An official letter has specific features including addresses for the sender and recipient, a date, salutation, title or heading, body, and complementary close with signature. Important characteristics of an effective official letter are simplicity, conversational style, clarity of goal, positive public relations, use of "you" attitude, courtesy, persuasiveness, sincerity, positive language, proper emphasis, coherence, cultural sensitivity, tactful approach, ethical standards, and being brief but complete. Examples of official letters include sales, order, complaint, adjustment, inquiry, follow-up, recommendation, acknowledgment, cover, and resignation letters.

1. Presenter :
Syed Aun Abbas
Topic :
How To Write An
Official Letter

2. Letters?
A letter is a written message sent by one person to another. In
other words, a letter is a piece of conversation by post. So,
when we transfer any written message through mail, it can be
termed as letter.
Types:
● Formal (official ,business ) Letters
● Informal Letters

3. Features Of Formal Letters
Basically, the main features of a formal letter include:
1. The Addresses: the writer's and the recipient's
2. The date: immediately after the writer's address at the top right hand side
of the letter
3. Salutation/ Greetings: Dear Ma/Sir, it must be marked off by a comma
4. Title or heading: no underscoring if written in the upper case but there is
if written with initial capital of the major word classes
5. Body: beginning, middle and end
6. Subscription/ Complementary close: “Yours faithfully,” followed by your
signature before your full name

4. Characteristics of an Effective Official Letter
Important characteristics that an effective correspondence
must have for business transaction are given below:
1. Simplicity:
An officaial letter should be simple. It should be written in a
lucid (easy) language so that it is clear to the receiver.

5. 2. Conversational style:
A letter shoul be written in conversationa style.Conversational style is interactive in nature and is
more or less informal.
3. Clarity of goal:
The writer should be clear about what he wishes to convey. The letter should be written in such a
way that it reflects the goal clearly and easily. There must not be any ambiguity.
4. Public relation:
Business letters reflect the image of the organisation. All business letters should therefore be
drafted keeping in mind the objective of enhancing the organisations goodwill, image and public
relations.
5. The ‘You’ attitude:
It should be able to convey the sender’s interest in the reader. For this the ‘You’ attitude should
be adopted. The T’s and ‘We’s’ should be avoided and more of ‘You’s’ should be included. This will
show the sender’s interest in the reader.
6 Courteous
An official letter should be courtious.the language of the letter should be polite and appealing.

6. 7. Persuading:
persuade the reader in an effective way the piece of correspondence should be well written.
8. Sincere:
An official letters should be sincere. It should not hide reality. It should also be free from
hypocracy making tall claims. The matter should be stated erectly and genuinely.
9. Positive language:
The words of the letter should be chosen with care. As far as possible the language of the piece of
letter should be positive.
10. Due emphasis:
Proper emphasis should be put on the content of the piece of correspondence. The writer should
himself be clear in his mind what he wants to convey. It should also be noted that short sentences
are better than long sentences.
11. Coherence:
The information present in the letter should be arranged in a logical way.

7. 12. Care for culture:
As such no words should be used which offends the cultural background of the reader
13. Tactful approach:
The writer should adopt a tactful approach while writing an official letter. Generally good news
is conveyed directly where as a bad news or a complaint adopts indirect or middle approach.
14. Ethical standard:
An official letter reflects the image of an organisation. Therefore all official correspondence
should maintain certain ethical standard.
15. Brief but complete:
Brevity is the soul of correspondence. In short the receiver must know what the sender wants to
transmit. But briefness does not mean incomplete.the quality of brevity and completeness
should be there in official letter.

8. Examples
● Sales Letters
● Order Letters
● Complaint Letters
● Adjustment Letters
● Inquiry Letters
● Follow-Up Letters
● Letters of Recommendation
● Acknowledgment Letters
● Cover Letters
● Letters of Resignation