FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE WRITING Part 1

LECTURE 5 (WEEK 5)

PARTS OF A LETTER

LETTERHEAD (OR SENDERS ADDRESS) REFERENCES (OPTIONAL) DATE INSIDE ADDRESS SALUTATION SUBJECT OPENING PARAGRAPH BODY CLOSING P. COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE SENDERS NAME DESIGNATION

FORMAT: BLOCK FORMAT

Margin to the left, no indentations Open Punctuation requires no punctuation after date,

inside address, salutation, complimentary close. No numbering of paragraphs. Single-space each paragraph Double- space between paragraphs All paragraphs in a blocked style (begin at the left margin

LETTERHEAD
Letterhead or return address - companys name, postal code, e-mail address ,telephone,telex

and facsimile numbers.

Preprinted letterhead-address is centred Eg.

KAJANG PLASTICS SDN. BHD. Jalan Reko 43000 Kajang SELANGOR Telephone: 03-87632070 Fax: 03-87302071 Email: plastics@kajang.com.my

LETTERHEAD (cont.)
When a letterhead is absent, the senders address

will usually be placed on the top left corner of the page. The name of the sender is not included.

REFERENCES
A way of identifying a letter. They link the letter to any

earlier correspondence. Numerical or the writers initials followed by those of the typists. Your ref: 2/92 Our ref: RA/SC (Sender/typist: Rose Ang/Susan Chu RA/sc A more complex references may relate to a filing system or a clients account no. Your ref: PK/92/9

DATE
Written between letterhead and inside address

UK system
Day / month / year No commas are used. Eg.10th July 2013 Elsewhere month/day/year Eg. September 12th, 2013

INSIDE ADDRESS
Written below date. Includes name and courtesy title (Mr, Mrs, Ms). Job title/designation Name of organization/company Full postal address

Eg.

Mr Daniel Wong Managing Director RD Consultancy 15 Gasing Road 46400 Selangor

SALUTATION
The greeting of a letter. Should agree with the inside address. Addressee

Salutation The Advertiser Dear Sir Lever Brothers (Company) Dear Sirs Puan Zaiton Dear Pn/Madam Tan and Lim Advocates Messrs Tan and Lim Dr Lee Dear Dr Lee An organisation Dear Sirs No commas

SUBJECT LINE
Gives brief indication of the content. (Subject

Matter) Placed one line after salutation. Must be specific. Written in upper case/initial capitals with underscore. Eg. Dear Mr Tan Revision of City Sales Tax or REVISION OF CITY SALES TAX

BODY OF THE LETTER

1. The most important part of the letter 2. Should include at least 3 paragraphs (introduction, discussion, conclusion) 3. Should be informative, concise, clear.

4. Use simple words and sentence constructions.

5. Avoid jargon.

BODY OF THE LETTER (CONTINUES)

6. Use correct grammar. 7. No numbering of paragraphs. 8. Single-space each paragraph 9. Double- space between paragraphs 10. All paragraphs in a blocked style (begin at the left margin

Closing a) Complimentary Close

2 spaces after the last paragraph Consists of CS, Signature, Name and Designation. CS should match the Salutation. Dear Mr Chan Dear Sir

Yours sincerely Yours faithfully

No commas
Expressions such as kind regards, best wishes, all

the best, are not necessary.

Closing b) Signature Block

Signature, Name and Designation -the full name and the designation of the writer must

be written in 2 separate lines immediately below the signature.

Yours sincerely

Yours faithfully CAROL LEE Training Manager

Jamie Tan (Miss) Sales Manager

ENCLOSURE NOTATION
Used when any document is included with the letter Appears one line below the signature block Can be written in two ways: Enc or Encs

Eg.

Marketing Manager

Enc/Encs 1. Cheque no. 88108 2. Catalogue

CARBON COPY NOTATION (cc)

This means that a copy of the letter is being sent to

another person / other persons. Indicated by the abbreviation cc:

For a person within the company:

cc Mr John Lee
For a person outside the company:

cc Mr Solomon Dass PR Manager AC Nielsen If more than two recipients alphabetical order/ according to position.

End of Part 1