Unit 1 - Business Letters
Business letters are formal letters used for business-to-business, business-to-client, or client-tobusiness correspondence.
Even though email is commonly used to communicate with a business, organization, or school,
business letters are necessary for more formal situations:
Finalizing contracts
Job applications
Applying for admission to a college, a scholarship, etc.
Thank you
Making a formal recommendation
Following up on other communication (phone call, email, etc.)
There are several forms of business letters—modified block, full block, etc. We will be learning
full block format, which I feel is the easiest to type.
Full Block format
A business letter format in which all parts of the letter begin at the left margin. NO lines in the
letter are indented.
Always use Times New Roman font and 12 point size for a business letter.
Keep the font color black.
Remember, a business letter is a more formal form of communication—keep your letter
looking professional.
Margins
Margins are the white space around all four sides of a page.
 Most business letters will need a margin of 1” on both the left
and right sides, 1” on the bottom and 2” at the top. If your
letter will be a full page or longer, set the top and bottom
margins to 1”.
 If your letter is much shorter than a full page, center all of the
text in the letter vertically on the page.
Page Layout tab
 Margins button
 Custom margins (at bottom of menu)
 Click on the Layout tab
 Page—Vertical alignment—choose Center
You can wait and do
this after your letter is
completely typed and
you know how much of
the page it takes up.
Parts of a Business Letter—
Return Address—is the address of the person who is sending the letter.
It is necessary to
include this information in case the recipient of your letter needs to write back to you.
Start with your street address on one line.
 Type one Enter.
 Type your city, state, and ZIP code on the second line.
 City, comma, two letter state abbreviation (WI), one space after the state abbreviation,
and zip code.
 Type one Enter after the ZIP code.
Date—is the date the letter was finished or sent out. You need
a date for legal reasons— “you have thirty days to reply”,
“Please send payment in the next ten business days”


311 W. North Water St. «¶»
Neenah, WI 54956 «¶»
November 17, 2011 «¶»
«¶»
Type out the complete name of the month (no
abbreviations), one space, the one or two digit date, comma, one space, and the fourdigit year
Type two Enters after the date
-ORInsert the Date - Insert tab - Date and Time button Choose the third format from the top - Type two
Enters after the date.
Letter address—is the complete address of the person you are writing to. It is the same as
the address on the outside of the envelope.


First line is for the receiver’s personal title (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.) and the receiver’s first
o BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT ALL TITLES AND NAMES ARE
o If you are writing to a male, use Mr. or a professional title, if it applies (Dr. or
Rev.)
o If you are writing to a female, use the title that you see from other correspondence
 Mrs. if you know she is married
 Ms. if you are not sure whether she is married or
not
 Use a professional title if it applies (Dr. or Rev.)
First line is for the receiver’s personal title (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.) and the receiver’s first
o BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT ALL TITLES AND NAMES ARE
o If you are writing to a male, use Mr. or a professional title, if it applies (Dr. or
Rev.)
o If you are writing to a female, use the title that you see from other correspondence


Mrs. if you know she is married
Ms. if you are not sure whether she is married or
not
311 W. North Water St. «¶»
 Use a professional title if it applies (Dr. or
Neenah, WI 54956 «¶»
Rev.)
November 17, 2011 «¶»
«¶»
 If you have four lines, the second line is for the name of the
«¶»
company or business.
«¶»
 The third line is one for the receiver’s street address,
Ms. Sara Naide «¶»
 The fourth line is for the receiver’s city, comma, space, two
Tempo Music Supplies «¶»
letter state abbreviation, one space, and ZIP code.
1234 Meter Drive «¶»
Nashville, TN 37201 «¶»
Press two enters after the last address line.
«¶»
Salutation—is a polite way to greet our
reader and open the letter.
 Type a greeting (Dear), a title (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.), and
the receiver’s last name.
 Do not use a first name in a salutation unless you are not
sure of the reader’s gender.
 Be absolutely certain all names are spelled correctly.
 If you do not know if the receiver is male or female (Pat,
Chris, Jordan, etc.), type the receiver’s first and last name
(Dear Pat Smith).
 If you do not have the name of a person to write to, type
Ladies or Gentlemen: or Dear Sir or Madam:
 Do not use “To Whom It May Concern:” This is too
impersonal.
311 W. North Water St. «¶»
Neenah, WI 54956 «¶»
November 17, 2011 «¶»
«¶»
«¶»
«¶»
Ms. Sara Naide «¶»
Tempo Music Supplies «¶»
1234 Meter Drive «¶»
Nashville, TN 37201 «¶»
«¶»
Dear Ms. Naide «¶»
Press two enters after the salutation.
Body— most business letters have three paragraphs:




