Business Letters

What is a Business Letter?

• Overview of Letter Parts–Dateline and Letter Address–Salutation–Closing Letter Parts

• Letter Format• Letter Placement

Overview of Letter Parts

• Letterhead

• Dateline

• Letter Address

• Salutation

• Body

• Complimentary Closing

• Writer’s Name and Title

• Reference Initials

Dateline and Letter Address

• Dateline– Date letter is mailed– QS (4 spaces below

dateline)

• Letter address– Person who receives

the letter– Include personal title– One space before

Postal Code

One space before Postal Code

Include personal title

Salutation

• Salutation

– Salutation is the greeting

– Open punctuation requires no mark following the salutation

No punctuation following the salutation

Proper Salutations

• Ladies and Gentlemen– Appropriate when the letter is addressed to a

company

• Dear title and surname– Standard letter address– Use professional titles (Dr., Rev.) or personal

titles (generally Mr. or Ms.)– Example: Dear Mr. McDonald

Letter Parts

• Body – Body is the message

• Complimentary closing– The complimentary

closing is the farewell

• Writer’s name and title– QS (4 spaces)below

complimentary close

Block Letter Style

• All lines begin at left margin

• Default side margins

• Vertical position: – Center the page vertically

or– Position dateline 2.3” to 3” from the top of the

page, depending on length of the letter

Length Margins Position on Page

Short (1-2 Para) Default Center page

Average (3-4 Para) Default Center page or

Dateline 2.7” from top

Long (4 or more Para) Default Center page or

Dateline 2.3” from top

Letter Placement Table

Centering Letter on Page

File Page setupLayout tabVertical alignmentCenter

Print Preview

• Shows how a document will look when it is printed.

• Use it to check the placement and format of the letter before printing.

Steps to Creating a Letter

1. Key the letter

2. Use correct spacing between parts

3. Correct errors

4. Check the spelling

5. Delete extra hard returns (¶) above date or below initials

6. Center letter on page

7. Use Print Preview to check placement

8. Position date manually if necessary

9. Print, proofread, edit if necessary

Sample Letter

• Click letter to see sample business letter with proper formatting

Microsoft Word Picture