Parts of Business Letter

Posting things for class assignments =3=
in this post i will try to describe what is a business letter and what made it. like normal letter, Business letter also separated into few parts.

LETTERHEAD

Now the very first part of letter is a "Letterhead"
Letterhead / Return address is the topmost part of a business letter which provide following information to the recipient of the letter

It consists of : 1. Legal name of the organization
                     2. Address of the organization (including street address)
                     3. Name and/or post office box number, suite
                     4. Area code and telephone number(s)

Note that some departments, branch offices and company officers may have their own letterheads which contain specific identifiers.


In addition, the letterhead may also include the company logo and fax number(s).
When letterhead stationery is not available, a return address with the same information that a letterhead contains is placed immediately above the date line in the letter.

Date Line

Second part of the letter is a Date line.

The date line appears two or three lines below the letterhead (or as many as six or seven lines below if the letter is short). If no letterhead is used, the date line appears directly underneath the return address.
The date line should never extend into either margin.

The normal order of elements in the date line are month, day, and year, e.g., July 15, 20--. However, in the U.S. Government and many foreign countries, the preference is to present the day before the month, e.g., 15 July 20--. In either case, abbreviations are not allowed.

Reference Line or Block

Next part of the letter is reference line. reference line or block is optional and should be used when the letter refers to several invoices, letters, or telephone conversations. With this there is no need to include reference  information in the opening paragraph.

Reference lines or blocks appear immediately below or two lines below the date line, depending upon company preference. They can begin with RE or References
.
If several references are listed, each may be preceded by a number or letter identifier to facilitate ease of referral (by number or letter) within the body of the document. In documents of multiple pages, reference lines may appear under the date in the heading of all pages.

Attention Line

An attention line is used when the inside address does not include either the name of an individual or the name of the department. It appears two lines below the inside address.

The word attention may have an initial capital letter or appear in all capitals. The use of a colon after the word is optional.

If the word "ATTENTION" is written in all capital letters, the name following should also appear in all capitals.

Salutation

Next part is salutation. Salutation helps to establish the tone of the correspondence.
The salutation appears two spaces beneath the inside address and usually begins with the conventional greeting like "Dear" followed by the title and name of the addressee. No punctuation follows the salutation in open punctuation style. In standard punctuation style, a colon (formal letters) or comma (informal letters) follows the salutation.
When the addressee's name is unknown, several options are available:

- Ladies and Gentlemen ( or reversed )                                           -Ladies (if all women)
- Dear Sir or Madam ( or reversed )                                               -Gentlemen (if all men)
- Dear Friends                                                                                -Dear Colleagues

Sexist salutations, e.g., Dear Sirs, Gentlemen, etc., are not used. When the gender of the addressee is known, then Dear Mr. or Dear Ms. are acceptable.

When none of the non-gender alternatives seems appropriate, a simplified letter format (omitting the salutation) may be used. Another solution is to omit the gender title, e.g., Dear Chris Smith.

Subject Line

Next part of the letter before the body is the Subject line

With a descriptive subject lines, it will instantly inform a reader of the general content of the letter. They also permit accurate filing and retrieval from files.

Subject lines specifically define the subject matter of the letter. They appear two lines below the salutation and two lines above the first line of the text, although the simplified letter format may have different spacing. Subject lines are highlighted by boldface type, underlining, or the use of all capital letters.

Text or Body

Text or Body is the next part and also the main part of a letter because everything that needs to be informed is described in this part.

The text or body begins two lines below the salutation or subject line. (In the simplified letter format, the text begins three lines below the subject line.) The text is single or double spaced, depending on letter length.
Paragraphs are not indented in block, modified block, and simplified format letters, but they are indented (usually five spaces) in semiblock format letters. A blank line appears between paragraphs.
Long quotations are indented five spaces from both the left and right margins, with a blank line both before and after. A similar indentation is used for lists in letters with the semiblock format.
Reverse or "hanging" indentation is a format option, especially in advertising letters:


The first line begins flush with the left margin, with subsequent lines indented five spaces.
At least three lines of text must appear on any page following the initial page. If necessary, margins and line spacing are adjusted to meet this requirement.

Headings for Continuation Pages

if there's more than one page of letter. Heading is added again for continuation pages

Continuation pages begin with a heading which contains the name of the addressee, the page number, and the date. The continuation page can also repeat information given in the reference line.

Complimentary Closing

The complimentary closing should convey the level of formality and degree of personal feeling that the writer has for the reader.
The complimentary closing (omitted in the simplified letter format) appears two lines below the last line of text. Its alignment varies with the format of the letter:
In block letters, the complimentary closing appears flush with the left margin.
In modified and semiblock letters, the complimentary appears right of center or may be flush with the right margin.

Complimentary closings for business letters example :

Sincerely,   Sincerely yours,  Thank you, 

Complimentary closings for informal letters example:

Best wishes,   Kindest regards,  Regards,

Best regards,   Cordially, 

Complimentary closings for very formal letters (those addressed to dignitaries and high officials) include:

Yours sincerely,  Respectfully yours,  Respectfully, 

The word "truly" has become a cliche and should be avoided in letter closings.

Signature Block

The signature block appears four or five lines beneath the complimentary closing (or at a like distance below the last line of text of simplified format letters). In block and simplified letters, the signature block is flush with the left margin, while in modified and semiblock letters, the signature is usually right of center.
The signature block contains the handwritten signature of the writer, the full typed name of the writer, and the title of the writer. The company name is optional.
The company name is only needed in a signature block when the letter represents a company policy, position, or decision.
Secretaries who sign a letter for the author should sign the author's name and then add their own initials either in the middle or on the right side under the signature.
Academic titles and professional titles, when used, follow the typed name and replace Dr. or other courtesy titles preceding the name.

Reference Initials

Reference initials (the writer's initials and the secretary's/typist's initials) appear two lines below the last line of the signature block and flush with the left margin.
If only the secretary's/typist's initials are used, they are usually lowercase, e.g., rgn. If the writer's initials are included, they are in all capitals, followed by a slash mark or colon, and then followed by the secretary's /typist's initials in lower case, e.g., TLM/rgn or TLM:rgn.
If the writer is different from the person sending the letter, the signer's initials should appear first, the writer's initials should appear next, and the secretary's/typist's initials should appear last:

EBD/TLM/rgn
EBD:TLM:rgn

Enclosure Notation

An enclosure notation reminds readers of enclosures and appears directly under reference initials. The following are examples of enclosure notation forms:

Enclosure   Enc.    Enclosures (3)

3 Enclosures   Enclosures 3 

Types of enclosures may be indicated:

Enclosures

1. Invoice 6234-44

2. Graph of sales activity

3. Letter of authorization 

Items "enclosed" but separately sent should be indicated as follows:

Enclosures
1. Invoice 6234-44

Sent separately
2. Letter of authorization
3. Price list

Courtesy Copy Notation

A courtesy copy notation (showing the distribution of the letter) appears two lines below the enclosure notation and flush with the left margin:

cc   cc:

Copy to  Copies to 

All people receiving the letter in addition to the addressee are listed:

cc Edward Albers

  G.C. Fischer

 Merilee Tobias 

Postscripts

Postscripts (additions to the letter after it has been typed or items needing emphasis) appear two lines below the last line of courtesy copy notation. The use of the initials PS or PPS is optional.