
– express thanks
– introduce oneself
– recommend
– formalize something
– request

4. Organizing & Writing
Business Letters

5. Looks Matter
And, while these people
may have style or swag,

6. These folks look better. Their
appearance meets the
accepted standard.

7. Business Letters In-style
• Follow the age-old, established format.
• Use formal language.
• Be short and precise.
• Your purpose should be clear and to-
the-point.
• Pay attention to punctuation, spacing,
spelling, and grammar.

8. Business Letters In-style Cont’d
• Use plain, white, 8 ½ by 11 paper.
• Arial and Times New Roman are
appropriate fonts to use.
– No matter how nice you think Comic Sans looks!
• Use 10-12 point font.
• When mailing, be sure to trifold your
letter before putting it in the
envelope.

9. Anatomy of a
Business Letter

10. Parts of a Business Letter
(in order from top to bottom)
1. Heading
– Sender’s address
– Date
– Inside address/ Recipient’s address
2. Salutation
3. Body
4. Closing
5. Signature
6. Initials, Enclosures, Copies
Everything is
LEFT
justified!

11. • Hint, you’re the sender.
• If I’m sending it, why do I include my
address?
• What should it look like?
123 Main St. <- but use your street
West Seneca, NY 14224 <- but use your city
• Why is my name missing?
Sender’s Address

12. • Used to indicated the date the letter
was written.
• What should it look like?
September 10, 2014 <- but use your date
Date

13. • This is the recipient’s address
• Include a name
• Include that individual’s title (Mr., Mrs.,
Ms., Dr., Honorable, Senator)
• What should it look like?
Mrs. Skotnicki <- left-justify every line
3330 Seneca St.
West Seneca, NY 14224
Inside Address

14. • Do not address the person by their first
name (Dear Lucy).
• What does this look like?
Dear Mrs. Skotnicki: <- notice the
colon
• However, if you do not know the
gender of the recipient, use their first
and last names.
Dear Chris Whittaker:
Salutation (the greeting)

15. • Single space your letter.
• Left justify every paragraph. Do not
indent!
• Separate paragraphs with a single
blank line. (Microsoft Word does this
automatically.)
The Body: Formatting

16. • The first paragraph
– Be friendly. Introduce yourself.
– Be concise and get right to your main point.
– Clearly establish your purpose for writing.
• The second paragraph
– Justify the importance of your main point.
• The third+ paragraph(s)
– Continue justification of your main point with
background information and supporting details.
• The closing paragraph
– Restate the purpose of the letter and (if necessary)
request some kind of action.
The Body: Content

17. • Separate from the last body paragraph with
one blank line.
• Capitalize the first letter and leave four blank
lines between the closing and your name.
• What does this look like?
Sincerely,
<- 4 blank lines
<- your signature here
Joe Student
Closing

18. Enclosures
• If you’re sending something with your
letter (a resume, a brochure, etc.), be sure
to point it out professionally.
• Skip a line after your name and type the
word “Enclosure” or “Encl.” before the
name of your attachment.
• What does this look like?
Jane Doe
Encl. Traffic Light Diagrams

19. Copies
• If you’re sending your letter to more
than one person, you must make them
aware. (Think “cc” on an e-mail.)
• What does this look like?
Jane Doe
Encl. Traffic Light Diagrams
cc: Mr. Brinker, Principal

20. The Business Letter: A Visual
What’s
missing from
this image?

21. • Sebranek, Patrick, Dave Kemper, and
Verne Meyer. Writer’s Inc: A Student
Handbook for Writing and Learning.
Wilmington, Massachusetts: Write
Source. 2001. Print.
• "Writing The Basic Business
Letter." Purdue OWL: Basic Business
Letters. Purdue University. Web. 27 Aug.
2013.
Sources