Lesson

Letters, Memos and E-mails

8
Busines
Letters
s
Business
Letter
A business letter elicits the expected
response from the readers. A
business letter serves several
purposes: for sales efforts, for
complaints, for information
dissemination, for relationship-
building, for problem-solving.
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Letterhead
1 Identifies the writer, her/his
address, and contact numbers
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Date
2 Placed between the letterhead
and the inside address.

• Instead of using 1/02/11

(plain numneral dates), use
January 2, 2011 or 2 January
2011
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Inside Address
3 Identifies the reader’s name,
position and company, and
address

• It should be placed
immediately below date
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Attention Line
4 Used when the writer wishes to
address the whole company but
wants to bring the subject or
topic of the letter to the
attention of a particular person
in the company

• Attention Dr. Gilda Cores

• Attention: Dr. Gilda Cores
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Salutation
5 The writer’s greeting to the
reader

• Dear Sir:
• Sir:
Dear Mr. Garcia:
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Body
6 Contains the message of the
letter

• Paragraphs are single-spaced

internally but double-spaced
to separate paragraphs.
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Complimentary
7 Close
It is the expression used to end a
letter
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Signature Block
8 Includes the signature and the
typed name of the sender

• The typed name can be in all

caps
• The space for signature
should be three to five lines
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Identification
9 Initials
Indicates the typist’s initials if the
sender is not the one who
personally typed/encoded the
document
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Enclosure notation
1 This are the attachments to the
letter

•
0
Enclosures
• Enclosure
• enc. / encl.
 Parts
of
Business
Letter Copy notation
1 Indicates the name of the
secondary recipients of the
letter and is indicated by cc:

1
which means carbon copy or
courtesy copy
Guideline
Writing a Business
sLetter
in
1 2 3 4
Present your ideas clearly Arrange your ideas Use direct and tactful tone Use active voice as much
by using language that is logically as possible
appropriate to the target
readers
Guideline
Writing a Business
sLetter
in
5 6 7 8
Focus on the readers by Use correct format, Specify the name of the Leave three to five blanks
using the “you” approach punctuation, spelling, and receiver of the letter. for your signature. Then,
grammar However, if it’s impossible type your name.
to get the name of the
receiver, use a generic title
(Dear Sales Director)
Memorandu
ms
Memorandu
m or Memo
• Memorandum comes form the Latin
term memorare which means ‘to
remember’
• It is meant to inform as well as to
persuade people within the company
• It inverted pyramid structure; that is
the most important information
comes first

Most important information

Supporting data and
examples
Least important
information
Five Memo
types
1 of
Instruction Memo
Provides information that the readers need to
accurately perform directions. Tr a n s m i t t a l M e m o
4 Serves as cover note for a more formal or lengthy
document
Request Memo
2 Asks readers to provide certain information on a
particular actions. Authorization Memo
5 Gives permission or approval
Announcement Memo
3 Provides information abour an event, person , or
thing.
Advantage Memo
s1ofIt reaches a large number of
readers at the same time

It provides a written record

2 that can be accessed at any
time

It ensures a detailed and

3 accurate delivery of the
message
 Parts
of
Memorand
Letterhead
1
Identifies the writer, her/his

um address, and contact numbers

 Parts
of
Memorand
Date Line
2
Serves as chronological record

um for reference purposes. Never

use plain numerals for dates to
avoid confusion. Instead of using
1/02/11, use January 2, 2011 or
2 January 2011
 Parts
of
Memorand
“ To ” L i n e
3
Indicates the name and title of

um the receiver
 Parts
of
Memorand
Attention Line
4
Used when the writer wishes to

um address the whole company but

wants to bring the subject or
topic of the letter to the
attention of a particular person
in the company

• Attention Dr. Gilda Cores

• Attention: Dr. Gilda Cores
 Parts
of
Memorand
“From” Line
5
Indicates the name of the

um sender. The sender should affix

his/her initials on the right side
of her/his name for verification
purposes
 Parts
of
Memorand
Subject Line
6
Announces the main content or

um topic of the memo. The word

Subject is preferred than the old
term Re.
 Parts
of
Memorand
Body
7
Contains the message of the

um letter

• Paragraphs are single-spaced

internally but double-spaced
to separate paragraphs.
 Parts
of
Memorand
um Identification
8 Initials
Indicates the typist’s initials if the
sender is not the one who
personally typed/encoded the
document
 Parts
of
Memorand
um Enclosure notation
9 This are the attachments to the
letter

• Enclosures
• Enclosure
• enc. / encl.
 Parts
of
Memorand
um Copy notation
1 Indicates the name of the
secondary recipients of the
letter and is indicated by cc:

0
which means carbon copy or
courtesy copy
Guideline
Writing a Memorandum
s in
1 2 3 4
Use bullets, numbers, and Use positive tone, active Use headings to highlight Eliminate grammatical and
letters to list information verbs, and concise words topics typographical errors
Guideline
Writing a Memorandum
s in
5 6 7 8
Use correct form Sign beside your typed Flush left the To, From, Conclude the memo by
name (sender) Date, and Subject lines saying Thank you or by
giving a directive (e.g., For
your compliance, For your
immediate action)
Electro
Mail
nic
Electronic
Mail
E-mail (electronic mail) is
the exchange of computer -
stored messages by
telecommunication. E -mail
messages are usually
encoded in ASCII text.
However, you can also send
non-text files, such as
graphic images and sound
files, as attachments sent
in binary streams.
Advantage E-mail
s1ofIt reaches the target fast

Confirmation of acceptance
2 is easy

It is cheaper
3
Example ofE-mail
an
Guideline Writing E-
s in mail
1 2 3 4

Connect the subject line to your Make the subject line specific. Keep the subject line simple Do not change the subject line
readers and interests. Readers Instead of using “Schedule”, use when you reply to an e-mail
often delete messages solely “Adjustment is Seminar
based on the subject line Schedule”
Guideline Writing E-
s in mail
5 6 7 8

The “to” line should only Be accurate in typing the e-mail Make the name of the attached Keep the messages brief and
contain the names of the addresses of the recipients filename meaningful. Instead of straightforward
primary readers, secondary using “jsbletter”, try using
readers must be places in cc line “jessiebarrot-coverletter”
Guideline Writing E-
s in mail
9 10 11 12

Never use all caps for the main Never publish an e-mail without State your business in the first Store both your sent and
text the permission of the creator sentence of the text received messages in folders
using descriptive names (e.g.,
trainings, directives, minutes)
Guideline Writing E-
s in mail
13 14 15

Use standard memo format If the message is important, try
composing it first using the
word processor
Maintain professionalism even
if the e-mail is less formal than a
memo and a letter. Observe a
certain level of degree of
formality.