Business Letter in General

Dear students:

There are no strict rules in writing business letters; however, please bare in mind that the letter should be easy to read, concise, and positive. These three components are the keys to effective business writing.

First of all, business letter should be easy to read. The letter format can certainly make the letter easily readable. The receiver will feel pleased to see a neat and well-organized letter. In general, there are four letter formats, but in this course I recommend only two types - Full Block and Modified Block. There are some differences between the two. You may browse through http://www.about.com/ for detailed explanation and examples. This website is also included in my Eight-Week Self Learning Plan on the third week. 

 

Second, the text included in the letter should be concise. The message must be clear, short, and direct to the point. Nobody wants to read a long letter. So, the length should be appropriate - maybe not more than seven lines. The words used should also be simple, vivid, and understandable. Try to avoid fancy words you often use in academic writing. For instance, you may choose "to explain" instead of "to elaborate."

 

Last, the tone of the letter should be positive. This is very important in writing business letters to make the reader wanting to continue reading. If the tone is negative, the reader may stop reading since the introduction paragraph or even the subject line. Therefore, the word choices and the tone are essential to make the letter effective. However, if we cannot avoid using the negative tone such as bad news, we may use several techniques to make the letter stay positive as much as possible by following the buffering and indirect pattern.   

     

In the beginning, you may not feel confident in writing, but practicing can surely help you to become more fluent in producing an effective business letter. For a good start, you may visit Making an Inquiry: Basic Business Letter. Please review the lessons after each class and visit the website I recommended for your self-learning.