1. Business
Letter Writing
Formatting and Structure

2. Letters?
Letters are one of the most widespread
forms of written communications.
A letter must convey a writer’s thoughts,
ideas, wishes, orders, and opinions
according to his/her particular purpose
clearly, concisely, correctly and in an
interesting manner.
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3. First Impression
l Paper quality (weight + Cotton)
l Appearance (printing)
l Margins and line length
l Spacing (b/w lines and words)
l Special Symbols ( ½ , ®, ©, bullet symbols etc)
l Corrections
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4. In the modified block style letter shown at the left, the
date is centered or aligned with the complimentary
close and signature block, which start at the center.
Mixed punctuation includes a colon after the salutation
and a comma after the complimentary close, as shown
above and at the left.

5. Why do we write letters?
Invite Apologize
Commiserate Congratulate
Complain Inquire Order
Explain Acknowledge
Apply Thanks

6. PARTS OF BUSINESS LATTERS
ESSENTIAL PARTS
NON- ESSENTIAL PARTS
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7. STANDARD PARTS
1. Heading-Letterhead
2. Inside Address
3. Salutation
4. Main Body
5. Complimentary Close
6. Signature Area
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8. HEADING- Letterhead
l Name of the firm and its full postal address
l Name of department
l Telephone, fax, telex number, URL and e-mail.
l Optional
 Directors name
 Logo / Trade mark
 Firm’s starting date
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9. HEADING- Letterhead
HEADING
LETTERHEAD DATE
BUSINESS NAME
ALL CONTACT ADDRESSES
LOGO
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10. LOGO
l Monogram
l Insignia
l Emblem
l Sign
l Symbol
l Crest
l Mascot
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11. EXAMPLE OF HEADING
Business Name & Logo FUIEMS
New Lalazar
Rawalpindi Cantt.
Email:
All Contact Address abc@fuimcs.edu.pk
URL: www.fuiems.com
Phone: 051 34526654
Fax: 051-11223344
October 18, 2010
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12. INSIDE ADDRESS
l Name of addressee with title
l Address of Receiver
Example:
Mr. A. W. Raja,
General Manager,
ABC Corporation,
P.O. Box 1022
Islamabad.
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13. Salutation and Complimentary
Close
Salutation Comp. Close Context
(Opening Greeting) (Signing off)
Dear Yours Formal Situations
Sir/Madam/Sirs faithfully, Recipient not personally known
(Name not used) Recipient senior in years, position
Dear Yours sincerely, Friendly (or would-be friendly,
Dr/Mr/Mrs/Miss e.g. for selling or conciliatory
Raja, letters).
Dear Colleague Established relationships.
Dear Customer Implied relationships.
Dear Javed/ sadia Yours, Close, informal relationships.
My dear Javed / Yours sincerely, More personal.
sadia Kind regards.
etc. Best wishes.
Affectionately,
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14. BODY
Semi-block Paragraph
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
______________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
______________________________ 14

15. BODY
Block Paragraph
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
______________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
______________________________
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16. COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
l Yours sincerely, Sincerely
l Sincerely yours,
l Yours faithfully,
l Faithfully yours,
l Yours cordially, Cordially
l Cordially yours,
l Yours truly,
l Truly yours,
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17. Example of Complimentary Close
Cordially yours,
Your’s Sincerely ⊗
Yours sincerely, √
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18. Signature Area
Sign
Name
Designation
Example: __________________
Saleem Azmat
Marketing Manager

