Letters

Section 2.5

Letters

Use letters to communicate outside your organization. Whereas the memorandum is the primary vehicle for communication within an
organization, letters are often used to communicate to individuals outside it, especially in formal and
semiformal contexts.

Letters are an essential part of all business and technical communication because they are more
formal and reliable than electronic mail and more precise and
permanent than telephone or face-to-face conversations.

Types of Letters

Like memoranda, letters perform many functions in scientific and technical communication. The
following are some of the most common types of letters written by people in technical fields.

Format of a Letter

If your organization has a specific style for business letters, follow that format. Otherwise, follow
the guidelines provided here.

Business letters are commonly either full-block formatted, with every line starting at the left margin
and usually a business letterhead at the top of the page, or modified-block formatted, with the
heading and the closing aligned at the center of the page.

Elements of a Letter

Business letters have the following elements:

If you are using letterhead stationery, include only the date two lines below the bottom of the
letterhead. Spell out the name of month.

If you are not using letterhead stationery, begin with your full address (city, street, and zip code) 1
to 1½ inches from the top of the page. Spell out address designations, such as
Street, Avenue, and West. The state name may be
abbreviated using the two-letter, all-capitals U.S. Postal Service designations. Include the date
aligned at left with the address, spelling out the name of the month.

Two to four lines below the date, place the following items:

• The recipient’s title (such as Mr., Ms., or
  Dr.) and full name (address a woman who does not have a professional
  title as Ms. unless you know she prefers Miss or Mrs.;
  if the recipient does not have a title and you are unsure of his or her gender, omit
  the title).
• The recipient’s job title, if appropriate.
• The name of the company or institution, if appropriate.
• The full address, following the same format as for the address in the heading.

The recipient’s address is always aligned on the left margin.

Place the salutation two lines below the recipient’s address. The salutation begins with the word
Dear, continues with the recipient’s title and last name, and ends with a colon. If you are unsure of the recipient’s gender and the recipient does
not have a professional title, omit the title and, instead, use both the first and the last names in the
salutation (Dear Leslie Perelman:). If you do not know the name of the recipient of
the letter, refer to the department you are writing to (Dear Technical Support:). Avoid
salutations such as Dear Sir or Madam:.

Start the letter two lines after the salutation. Body paragraphs should be single spaced
with a double space between paragraphs. (Indenting the first line of each paragraph is acceptable
but is more informal than the unindented style.)

Be concise, direct, and considerate. State the letter’s purpose in the
opening paragraph. Include supporting information in a middle paragraph or two, and conclude your
letter with a brief paragraph that both establishes goodwill and expresses what needs to be done
next.

If a letter requires more than one page, make sure there are at least two lines of body text on the
final page. Never use an entire page for just the closing. The second page and all subsequent pages
must include a heading with the recipient’s name, the date, and the page number.

Write a complimentary closing phrase two lines below the final body paragraph. Yours
truly, Sincerely, or Sincerely yours are common endings for
professional letters. Capitalize the first letter of the first word of
your complimentary closing, and end the complimentary closing with a comma.

Four lines below the closing phrase, write your full name. If you are writing in an official capacity
that is not included in the stationery’s letterhead, write your title on the next line. Your signature
goes above your typed name.

At the bottom of the last page of a business letter, end notations may show who typed the letter,
whether any materials are enclosed with the letter, and who is receiving a copy of the letter.

The typist’s initials, in lowercase letters, follow the initials of the author, in capital letters, and a
colon or a front-slash (LCP:ecb or LCP/ecb).

An enclosure notation–Enclosure:, Encl., or Enc.–alerts
the recipient that additional material (such as a résumé
or a technical article) is included with the letter. You can either identify the enclosure or indicate
how many pieces there are.


Enclosure: Article by I. W. Waitz


Encl. (2)


Enc. (2)

In addition to the enclosure notation, always refer to your enclosures explicitly within the text of the
letter.

A copy notation (cc:) lets the recipient of the letter know who else is receiving a copy.
Put each recipient of a copy on a separate line.

cc:
Dr. Maria Lopez

Mr. William Astley