PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER
“Umm, You’re Eating My Trash!”
WHO WRITES LETTERS THESE DAYS?
There are many ways to communicate with people.
With a partner, brainstorm several ways people
communicate with others.
When would writing a letter be the most effective
form of communication?
TWO TYPES OF LETTERS

There are two types of letters:

Friendly letters:
Personal letters written to someone you already know
 Tone is informal
 Purpose: thank-you notes, party invitations, letters to
friends


Business Letters:
Usually written to a company or someone you don’t know
 Tone is formal
 Purposes: apply for a job, complain, suggest a change,
request a product, etc.

FORMATTING A BUSINESS LETTER


Business letters follow a specific format. This
helps the reader know where to find information.
There are two standard formats for a business
letter:
BLOCK FORMAT
 MODIFIED BLOCK FORMAT

MODIFIED BLOCK FORMAT
Source: businessletterformat.org
BLOCK FORMAT
Source:
businessletterformat.org
BLOCK FORMAT



In this assignment, we will be using the BLOCK
FORMAT.
In block format, everything is aligned to the lefthand margin of the page.
You do not indent paragraphs
PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

There are six parts :






Return address
Inside address
Greeting / salutation
Body
Closing
Signature Line
THE RETURN ADDRESS
The RETURN ADDRESS shows where the letter
originated.
 It consists of three lines:

1st Line: The writer’s street address (do not use any
abbreviations)
 2nd Line: City, state, and zip (you may abbreviate the
state)
 3rd Line: The date (The month should be spelled out
in full)
 Example:

123 Main Street
Grosse Pointe, MI 48236
December 5, 2011
RETURN ADDRESS PRACTICE


Write your return address on the lines below:
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
Julia Schreiber lives in Dayton, Ohio. Her house is located
at 525 Irving Avenue. Her ZIP is 45409. Write a return
address for Julia on the lines below. Use today’s date.
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
RETURN ADDRESS: ANSWERS

Julia Schreiber lives in Dayton, Ohio. Her house is located
at 525 Irving Avenue. Her ZIP is 45409. Write a return
address for Julia on the lines below. Use today’s date.
525 Irving Avenue
Dayton, OH 45409
December 7, 2011
THE INSIDE ADDRESS


The INSIDE ADDRESS contains the name and
address of the recipient.
It can consist of THREE or FOUR lines
Three Line Inside Address
Four-Line Inside Address
Person’s Full Name OR Company
Street Address
City, state, ZIP
Person’s Name and Position
Company Name
Street Address
City. State, ZIP
INSIDE ADDRESS (CONTINUED)

Example of a Three-Line Inside Address:

Mr. Terry Breedlove
1581 Oxford Road
Detroit, MI 48236

Smith Car Repair
191 Brown Street
Centerville, OH 45458
INSIDE ADDRESS (CONTINUED)

Examples of a Four-Line Inside Address

Mrs. Jamie Mauceri, President
Mauceri Accounting Services
45 Second Street
Mobile, AL 08648

Dr. David Zalenski, Chief Surgeon (capitalize the title)
St. John Medical Center
555 Moross Road
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
INSIDE ADDRESS PRACTICE

Write the inside addresses for each of the
following:
Tropical Tan is located at 388 Northam Drive.
The city is Tampa. The state is Florida. The ZIP
is 45872.
Dr. Anne Hunsaker’s office is in the town of St.
Louis. The state is Missouri. The street address
is 15 Bugleboy Avenue. The ZIP is 54352
INSIDE ADDRESS ANSWERS
Tropical Tan
388 Northam Drive
Tampa, FL 45872
Dr. Anne Hunsaker
15 Bugleboy Avenue
St. Louis, MI 54352
INSIDE ADDRESS PRACTICE


Todd Sollar is the assistant principal of Parcells
Middle School. The school is located at 77 Mack
Avenue in Evart, New York. The ZIP is 12332
Susan Shelton is the director of packaging for the
Crispy Crunch Potato Chip Co. The company is
located in the town of Knoxville, which is in the
state of Tennessee. The ZIP is 34980. The
address is 609 Country Creek Way.
INSIDE ADDRESS ANSWERS
Mr. Todd Sollar, Assistant Principal
Parcells Middle School
77 Mack Avenue
Evart, NY 12332
Ms. Susan Shelton, Director of Packaging
Crispy Crunch Potato Chip Co.
609 Country Creek Way
Knoxville, TN 34980
THE GREETING

The GREETING is also called the
SALUTATION.
It appears below the inside address.
 It is always followed by a colon (:)


If you know the person’s name, use the LAST
NAME only
Examples: Mr. Smith, Mrs. Nianouris, Dr. Frazo,
Miss Jenkins
 If you don’t know if a woman is married or not, use
Ms.


To Whom It May Concern is used when you don’t
know the name of the person to whom you’re
writing.
GREETING PRACTICE

Write a greeting line for the following people:





Elizabeth Michels
Mr. Thomas Madigan
Miss Jennifer Passage
Dr. Christine Flanagan
A person in the complaints department of the Winter
Wool Hat Co.
GREETING PRACTICE ANSWERS

Write a greeting line for the following people:

Elizabeth Michels


Mr. Thomas Madigan


Dear Miss Passage
Dr. Christine Flanagan


Dear Mr. Madigan:
Miss Jennifer Passage


Dear Ms. Michels:
Dear Dr. Flanagan:
A person in the complaints department of the Winter
Wool Hat Co.

To Whom it May Concern:
THE BODY

The BODY of your letter is the most important
part. It is the main message of a letter. The body
is where the writer





states the purpose for writing
gives facts, examples and statistics
asks for change
makes suggestions
explains how he or she can be reached
THE CLOSING

The CLOSING in a business letter is written
after the body.
It is aligned to the left
 It is always followed by a comma
 The first word begins with a capital letter
 All other words are written in lower case.


Common Closings:
Yours truly,
 Sincerely,
 Respectfully,
 Sincerely yours,

THE SIGNATURE


The SIGNATURE comes after the closing. This
is where the writer signs his or her name.
Leave space between the closing and the
signature to sign your name. Your typed name
will appear below your signature.