19. Signature Area
• Sign
• Name
• Designation
Example: __________________
Saleem Azmat
Marketing Manager

20. NONESENTIAL PARTS
1. Addressee notation
2. Reference number
3. Mailing Notation
4. Reference initial
5. Attention Line
6. Subject Line
7. Enclosure
8. Copy Notation
9. Post-script
10.Second-Page Heading
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21. 1. Addressee notation
Addressee notation is written to make the readership of the letter
restricted. It is written two lines above inside address. It is written in capital
letters.
Ways:
CONFIDENTIAL
PERSONAL
PLEASE FORWARD
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22. 2. Reference number
Reference Number: (Account No., File No., Case No.)
This in to give any number to business letter
e.g. Ref. No.: FUIEMS/Exams/ F09/09. It
helps to search for a particular business letter.
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23. 3. Mailing Notation
Whenever letter is sent by special / extra ordinary
means such as Special Delivery, Certified, or
Registered Mail then we write mailing notation. A
small caption (By Redg. Post, By UMS, By TCS, By
Hand etc.) on top of letter, two spaces below the
date line, double space before the inside address or
below the last notation, is made to give importance
to letter so reader realize it.
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24. 4. Reference Initial
Sincerely,
Sometimes the writer and the
signer of a letter are different
Signature people. At least the file copy of a
letter should bear both their initials
and as well as the typist’s.
Umar Talal
Manager Example:
UT/sn or UT/sn/mak (signer, writer, typist)
UT:sn or
UT:SN
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25. 5. Attention Line
When you want to direct a letter to specific
person/department in an organization, you
can use an attention line.
Its placement is normally between the inside
address and salutation with a blank line before
and after it. Normally it is flushed with the
left margin although it may be centered.
Example: For the attention of: Mr. Raja
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26. 6. Subject Line
Subject Line helps tell your reader at a glance what your letter is
about. It also helps in filing. It may or may not include the
word subject. It is normally placed on the second line below the
salutation and centered. It may be capital and lowercase or just
capital and also underlined.
Example:
Subject: Summer 2007 Sales Meeting
Subject: Summer 2007 Sales Meeting
Subject: Summer 2007 Sales Meeting
SUBJECT: SUMMER 2007 SALES MEETING
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27. 7. Enclosure
The notation alerts the receiver to check for enclosure. It is
usually typed a single or double space under the reference initial.
It also reminds whoever prepares your envelope for mailing that
something is to be enclosed. For an attachment that word may
be typed in place of “enclosure”.
Example:
Enc. (or Encs, for more than one items)
Enclosures 2 (two docs are enclosed)
Enclosed: 1) CV
2) Attested copy of NIC
3) Attested Final Transcript
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28. 8. Copy Notation
When you want persons other than the addressee to receive a
copy of your letter, the names of these persons should be typed
just below the reference initials or the enclosure notation
whichever is last. Type “cc” before the copy notation names if
you are sending them a carbon copy. Type “c,”, “pc,” or “copy”
if it is a photocopy. Recipient’s address may be included after
their names.
When you do not want the addressee to know that other persons
are getting a copy of the letter, type “bc” (blind copy) or “bpc”
( blind photocopy) and the recipients’ names on the copies only.
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29. 9. Post-script
If you forget to write any thing in body of the letter,
or if you want to emphasize or stress upon a point
already in your letter or if you want to include a brief
personal message (greetings) unrelated to the letter,
a postscript, typed or handwritten (with or without
“P.S.,” “PS,” or “PS:”) can be written at the end.
Example: P.S., Please also send the rate list.
PS, Eid Mubarik
PS: Mary Christmas and Happy New Year
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30. 10. Second-Page Heading
If the letter is long and an additional page is required, a second page heading is
used. The name of the receiving person or organization, page number, and date
are included in the second page heading, however reference number can also be
included. Two line are left empty after the second page heading and then the body
is written.
Example:
Mr. Sharik
October 18, 2010
Page 2
OR
Mr. Sharik, October 18, 2010, page 2
Mr. Sharik Ahmed -2- March 10, 2010
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31. PUNCTUATION
PUNCTUATION
OPEN CLOSED MIXED/STANDARD
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32. PUNCTUATION
l Punctuation Style
• Open Punctuation
• No line of letter part, except the body, has any
punctuation at the end unless an abbreviation requires
a period.
• Mixed / Standard Punctuation
• In mixed punctuation a colon follows the salutation; a
commas follows the complimentary close.
• Closed Punctuation
• In closed punctuation a comma follows the salutation;
a commas follows the complimentary close. British
and Asian writers use closed punctuation
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33. FORMATS
SEMI BLOCK
MODIFIED BLOCK
BLOCK
FULL-BLOCK
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34. FORMATS
l Semi-Block
 Letter in which indented paragraphs are used. It is the
oldest and traditional way of writing a business letter.
l Block
 The date, complimentary close and the signature section
begins at the horizontal centre of the page or are placed
so that they end near the right-hand margin. Attention
and subject lines may be indented, centered, or begin at
the left margin where all other parts begins. This letter
style is used often and is attractive on the page.
l Full-Block
 Every line begins at the left margin. This is a common
format because it is quick and easy to set-up. It is most
popular format for writing business letter.
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35. FORMATS
FORMAT PARAGRAPH PUNCTUATION
Semi-block Semi-Blocked Closed
Block Blocked Mixed
Full-blocked Blocked Open
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36. SEMI BLOCK LETTER
WITH
CLOSE PUNCTION

