The body of the letter

Heading

Salutation

Special markings

Inside address

Date

The date should always be shown in full. In the UK it is usual to show the date in the order day/month/year. No commas are used.

Example: 12 July 1956

In some other countries the date is typed in the order month/day/year, often with a comma after the month.

Example: July 12, 1956

The name and address of the recipient should be typed on separate lines as it would appear on an envelope. Care should be taken to address the recipient exactly as they sign their letters. For example, a person signing as "James Leighton" should be addressed as such in the inside address, preceded with the courtesy title "Mr". To address him as "Mr J. Leighton" would be inappropriate.

Example:

Mr James Leighton

General Manager

Leighton Engineering Co Ltd.

12 Bracken Hill

Manchester

M60 8AS.

If a letter is confidential it is usual to include this as part of the inside address, one clear line space above it. This may be typed in uppercase or in initial capitals with underscore.

Example:

CONFIDENTIAL

Mrs Melanie Jackson

Personnel Director

Soft Toys plc

21 Windsor Road

Birmingham

B2 5JT

It should rarely be necessary to use an attention line in today's business communications where we almost always know the name of the person we are writing to. As shown in the above examples, the name of the recipient is included in the inside address, and a personalized salutation will be used.

If the recipient's name has been used in the inside address, it is usual to use a personal salutation.

Example:

Dear Mr Leighton Dear Douglas Dear Mrs Jackson

If your letter is addressed generally to an organization, then the more formal salutation "Dear Sirs" should be used.

Example: Dear Sirs

If your letter is addressed to the head of a department or the head of an organization whose name is not known, then it would be more appropriate to use a salutation as shown here.

Example: Dear Sir or Madam

A heading gives a brief indication of the content of the letter. It is usually placed one clear line space after the salutation. Upper case is generally used, although initial capitals with underscore may be used if preferred.

Example:

Dear Mrs Jackson

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - 24 AUGUST 2009

The body of the letter consists of three paragraphs: the introductory, the main paragraph and the final. In the introductory part you give the main idea of the letter. The main paragraph dwells upon your propositions, suggestions, and requirements depending upon the letter type. In the final you write what you expect from your correspondent.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-26