Situational Writing

Type
Informal Letter
Friendly, casual tone

Format
[Your Address]
[Date]
Hi [Friends Name]!
[Intro Para greetings, state purpose]
+Transition, [Body Paras address the points of the
question]
[Conclusion ending greetings, reiterate purpose]
Your friend / Warmest Regards,
[Signature or Name]

Formal Letter
Polite, respectful tone
Use of collective
pronouns e.g. we
Objective/considerat
e viewpoint
Everyday language
Selfish I perspective

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Date]
[Name of Recipient]
[Title/Designation of Recipient]
[Company / Organisation Name]
[Recipients Address]
Dear Sir/Madam OR Mr./Ms. [Recipients Surname],
RE: [Title]
[Intro Para Background description (possible to use hook),
self-introduction, state purpose]
+Transition, [Body Paras address the points of the
question]
[Conclusion ending greetings, reiterate purpose]
Yours sincerely/faithfully*,
[Signature or Name]
*Sincerely recipient is named / Faithfully unnamed
recipient

Article
Magazine: creative,
descriptive
Newspaper:
informative
Objective/considerat
e viewpoint

[Date]
[TITLE OF THE ARTICLE]*
[Intro Para Sensationalistic description (HOOK!)]
[Optional Subheading]
[Body Paras free writing style but address the points]
[Conclusion emotive call to action]
Written/Reported by [Name/Title/Organisation]
*Can choose to capitalize if it is a very contentious topic

Report
Formal, professional
Clear and precise
3rd person
perspective
Everyday language
Personal pronouns
Creative language
Emotional tone

To: [Name/Title/Organisation]
From: [Name/Title/Organisation]
Date:
Report on [topic]
[Intro Para Context, state purpose]
+Transition [Body Paras address points and be specific]
[Conclusion Reiterate purpose]
Reported by:
[NAME]

Speech
Colloquial, direct,
personal
Use lots of pronouns
Rhetorical questions

Good morning/afternoon/evenings [audience],

[Intro Para Background description (HOOK), self-introduction,
state purpose]
+Transition [Body Paras address points and be specific]
[Conclusion Emotive call to action]

Brochure/Flyer
Persuasive language
Informative, direct

[TITLE]
[Intro Para Company background, introduce
situation/problem at hand]
[Body Paras short and sweet, break up into multiple paras]
No need for conclusion
[Organisation]
[Address]
[Contact Information]

Email
Essentially the same as
formal/informal letter

To: [Recipient Email]

Subject: [Topic]
Dear Sir/Madam, (formal) or Hi X! (informal)
[Paragraphs all same as letter]

Helpful words and phrases

Letter
Intro

Formal
By way of introduction, I am

The reason for my

communication is
I wish to extend the
opportunity / invitation
I humbly request for

Informal
I hope this letter finds you
well
I have missed you dearly
Thank you for x, it was very
kind of you
Lovely to hear from you
Just a quick word to

TRANSITIO
N WORDS

To begin with
Fundamentally

First and foremost

Generally speaking*

* for
speech
only!

In addition
Moreover
Furthermore
Despite, However, In contrast
Consequently
Notwithstanding the fact that
Correspondingly

To make matters worse

To complicate things
On top of that
On the one hand / other
hand
Contrary to popular opinion
Nevertheless
Similarly

As evidenced by
For instance

All in all / overall

At the end of the day
On the whole
By and large
In final analysis

To introduce examples:
To.. exemplify, demonstrate,
clarify, illustrate, enumerate,
elucidate
In detail

Ending
Greetings

To conclude
In a nutshell
Briefly summarizing
Having said all the above*
All aspects considered

This matter requires your

immediate attention
Your kind understanding is
appreciated
[give thanks / compliment]
Your approval is necessary

Well, thats all for now

Looking forward to hear from
you again
See you soon
Take care
All the best / Wishing you the

for
Should you require any
clarifications or further
information, I would be
most happy to assist you
I await a favorable
response

best in all your future

endeavours
Till the next time we meet in
person