37. SEMI-BLOCKED WITH CLOSED PUNCTUATION
TBG
Torch Bearers Group,
Foundation University,
New Lalazar,
Rawalpindi.
Phone No. 051 5564321
E-mail: fuimcs@fuimcs.edu.pk
Ref. No. CS/BBA/FUIMCS/04/01 May 15, 2005
Chacha Stationary Store, By Regd. Post
123 Royal Lane,
Mammon Abad,
Lahore.
Attention: Mr. Sulman Hanfi, Sales manager.
Dear Sir,
Purchase of 20 Calculators.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------.
Yours sincerely,
Encl. Three Noor Ahmed .
Manager.
c.c. Mr. Ahmed Salman. A.M./b.k.
Mktg. Manager.
Shahjee Enterprises.
444-A Johar Town 2,
Lahore
P.S. Eid Mubarak.

38. BLOCK
WITH
MIXED PUNCTION

39. BLOCKED WITH STANDARD/MIXED PUNCTUATION
TBG Torch Bearers Group
Foundation University
New Lalazar
Rawalpindi
Phone No. 051 5564321
E-mail fuimcs@fuimcs.edu.pk
Ref. No. CS/BBA/FUIMCS/04/01 May 15, 2005
Chacha Stationary Store By TCS
123 Royal Lane
Mammon Abad
Lahore
Attention Miss Fatima Noor Principal
Dear Madam:
Business Seminar on Product Marketing
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------.
Yours sincerely,
Encl. Three Anum Saleem,
Manager.
c.c. Ministry of Education A.M./b.k.
Islamabad
P.S. Eid Mubarak

40. FULL BLOCK
WITH
OPEN PUNCTION

41. FULL-BLOCK WITH OPEN PUNCTUATION
F U I M C S
Foundation University
New Lalazar
Rawalpindi Cantt.
Phone No. 051 5564321
E-mail fuimcs@fuimcs.edu.pk
Ref. No. CS/BBA/FUIMCS/04/01
May 15, 2005
XYZ Traders
P.O.Box No. 786
Lahore
By UMS
Attention Mr. Saeed Khan Mktg. Manager
Dear Sir
Purchase of Stationary Items
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------.
Yours sincerely
Noor Ahmed
Manager
A.M./b.k.
Encl. Two
c.c. Ms. Huma Khan
H.R. Manager
ABC & Sons
Roohi Plaza, Machine Chowk
Jhelum
P.S. Eid Mubarik

42. Envelopes
The quality of the envelope is just as important for first impression as the
quality of the stationery. In fact, letterhead and envelopes should be of the
same paper stock, have the same color ink, and be imprinted with the same
address and logo. Most envelopes used by businesses are No. 10 envelopes
(9 ½ inches long) which are sized to contain an 8 ½ -by-11-inches piece of
paper folded in third. Some occasions call for a smaller, No. 6 ¾, envelope or
for envelopes proportional to fit special stationery.
Next slides show the two most common sizes.
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43. 43

44. 44

45. Addressing the envelope
No matter what size the envelop, the address is always single spaced and in
block form – with all lines aligned on the left. The address on the envelope is in
the same style as the inside address and present the same information. The
order to follow is from the smallest division to the largest:
Name and title of recipient
Name of department
Name of organization
Name of building
Street address, office number, P.O. Box number
City, state/province and zip/postal code
Name of country (if the letter is being sent abroad)
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46. MEMORANDUM (Internal Letter)
General Format
To: ________________________ Date________
From: _____________________ To: _____________________
Date: ______________________ From: ___________________
Subject: ____________________ Subject: _________________
Date: ______________________
Subject: ____________________
To: ________________________
From: ______________________
To:________________________ Date:__________________________
From:______________________ Subject:________________________
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