Be persuasive: the art of letter writing

While letter writing may have taken a back seat to social media the letter is not dead. Here are our tips on crafting a letter that gets noticed and creates action.

Be persuasive: the art of letter writing The need to sit down and write a letter tends to correspond with the more ‘weighty’ decisions and points of contact in our lives and for this reason it’s just as important as ever to get the basics of letter writing right.

How to get it right the first time?

See our 9 tips for letter writing success

.

1Your address or company letterhead

A company letterhead should always be used for business letters.

If you are sending a letter that doesn’t require a letterhead, the sender’s name and address should be justified left at the top of the page.

2The date

Dating a letter is essential and the date should be positioned just below the company letterhead or address line.

3The addresseeThe address of the recipient should also be justified left and be positioned a few spaces below the date.

It is more effective to find out who you are addressing the letter to rather than just sending a blanket letter, for example Mr John Smith is better than writing Dear Homeowner.

The address should appear across two lines, one line with the street address and the second line with the suburb, state and postcode.

4The salutationDear Dr Adrienne Robinson OA

Addressing the reader correctly is an important step towards having your message cut through the pack. Consideration for correct title use is important in the writing of any letter.

MPs, mayors, religious clergy, defence force personnel and recipients of national or international awards and recognitions have formal titles.

Some examples include:

• Hon. Mike Baird MP

• His Eminence Cardinal George Pell AC

• General Sir Peter John Cosgrove AK MC

It is also best to use Ms when addressing a woman in a formal capacity. Miss and Mrs are titles that are reliant on marital status and can be read as presumptive.

5The subject line

Consider using a bold text subject line for example, RE: Administrative Assistant Position.

Or even a question like Do you want to ensure that your family is financially secure? to draw the recipients attention to the point and purpose of your letter.

6The introduction

Be sure to address the subject of your letter immediately.

The recipient of your letter is most likely a busy person. The opening sentence is your chance to get straight to the point and secure their attention.

7The body paragraphsAfter you’ve established your subject, it’s important to further explain the reason for writing.

It is vital to employ formal language with accurate grammar and punctuation.

Read the letter back to yourself or have someone else read it to you. Remember, this is a formal contact and a non-emotive tone is best.

8The conclusion & call to actionThey’ve read this far, or they’ve skimmed to the end. It’s essential here to sum up your argument in the most concise way possible.

It doesn’t hurt to repeat your main objective and reasons—your conclusion must make the message stick.

A call to action is important in the case that you would like a response. Suggest a possible course of action and encourage the addressee to maintain contact.

9The sign offSigning off is simply ending your letter.

There are different sign offs for different occasions and the correct use for each depends on context.

For example:

• Yours Faithfully is best used in the request of something and in the case you don’t know the addressee

• Yours Sincerely is a good sign off to use when informing the addressee of an occurrence or action

• Best Regards is usually reserved for a close business contact or friend

• Kind Regards, OR Warm Regards is best used to sign off a letter of thanks or a more personal enquiry

• And Best, Sincerely and Regards are just shortened versions of these.

It’s best to keep your letter as brief as possible without losing the context of your message. One page to two pages is perfect if that’s possible.

These tips to help make your letter writing more persuasive only skim the surface of what is possible.

The art of letter writing may have faded into the background a bit, but the letter and its importance in the business world certainly hasn’t.

The experts at Infodec Communications can produce persuasive documents for any audience. Contact us today for more detailed information.

Please click here to view a sample Infodec Communications business letter.