Personal-Business Letter Terms
• Personal-Business Letter – A letter from an
individual to a business/individual.
• Date Line – The month, day, and year are the first
part of a personal-business letter.
• Inside Address – This includes the name and
address of the business or person to whom the letter
is being sent.
• Salutation – A greeting such as Dear Mr. Corley.
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Slide 2
Terms Cont.
• Body – The body contains the message of the letter.
• Complimentary Closing – A closing phrase such as
Yours truly or Sincerely yours.
• Signature – The writer’s signature is handwritten
on the letter with black or blue ink.
• Writer’s Identification – The writer’s keyed name
and address are the last part of the letter. (An
alternate style is to key the return address
immediately above the date.)
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 3
Personal-Business Letter Parts
Date line
Inside address
Salutation
Body
Consists of Paragraphs:
Introduction
Main Point
Conclusion
Complimentary closing
Signature
Writer's identification
Reference initials
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Enclosure notation
Slide 4
Personal-Business Letter
QS or 6 returns
for short letter
Block
Format
2" top margin or
center vertically
All lines begin
at left margin
SS ¶
Side margins 1"
or default
DS Between ¶
QS
At least 1" bottom margin
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 5
Personal-Business Letter
December 3, 2004
This is the most commonly used
punctuation style.
Use this style unless otherwise told.
Colon after
salutation
Comma after
complimentary
close
Mixed
Punctuation
Mr. J. J. Smiddy
South Hunter High School
1400 Rincon Road
Savannah, GA 31419
Dear Mr. Smiddy:
Sincerely yours,
Ms. Julie Fowler
35 Preston Way
Garden City, GA 31408
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 6
Personal-Business Letter
December 3, 2004
Open
Punctuation
Mr. J. J. Smiddy
South Hunter High School
1400 Rincon Road
Savannah, GA 31419
No punctuation
after salutation
No punctuation after
complimentary
close
Dear Mr. Smiddy
Sincerely yours
Ms. Julie Fowler
35 Preston Way
Garden City, GA 31408
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 7
Business Letter Terms
• Business Letter – A business letter represents a
company, not an individual, and is therefore
prepared on official company stationery called a
letterhead.
• Letterhead – The company’s name, address, and
telephone number are printed on the letterhead.
Other information include: company logo, email
addresses, fax numbers, etc.
• Writer’s Identification – The writer’s keyed
name and job title are the last part of the letter.
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 8
Terms Cont.
• Reference Initials – The initials of the person
keying the letter for the writer. Placed a double
space below the writer’s identification.
• Enclosure and Attachment Notations – When an
item is sent with the letter, the word enclosure is
keyed at the left margin a double space below the
writer’s identification or a single space below the
reference initials. This reminds the sender to
include the item, and tells the receiver to look for
the item, and serves as a record on the file copy.
If the item is clipped or stapled to the letter, the
word Attachment is used. For more than one item,
key 2 Enclosures or 3 Attachments, etc.
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Slide 9
Business Letter
Parts
Letterhead
Date line
Inside address
Salutation
Body
Complimentary close
Writer's name
and title
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Slide 10
Block
Format
Business Letter
Place date 1" below
letterhead or center
page vertically
QS
All lines begin at
left margin
Side margins 1"
or default
SS ¶s
DS between ¶s
QS
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
At least 1" bottom margin
Slide 11
Notations
Business Letter
Sincerely yours,
Notations begin at
left margin
Ms. Ilya Lindgren
Loan Managers
Reference initials
Attachment notation
Copy notation
dk
Attachment
c Ms. Carla Perez, Records Manager
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 12
Envelope Terms
• Return Address – The name and address of the
person sending the letter.
• Mailing Address – The name and address of the
person receiving the letter.
Mrs. Joyce Forno
6701 Carmel Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226-0200
MISS ARNELLA WILSON
8746 LA JOLLA PKWY
SAN DIEGO CA 92136-3927
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 13
Terms Cont.
• Special Delivery – Special directions that are keyed
1.5 inches down from the top edge.
– On-arrival direction – Words such as Personal
or Confidential are typed at the left margin in
capital and small letters underlined.
– Mailing direction – Words such as Registered or
Special Delivery are typed at the right margin in
all caps and do not underline.
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Slide 14
Small Envelope
0.25" top margin
Return address
Mrs. Joyce Forno
6701 Carmel Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226-0200
0.25" side margin
Approximately 2.5"
Approximately 2"
MISS ARNELLA WILSON
8746 LA JOLLA PKWY
SAN DIEGO CA 92136-3927
Delivery address
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Slide 15
Large Envelope
0.25" top margin
Mrs. Joyce Forno
6701 Carmel Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226-0200
Return address
0.25" side margin
Approximately 2"
MISS ARNELLA WILSON
8746 LA JOLLA PKWY
SAN DIEGO CA 92136-3927
Approximately 4"
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Delivery address
Slide 16
Envelope Address Formats
Traditional format
Uppercase and lowercase letters
Includes standard punctuation
United States Postal Service
recommended format
All capital letters
No punctuation except a
hyphen in the ZIP code
Copyright 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning
Traditional
format
Mrs. Joyce Forno
6701 Carmel Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226-0200
USPS
format
MISS ARNELLA WILSON
8746 LA JOLLA PKWY
SAN DIEGO CA 92136-3927
Slide 17