Parts of a business letter
A business letter has the following parts:
01.
Letterhead
02.
Date
03.
Inside address
04.
Salutation
05.
Subject line
06.
Body paragraphs (Reference + Purpose, Main
Message, Conclusion)
07.
Complimentary closure
08.
Signature block
09.
Sender name and designation
10. Enclosure (if any)
Explanation
The above parts are briefly explained below:1. Letterhead:
A business letter is usually printed/typed on a letterhead.
A letterhead is the official stationary in the form of a document that contains
the logo, name and contact details of the sending organization. These contact
details include geographical location/address i.e. plot number, street
name/number, are/society/zone, city, state, country, etc. It also includes
website address, email address, phone number and fax number. All this
information is logically arranged so that it occupies only a very small portion
of the document.
This logical arrangement depends on how the letterhead has been designed. Most companies also have a watermark of their logo visible at the center of the letterhead.
For individuals, since they don’t have a logo or an organization/company name, they just have to mention their geographical location/address. Inclusion of web/email addresses and phone/fax number is not needed. However, writing your name in the beginning is acceptable.
2. Date:
A date is a very important part of a letter since it shows
when the letter was written such as in cases which follow strict deadlines. In
a business letter, date is of two formats: British and American.
+ British format is ‘DD Month YYYY’.
+ American format is ‘Month DD, YYYY’.
+ British format is ‘DD Month YYYY’.
+ American format is ‘Month DD, YYYY’.
Between date and the above contact details section, there should be at least 3 to 4 lines gap/break.
3. Inside Address:
The address of the recipient is called ‘Inside Address’.
Unlike the contact details block of the sender, inside address begins with the
name of the recipient, his/her designation (if any), name of the organization
where he/she works (if any) and then geographical location/address. All this
information usually takes up to six lines. However, it does not include
web/email address and phone/fax number of the recipient.
Between date line and inside address, there should be a three lines gap/break.
4. Salutation:
‘Dear Mr./Ms./Mrs./Madam <last name of the
recipient>’, is called ‘Salutation’. In case where the name of the recipient
has more than one name, all the names except the last one are initialized. For
example in John F. Kennedy, it will be written ‘Dear Mr. J.F. Kennedy’.
Between inside address and salutation, there should be a three lines gap/break.
5. Subject Line:
‘Subject Line’ is the gist of the whole message of the
letter. It should be carefully thought of and should not exceed one line.
Although a few business communication experts avoid writing it in bad news
messages regarding it as optional, this is not the real case. Inserting a
subject line is a must in every business letter whether it contains good news
or bad news.
Points to remember in case of a subject line:
+ Should be carefully thought.
+ Should contain minimum possible words i.e. very brief.
+ Should be restricted to one line only.
+ Is not optional.
+ Should never be completely capitalized.
+ Using capital first letter for every word is allowed.
+ Can be underlined.
Between subject line and salutation, there should be a two line gap/break.
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