Writing Letters and Memos

Good communication is good business. This has been true throughout history. Well-written letters and memos help your business serve its clients well—to everyone’s benefit.

When sending letters or distributing memos, your goal is for your reader to understand and respond to your message as planned. You also want to initiate or maintain a good working relationship. In other words, you want results. If you write messages that are clear, complete, and focused on your reader, you will get results.

In this chapter

• Guidelines: Letters
• Professional Appearance of Letters
• Basic Letter
• Expanded Letter
• Letter Formats
• Letters and Envelopes
• U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Envelope Guidelines
• Standard Postal Abbreviations
• Faxing Documents
• Forms of Address
• Guidelines: Memos
• Basic Memos
• Expanded Memos
• Checklist: Letters, Faxes, Memos

Guidelines Writing Letters

In a letter, your goal is to communicate your message and give a positive impression of yourself and your organization.

1. Plan: (Ideas and Organization)
   • Ask yourself what you want the letter to accomplish.
   • Consider the reader’s concerns about, knowledge of, and history with your organization.

• Gather files and other necessary resources.
• Jot down your main points in a logical order.
• Use the letter format (full-block, semiblock, or simplified) that your company prefers.

• Are all names, dates, and details accurate?
• Is information presented in a logical order?
• Do you use a conversational but professional tone?
• Do you emphasize the reader’s perspective?
• Have you used precise wording?
• Have you used personal pronouns in a positive way?
• Do you have smooth sentences that pass the “read aloud” test?

• Have you checked spelling (especially double-checked names)?
• Have you checked grammar, punctuation, and mechanics?
• Have you checked format and design?

“Be yourself when you write. You will stand out as a real person among robots.”

Professional Appearance of Letters

Before your readers catch a word of your message, they’ve already read your letter’s overall appearance. What does it say to them? Use the guidelines on this page to ensure a good impression.

First Impressions

Choose your look.

Do you want your letter format to look traditional and conservative or friendly and contemporary?

Frame your letter in white space.

Make your margins 1 to 1.5 inches left and right, top and bottom. Create a balanced, open look by centering the message vertically and adjusting the space between the parts of the letter.

Make reading easy.

Use sensible type sizes and styles.

• Keep type size at 10–12 points.
• Choose a user-friendly font. Serif type has fine lines finishing off the main strokes of the letter. (This is serif type.) Sans serif type has a block-letter look. ( This is sans serif type. ) Serif typefaces are easier to read and understand; sans serif typefaces work well for headings.
• Avoid flashy and frequent type changes, as well as overuse of italics or boldface.

Print for quality.

Use a quality printer and avoid any handwritten editing changes. Always print a clean final copy.

Letter Perfect

Use 20- to 24-pound bond paper.

The 20- to 24-pound bond paper folds cleanly, takes ink crisply, and works well in most printers.

Use 8.5- by 11-inch paper.

It’s standard and files easily. Other sizes may be used for personal correspondence, executive letters, or mass mailings.

Use white or off-white paper.

Be careful with other colors. Light, subtle colors mean business. Bold colors scream, “I’m an ad!”

Match, don’t mix.

Letterhead pages, continuation sheets, and envelopes should match in paper weight, size, color, and design.

Letterhead Design

If you are asked to design or redesign your company’s letterhead stationery—or if you want to design a letterhead specific to your position—be sure to include the following:

• the company’s complete legal name;
• the company logo or slogan;
• complete contact information—full mailing address, phone number (including area code), a fax number, and website address.
• names of key people (perhaps in the left-margin sidebar).

Note: Make sure your design reflects your company’s mission and character.

Parts of a Basic Letter

All letters should include a clear message and information about the writer and the reader. Details for basic and expanded formats follow.

Basic Letter Tips

• Do not indent paragraphs.
• Single-space within paragraphs.
• Double-space between paragraphs.
• Leave the right margin ragged (uneven).
• Set margins from 1 to 1.5 inches.

