TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

Characteristics of a Business Letter

Business letter is one of the vital components in the success Elements of a Business Letter
of a business. To ensure that we are writing an effective Because business letter is part of communication, it
business letter, there are "Ten (10) Cs" we should consider. also follows the communication process. There are three
elements in the communication process that are also present
1. Completeness refers to the inclusion of complete in business writing. There should be a sender, message, and
information. The business letter should answer the receiver.
question WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and HOW to The sender of the letter is the one who is writing it. It
produce a good and complete business letter. is one of the protocols in business writing that the receiver
of the letter should be known by the sender. The complete
2. Correctness refers to the correct grammar, punctuation, name, position, as well as the address of the receiver should
spacing, information, and structure. It also refers to the correct be included in the letter. The sender or writer must be also
format of a business letter. To attain correctness, double knowledgeable in basic grammar, punctuation, spelling, and
check the spelling of the names, address letters properly, mechanics skills so that he might build a good impression to
verify numbers and amounts, always check the dictionary. the receiver of the letter.
The message is very important in the communication
3. Conciseness refers to being direct and brief without. process because it is the reason that moves the sender to
compromising the complete idea. In writing a business letter, start the communication process. The message of the letter
we should not include unnecessary information which might should be well-written, simple,
confuse the reader. be direct and information. It should be concise and complete
Example: so that everything you want to say is included.
Instead of saying: At the present time Say: now
Instead of saying: Prior to Say: before Basic Parts of a Business Letter
Instead of saying: Pitch in Say: join to A business letter is composed of the following basic parts:
Instead of saying: Start from scratch Say: make new from letterhead or heading, dateline, inside address, salutation,
nothing body of the letter, complimentary close, signature line, and
written signature.
4. Coherence refers to the smooth flow of ideas in a business
letter. The content of a business letter should be in order and 1. Letterhead - This part of a business letter includes the
easy to follow. Some of the devices that you may use to company name, company mailing address, and company
achieve coherence are use of synonyms, use of transitional contact numbers. It may also contain the company logo or
words, use of pointers, use of repetition of words, and use of symbol of the organization. Today, most of the companies
sentence patterns, have their own personalized letterhead exclusive for their
employees' use. In case you will write a business letter not on
5. Clarity refers to readability of information which is easy to behalf of any company, you may use a heading or a return
understand, we should bear in our minds that simple words address.
are more preferred than complex ones. A heading/return address is composed of your complete,
correct, and specific address. In writing the heading of your
6. Concreteness refers to the use of specific words not business letter, the lot and block number, street, barangay,
general words, municipality or city, province, region, and even the zip code
Example: must be included properly.
Instead of saying: Return of investment Say: profit
Instead of saying: Market penetration Say: successful 2. Dateline - This part contains the month, day, and year
selling when the business letter was written. There are
certain rules in writing the correct dateline:
7. Courteousness refers to the politeness of the tone of the A. You should not use abbreviations when writing the
business letter. Being friendly by showing positive approach dateline. For example, 10-13-92 or 10-13-1992 or
is the key for a successful communication in business. 10/13/92 ог Oct. 13, 1992
Below are some examples of the negative and positive word.
But then again, positive words are more preferred in doing B. You should not include st, nd, or th after the day of
business. the November 3",
Positive: good, glad, new, easy, fast, agree, early, request C. . You may use the conventional style, January 15,
Negative: bad, sad, old, hard, slow, disagree, delay, demand 2007 or the military style, 15 January 2007.

8. Consideration refers to the use of professional tone to 3. Inside Address this part consists of 3, 4, or 5 lines which
show respect to the reader of the letter. Also, we need to include the complete name as well as the job title/s of the
anticipate the "YOU" attitude in writing our letter. receiver on the first line, the complete position of the receiver
9. Consistency refers to the uniformity of the time and style on the second line, the complete division or department of the
of the writer of a business letter. receiver on the fourth line, and the complete name of the
company or organization followed by the complete address of
10. Credibility refers to the personality of the writer as himself the company or organization. There are certain rules that are
which might reflect on his writings. worth considering in writing the inside address:
TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

A. The inside address is like the address written on 3. Mixed Punctuation

the envelope. This format uses comma (British Style) or colon (American
B. You use Miss when addressing a single woman; Style) after the salutation and uses comma after the
Mrs. of married woman. If the status is not known, use complimentary close.
Ms. If the firm is comprised of women; use Mesdames
or its abbreviation Mmes.
C. Use Mr. in addressing a man. You may also use its Business Letter Style
plural form Messieurs (French) or its abbreviation
Messrs, 1. Full Block Style
D. You may abbreviate the title Doctor to Dr. For In this style, some make
example, Dr. Silvia C. Ambag. use of Open
E. The title Reverend should not be abbreviated and Punctuation and some
it should be preceded by The. For example, The do not. All parts of this
Reverend Sonny Ramirez business letter start at
F. You may or may not abbreviate the title Professor. the left margin.
For example, Professor Danilova A. Lorenzo

4. Salutation - is composed of the word "Dear" followed by

the last name of the receiver of the letter. Use the colon
(American English) at the end of the salutation or comma
(British English). For example.

5. Body of the Letter - This consists the message of the

writer. Some claim that the first and last sentences are
the most important parts of the body of the letter. The first
sentence should make the reader feel at ease and the last
sentence should make the reader pleased and content.
2. Modified Block Style
6. Complimentary Close - This is sometimes called closing, This style places the inside address and all paragraphs at the
the part where sender says goodbye to the receiver of the left-hand margin while the heading, dateline, and
letter in a formal way. You may use the standard complimentary close start at the middle part of the paper or
complimentary close such as Sincerely or Sincerely yours or #3 on the top ruler of MS Word going to the right margin.
Respectfully or Very respectfully yours. take note that the first
letter of the first word is the only capitalized letter on the
complimentary close.

7. Signature Line - This is composed of the complete

typewritten name of the writer and his official designation, 3. Semi-Block
or the name of the company. Style
This style is like the
8. Written Signature - This refers to the sender clearly Block Style however
scribing or affixing his specimen signature on the space it follows the rule of
between the complimentary close and the printed name. indention to its
Allot enough space (3-4 spaces) for this between the paragraph. This
complimentary close and the signature line. The signature style also makes
part also follows certain rules: use of standard
punctuation.
Punctuations Used in Business Letters
There are three ways on how to punctuate our business
letters. We can use Open Punctuation, Standard Punctuation,
and Mixed Punctuation.

1. Open Punctuation
In writing a business letter, open punctuation does not include
any punctuation after any part of the letter except
the body of the letter or the message.

2. Standard Punctuation
This is the most common style of punctuating a business letter
which includes punctuation on salutation and
complimentary close only. The punctuation on salutation is
colon while on complimentary close, it's comma.
TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

4. Simplified Style
This style is similar
to the Full Block
Style, beginning all
the parts of the
letter at the left
margin. However,
the heading is
placed at the
center upper part
of the letter. This
style follows the
open punctuation
and omits the
complimentary
close. The spaces
in between of
every part from the
very first part of a
business letter is
6, 4, 3, 3, 4-5.

5. Indented Style
This style makes use of
indentions which has
uneven number of spaces in
the various elements of the
letter.
Nowadays, this style is
rarely use because of its
complexity of arranging the
different elements of the
letter.

6. Hanging-Indented Style
This style is
another unique
style of writing a
business letter.
The first line of
each paragraph is
aligned with the
inside address and
salutation flushed
at the left. The
lines succeeding
the first line are
indented five
spaces. It usually
uses standard
punctuation.