Formatting

a
Business Letter

Importance
of writing a
Business
Letter ?

-Reaches far and wide:

Within town or out of it, within the country or abroad,

a letter reaches the target with much convenience.
Through letters, a businessman can reach thousands of
persons located at thousands of places.
-Saves money in communication:
Personal conferences and meetings are expensive to
arrange. If the same job can be done through a letter, it
is better to do so. Letters are cost- effective in one more
way. They save the hassles that may arise in a faulty
oral presentation. Phrases frequently required can be
saved and used again and again.

Formats :
Business letters conform to generally one of six
indentation formats: Standard, Open, Block, SemiBlock, Modified Block, and Modified Semi-Block. Put
simply, "Semi-" means that the first lines of paragraphs
are indented; "Modified" means that the sender's
address, date, and closing are significantly indented.

Standard The standard format letter (1) uses a colon

after the salutation, (2) uses a comma after the
complimentary closing.
Open The open format letter (1) use no punctuation after
the salutation, (2) use no punctuation after the
complimentary closing.
Block In a Block format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the
left margin, (2) paragraphs are not indented.
Semi-Block In a Semi-Block format letter, (1) all text is
aligned to the left margin, (2) paragraphs are indented, and
(3) paragraphs are separated by double or triple spacing.
Modified Block In a Modified Block format letter, (1) all text
is aligned to the left margin, except for the author's address,
date, and closing; and (2) paragraphs are not indented. The
author's address, date, and closing begin at the center point.

Things to
consider in
writing a
Business Letter

Font

Another important factor in the readability of a letter is the

font. The generally accepted font is Times New Roman, size 12,
although other fonts such as Arial may be used. When choosing
a font, always consider your audience. If you are writing to a
conservative company, you may want to use Times New Roman.
However, if you are writing to a more liberal company, you
have a little more freedom when choosing fonts.

Punctuation

Punctuation after the salutation and closing - use a colon (:)

after the salutation (never a comma) and a comma (,) after the
closing. In some circumstances, you may also use a less common
format, known as open punctuation. For this style,
punctuation is excluded after the salutation and the
closing.

Margins

Side, top and bottom margins should be 1 to 1 1/4 inches (the

general default settings in programs such as Microsoft Word).