Part of a Business Letter

This resource is organized in the order in which you should write a business letter, starting with the sender’s address if the letter is not written on letterhead.

1. Sender’s Address The sender’s address usually is included in letterhead. If you are not using letterhead, include the sender’s address at the top of the letter one line above the date. Do not write the sender’s name or title, as it is included in the letter’s closing. Include only the street address, city, and zip code.
   
2. Date The date line is used to indicate the date the letter was written. However, if your letter is completed over a number of day, use the date it was finished in the date line. When writting to companies within the United States, use the American date formal (The United States-based convention for formatting a date places the month before the day. For example: June 11, 2001). Write out the month, day and year two inches from the top of the page. Depending which format you are using for your letter, either left justify the date or tab to the center point and type the date.
   
3. Inside Address
   The inside address is the recipient’s address,. It is always best to write to a specife individual at the firm to which you are writing. If you do not have the perion’s name, do some research by calling the company or speaking with employees from the company. Include a personaal title such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr. Follow a woman’s preference in being addressed as Miss, Mrs., or Ms. If you are unsure of a woman’s preference in being address, use Ms. If there is a possibility that the person to whom you are writing is a Dr. Or has some other title, use that title. Usually, people will not mind being address by a higher title than they actually possess. To write the address, use the U.S. post Office Format. For international address, type the name of the country in all-capital letter on the last line. The inside address begins one line below the sender’s address or one inch below the date. It should be left justified, no matter which format you are using.
   
4. Salutation
   Use the same name as the inside address, including the personal title. If you know the person and typically address them by their first name, it is acceptable to use only the first name in the salutation (foe example: Dear Lucy). In all other cases, bowever, use the personal title and full name followed by a colon. Leave one line blank after the salutation. If you don’t know reader’s gender, use a nonsexist salutation, such as “Te Whom it may Concern.” It is also acceptable to use the full name in a salutation if you cannot datermine gender. For example, you might write Dear Chirs Harman, if you were of Chris’s gender.
5. Body For block and modified block formats, single space and left justify each paragraph within the body of the letter. Leave a blank line between each paragraph. When writing a business letter, be careful to remember that conciseness is verry important. In the first paragraph, consider a friendly opening and then a statement of the main point. The next paragraph should begin justifying the importance of the main point. In the next few paragraphs, continue paragraph should restate the purpose of the letter and, in some cases, request some type of action.
   
6. Closing
   The closing begins at the same horizontal point as your date one line after the last body paraagraph. Capitalize the first word only (for example: Thank You) and leave four lines between the closing and the sender’s name for a signature. If a colon follows the salutation, a comma should follow the closing, otherwise, there is so punctuation after the closing.
7. Endesures
   If you have enclosed any documents along with the letter, such as a resume, you indicate this simply by typing. Enclosures one line below the closing. As an option, you may list the name of each document you are inclusding in the aerlope. For instance, if you have included many documents and need to ensure that the recipient is aware of each document, it may be a good idea to list the names.
   
8. Typist Initials
   Typist initials are used to indicate the person who typed the letter. If you typed the letter yourself, omit the typist initials.