First paragraph—briefly state who you are and the reason why you are writing the letter.
Second paragraph—give additional information (details).
Third paragraph—sum up the letter, ask for some sort of response (if necessary), and
politely close.
All body paragraphs are single-spaced with two Enters between.
Type two enters after the end of the last paragraph of the letter.
Complimentary close—a polite way to close the letter or a farewell line.



Yours truly, Sincerely, or Thank you,.
Type a comma after the complimentary close.
Type four Enters after the complimentary close.
o This will give you a place to sign your name in black ink after the letter is
printed.
Signature line—again, needed for legal reasons.

Type your full first and last names.
o You will sign your name in black ink in the space
between the complimentary close and your typed name.
o Sign your name exactly the same as your typed name.
o All on one line.
o Beginning at the left margin.
Two Page Business Letters:

Yours truly «¶»
«¶»
«¶»
«¶»
Cari L. Eggen
Taycher
A one-page business letter is best, but if you have to go to a second page:
o If your letter continues onto a second page, you will need to type the name of the
receiver (the person who the letter is sent to), the page number, and the date 1 inch
from the top of the second page.
o All three of these lines are full block (they begin at the left margin).
o Leave a double space after the date, and continue the second page of your letter.
o There is a sample personal business letter on the next page. Be sure to notice the
margins and spacing between sections.
Return
Address
2” top margin
1” left and right margins
230 Glendale Ct.
Brooklyn, NY 11234-3721
November 17, 2011
Date
4 enters – which means 3
blank line
Letter
Address
Ms. Julie Hutchinson
New Amsterdam Theater
1825 Melbourne Ave.
Flushing, NY 11367-2351
2 enters – which
means 1 blank line
Salutation
Body
Dear Ms. Hutchinson
I am writing to request your assistance in obtaining a job in a theater related career. As I
indicated in our previous phone conversation, I am applying for a position as box office
coordinator for one of the theaters on Broadway. Since we had several business classes together
in college, I would like to have you review my application documents to be sure everything is in
order.
I am enclosing a copy of my letter of application, my resume, and my letters of recommendation
from my references. Please look these documents over carefully. If you see any errors or any
items that you feel should be changed or omitted, don’t hesitate to let me know. I will make the
changes that you suggest before I submit any of the documents to my prospective employer.
You can return the documents to me in the enclosed, self-addressed envelope. Since the
deadline for applying for the box office job is one month away, I would appreciate it if you could
have the documents returned to me by the end of next week. That way, I will still have time to
make changes and submit all paperwork before the deadline.
Thank you again for agreeing to help me in this manner. I expect to receive the edited
documents back sometime next week. I will be sure to let you know how the job application
process turns out. If I get the job, I will treat you to a dinner at Spago’s.
Sincerely
Complimentary Close
Cari L. Eggen
Four Enters –
which leaves
3 blank lines
Signature
Line
2 enters – which
means 1 blank line
Name signed in black ink
Exactly the same as the typed name
All on one line
Start at the left margin
Envelope Wizard
The Envelope Wizard will help you create and print an envelope to mail out your business letter.
Click on the Mailings tab.
Click on the Envelopes button.
You will get the window shown where you can
type in both the address of the person you are
writing to and your own return address.
USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND NO
PUNCTUATION MARKS FOR THESE
ADDRESSES (according to US Postal Service
Regulations).
U.S. Postal Regulations
The following information is taken from the U.S.
Post Office’s Publication 28, “Postal
Addressing Standards.”
Format
Use uppercase letters
Omit punctuation
Use common abbreviations (see Abbreviations)
Use the ZIP+4 code