1. The heading provides the reader a return address. Type the address (minus the writer’s name) at the top of the letter. Spell out words like Road, Street, West . Omit the address if you are using a letterhead.
2. The date shows when the letter was drafted or dictated. Write the date as month, day, year for U.S. correspondence (August 5, 2019); write day, month, year for international or military correspondence (5 August 2019).
3. The inside address gives the reader’s name and complete mailing address. Type it flush left and include as many details as necessary, in this order:
   • reader’s courtesy title, name, and job title (if the job title is one word)
   • reader’s job title (if two or more words)
   • office or department
   • organization name
   • street address/p.o. box/suite/room (comma precedes NE, SE, etc.)
   • city, state, zip code (or city, country, postal code)
4. The salutation personalizes the message. Capitalize all first letters and place a colon after the name. (See “Forms of Address.”)
5. The body contains the message, usually organized into three parts:
   • an opening that states why you are writing,
   • a middle that gives readers the details they need, and
   • a closing that focuses on what should happen next.
6. The complimentary closing provides a polite word or phrase to end the message. Capitalize the first word only and add a comma after the closing.
7. The signature block makes the letter official. Align the writer’s name with the complimentary closing. Place a one-word job title on the same line as the typed name or below the name; place a longer title below the typed name.
8. Use an enclosure note whenever you enclose something. Type Enclosure(s) or Enc(s) . and the number of enclosures. To list enclosures by name, type Enclosure(s) or Enc(s) ., a colon, and the names stacked vertically.
9. A postscript contains a personal or final note. Type P.S. (with periods but no colon) followed by the message.

Writing Basic Letters

1

R & J Law Office

105 East Bay Road

Bar Harbor, ME 04609-6327

2

Two to Eight Spaces

3

Ms. Abigail Bruins, Manager

3706 Chamberlain Avenue, SE

Bar Harbor, ME 04609-3427

4

5

Early last week, we received your letter, along with a drawing of the deck that you want to add to the east side of your restaurant. Opening In that letter, you described your building plan and asked that one of our attorneys advise you on how to proceed.

Middle I studied the plan and found it attractive. However, the drawing shows that the east edge of the proposed deck would extend within six feet of your side property line, thereby violating Article X in the city’s building code. That article requires ten feet between a building and a side property line. (I have enclosed a copy of Article X.)

Closing Given this restriction, you could proceed with your building plan in one of two ways: (1) present your plan to the Planning and Zoning Commission and ask for a variance to Article X, or (2) adapt the plan so that it conforms to the code. Please call me at 217-555-0654 to discuss this matter.

6

7

8

Parts of an Expanded Letter

Adding Information

When you, your reader, a typist, a filing clerk, or future readers need additional information, include one or more of the items from this list.

1. A method of transmission note indicates how a letter should be or has been sent: via facsimile, via registered mail, via overnight courier.
2. A reference line begins with a guide word and a colon ( Reference:, In reply to: ) followed by a file, an account, an invoice, or a database number.
3. When appropriate, use a confidential notation on both the letter and the envelope. CAPITALIZE or underline the word confidential for emphasis.
4. In the inside address , stack names by alphabet or position for two or more readers. For two readers at separate addresses, stack the addresses (including names) with a line between.
5. The attention line designates a reader or department but encourages others to read the letter. Place it two lines below the inside address, flush left or centered. CAPITALIZE or underline for emphasis.
6. The subject line announces the topic and is placed flush left two lines below the salutation. CAPITALIZE or underline for emphasis.
7. The signature block may include the writer’s courtesy title typed in front of the name to clarify his or her gender or a preferred form of address. If two people must sign the letter, place the second name beside the first starting at the center of the page—or place it four spaces below the first name.
8. In the identification line , type the writer’s initials in capitals and the typist’s in lowercase, separated by a slash (but no spaces).
9. Use the copies notation by typing c or cc , followed by a colon and a vertical list of people (with job titles in parentheses). To send a copy to someone else without the reader knowing it, type bc or bcc (blind copy), but only on the copy sent to the person listed.
10. Continuation pages follow a letter’s first page. On blank stationery, carry over at least two lines and use a heading in one of the formats below: