I find myself needing to write a VERY important business letter. However, I’m shady on the proper layout. Is there a definitive example published anywhere? Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
If you’re using Microsoft Word, you can click on the File pull-down menu and select New. Then click on Letters and Faxes, and finally Professional Letter.
What this gives you is the basic format for a business letter.
Is this what you’re looking for?
IMHO:
There are certain templates that certain businesses use, and certain formats that businesses or authorities require (for example, in the banking industry letters must often be original colour letterheads), but no “absolute” templates that I’m aware of.
It basically depends what the letter is for. Beyond that, pretty much anything goes so long as it looks professional and meets any legal requirements for the issue being discussed.
I would use the following format. Note that there are two acceptable forms of indentation. In the first, date, closing and signature are indented so that they start in a line at about the middle of the page, and each paragraph of the body is indented about 1/2 inch. In the second, all text starts on the left margin. I think the first is more traditional, but the second is acceptable. (I’ll use the first style and a series of periods to show indentation, so the formatting doesn’t get screwed up.)
[LETTERHEAD]*
…January 10, 2001
Mr. Joseph Reciepient**
123 Address Street
City, State 54321
…Re: [Subject of correspondence]
Dear Mr. Reciepient:***
…[Body of letter – single spaced]
…Very truly yours,****
…[Sign Here]
…I.M. Cynical
Notes:
- If you are sending this from a business, use the letterhead. If you are sending this personally, there are two options. The first (and more traditional) is to type your address only immediately above and lined up with the date. These days, I would suggest that you make your own “personal” letterhead by centering at the top of the page your name (I do mine all in caps), under that your address, and under that your phone number, fax number, e-mail, etc. You can do this in a font different from the letter (and bold if you wish), but not too fancy.
** In my old, traditional law firm, everyone had to have a honorific of some kind. If there were no trailing honorific (Esq., M.D., Ph.D., C.P.A.), there would be a leading honorific (Mr., Ms., Dr.), but never both. Use Esq. for lawyers.
*** If it is to a particular individual, it is proper in a formal letter to use that individual’s last name and a leading honorific (Mr., Ms., Professor, etc.). Lawyers (C.P.A.'s, etc.) should be addressed as Mr. (Ms., etc.). If you are writing to an organization and don’t have an individual addressee, I would recommend the salutation “Ladies and Gentlement:”, but even better would to be to call and get an individual to whom the letter should be addressed. Also, the salutation should end in a colon, not a comma.
**** “Very truly yours” is the most formal of the normal closings. “Sincerely” is less formal, and “Cordially” is informall, and indeed personal. Also, type out your full name under the signature, but do not use any honorifics (it is considered bad form to use them on yourself). Use of honorifics in the letterhead is acceptable (I.M. Cynical, Ph.D.). If the letterhead does not indicate your position within the organization, it is appropriate to add your title on the line after the typed signature (Vice President, Customer Service).
Other general notes:
If the letter goes to multiple pages, the second and following pages should not be letterhead and should have the following header:
Mr. Joseph Reciepient…[near right margin] Page 2
Some will also put the date of the letter after the reciepient. Do not try to squeeze the letter onto one page, and if it goes just over a page, move the last paragraph (or at least 2-3 lines of it) onto the second page.r
Short, clear sentences and paragraphs in the body are recommened (do not follow the grade-school rule that there should be 3 sentences in a paragraph). I usually end the body of the letter with a short, polite one sentence paragraph. (“Thank you for taking the time to consider this request.” or “I look forward to meeting you to discuss this proposal.”)
I would use a clear, standard type font such as courier or Times Roman. I would make the font size large enough to be easy to read (at least 12 point).
If you are writing to a judge or high public official, there are special rules.
Good luck. Post or e-mail me if you have any questions. I can also look over your letter if you want to e-mail it to me.
Bill
I’m a big fan of the following format for letters on plain paper (no letterhead), which is right in line with Billdo’s. I think it’s called “modified block” format.
[tab to center of page]Your Name
[tab to center of page]Your Company [if applicable]
[tab to center of page]Your Address
[tab to center of page]Your City, State and ZIP
[blank line]
[tab to center of page]Date[hit RETURN 4 times]
Addressee’s Name
Addressee’s Company [if applicable]
Addressee’s Address
Addressee’s City, State and ZIP
[blank line]
Dear Addressee:
[blank line]
[body text. Single spaced, no indenting with each new paragraph; all should be flush left. However, skip a line between paragraphs.]
[blank line]
[tab to center of page]Sincerely,[hit RETURN 4 times]
[tab to center of page]Your Name
Then, sign the letter in the space between “Sincerely” and “Your Name”. Fold the bottom up so that the edge is just under “Dear Addressee:” and then fold the top down; leave about 1/4"-1/2" of space between the top edge and your original fold when you make the second fold. This creates an area for the recipient to grab when pulling the letter from the envelope and lets the recipient flip up the top section and see who the letter is for before reading it.
The date should be in long form, as in “January 10, 2001”, rather than “1/10/2001”. I think the military and lotsa foreign types prefer the day be put before the month (“10 January 2001”) in official correspondence, but don’t sweat it.
If I’m writing to a company rather than an individual, put the company’s name where the addressee’s name would go and start the letter with “To Whom It May Concern:” rather than “Dear Yabobs:”.