Letters: Formal

Letters: Formal

¨A corporate environment will send letters (external correspondence) to and receive letters from potential employees, vendors, clients, lawyers, colleagues in other companies, and city, state, national, and international governments.

 Components of Letter Writing

¨No matter who the reader is or why the letter has been written, a letter should have the following eight Essential Components:

¨􀁺    Writer’s address

¨􀁺    Date

¨􀁺    Reader’s address

¨􀁺     Salutation

¨􀁺    Text

¨􀁺    Complimentary close

¨􀁺    Signature

¨􀁺    Typed name

Formal letter

2 Calle sin nombre

London

5 January 2011

  Dear Sir or Madam

  I’m writing in response to your advertisement. I would like to apply for the post of part time secretary.

  I believe this position would an ideal way of gaining more experience of secretarial work. I have strong communication skills and I’m very interested in working while I am finishing the degree of administration. I also enjoy working in a team.

  My qualifications include a module of administration and two years of the degree of Administration and Business Management at the university.

  Please find attached my CV; which provides more details of my qualifications and work experience. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require more information.

  I look forward to hearing from you.

  Yours faithfully,

  Pepita.

Informal letter

58 Big Ben

London

24 May 2011

  Hi Andrea,

  

  Thanks for your letter. It was nice to hear from you.

   

  As you know, I’m in London with my parents and my brothers since one week. I’m staying in an expensive hotel. There are lots of nice and dynamic places to see as the Westminster Bridge. At night it’s precious!  People are polite although a bit difficult to understand. I must to practice more the English!

  The weather is changeable but usually it's wet and windy. The last week was very cold. The food is varied and expensive but it's tasty. This night we’re going to a famous restaurant to have dinner. 

  I’ve got to go now. Write soon!

  Love,     

  Pepita.

¨ Formal letter VS. Informal letter

¨Greeting:

  Dear Sir or Madam

     I’m writing in response to your advertisement.

¨Closing:

  I look forward to hearing from you.

  Yours faithfully,

¨Greeting:

  Hi

     Thanks for your letter. It was nice to hear from you.

¨Closing:

  I’ve got to go now. Write soon!

  Love,

  ¨Write a letter to your manager requesting him to replace old computers in your department with new computers with updated soft wares. 

Acknowledgement letters

Memos

Memos differ from letters in two
significant ways

¨First, memos are internal correspondence, written by employees in a company to employees in the same company. Letters, in contrast, are external correspondence, written from within a company to outside vendors, clients, or colleagues.

¨Secondly, memos have a different format than the letter essential components.

Memo components

¨Memos replace the eight letter essential components with the following memo identification lines:

¨Date: Date is the month, day, and year in which you are writing

¨To: To names your reader

¨From:  From is your name

¨Subject: Subject (typed in all capitals) provides your audience two things: a topic and a focus.

¨For example, a successful subject line would read as follows:

¨Subject: VACATION SCHEDULE FOR ACCOUNTANTS

¨Subject: VACATION SCHEDULE FOR ACCOUNTANTS

¨Accountants is the topic of the memo; vacation schedule is the focus.

¨The focus aids communication more than the topic.

¨The topic of a memo, for instance, can stay the same, while the focus changes. Look at the following examples:

Subject: SALARY INCREASE FOR ACCOUNTANTS

Subject: TERMINATION OF ACCOUNTANTS

In each of these instances, the topic stays the same: Accountants. Notice, then, how important the focus comments are. We see a huge difference between salary increases, vacation schedules, and termination.

¨In addition to the identification lines, memos differ from letters in one other subtle way. Whereas letters are signed (essential component #7), memos are initialed next to the From line.

¨Though memos and letters differ as noted, they are similar in all other ways. Successful memos, like letters, have an introduction, body, and conclusion. Like letters, successful memos are clear, concise, accessible, accurate, and achieve audience recognition.

Class Task

During a routine safety committee inspection for your school, you discover that the generators and electricity equipment are placed in the playground (they are supposed to be kept closed at all times and away from the students). You discussed the issue with Mr. Hamza, the foreman in charge of the area in question, but he refused to rectify the problem. Write a memo to Mr. Amir, the Vice President who supervises the safety committee. Explain the situation and specify what action you want taken.