How to write a business letter

6 Parts of a Business Letter

Name & Address: Your name Your address

Heading: name address skip a spacedate

Salutation: Dear Mr. or Ms. Name:Body: Don’t indent anything!

Closing: Use something formal, like “Sincerely,”

Signature: Sign your name

Writing a business letterBusiness letters have a lot in common with friendly letters. Think about it! To make a friendly letter into a business letter, you just have to change four things.

1. Change your heading to include the full name and address of the addressee and the date at the top left of the letter.

2. Use a colon instead of a comma after your salutation.

3. Don’t indent anything! Line everything up on the left hand side of the paper.

4. Write your full name and address underneath your signature.

You already know how to

do this!

A Sample Business LetterFrom “The OWL at Purdue”

Lucy Letter123 Winner's RoadNew Employee Town, PA 12345

Ernie English1234 Writing Lab LaneWrite City, IN 12345

March 16, 2001

Dear Mr. English:

The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with afriendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use a couple of sentences toexplain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until the next paragraph.

Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These maytake the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short paragraphs withinthe body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning.

Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose ofyour letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information. However, ifthe purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the reader's time.

Sincerely,

Signature

The full name address of the person that you’re writing to

Date

The name of the person you’re writing to. Use Mr. or Ms. and follow it with a colon NOT a comma!

Closing with a comma

Your name and address.

What to say in a business letter, according to OWL

1. The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Use a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until the next paragraph.

2. Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These maytake the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning.

3. Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose ofyour letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the reader's time.

1. I’m writing because…

2. This issue is important to SCbecause..(Give proof!)

3. Restate your purpose & thankthe reader for his or her time.

The most important part: TONE• Your tone is the way that you feel

about what you’re writing.• The person reading your letter will

decide whether or not to respect you largely based on the tone you use. If you think what you’re saying is important, it will show!

• Be businesslike and formal! That means always following the Top 5 Do’s and the Top 5 Don’ts of writing!