A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 1. Make the letter attractive. It is human nature to be attracted by the beautiful and repulsed by the slovenly. See that the body of the letter assumes the proportions of the sheet upon which it is typed.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 2. Be unselfish. Consider the reader's viewpoint. To put yourself in his place is to exert one of the strongest forces at your command. Say the things that you would want said if you and your reader exchanged places.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 3. Be sincere. Tell no untruths. Remember that half-truths and polite misstatements work their own undoing.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 4. Be courteous. Courtesy means neither flattery nor insincerity. It means straightforward consideration of the other person's point of view. Courtesy costs nothing. It has been known to pay thousands of dollars in dividends. A great many lost customers, for example, have been brought back by the correspondent who, under the most trying and adverse conditions, kept his/her head and refused to get angry.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 5. Be clear and think straight. Make the story logical. Tell it in simple language. In brief, plan the letter.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 6. Write as if the reader were sitting on the other side of the desk and you were talking to him/her carefully.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 7. Make the letter interesting. See the problem through the eyes of the reader. Write not to please yourself but to interest him/her.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 8. Make every line count, whether the letter takes five lines or six pages. Strip off the excess. Carve away the surplus.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 9. The first sentence is the headline of the letter. Find out what the reader wants to know and tell it to him/her--first.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 10. In general, prefer paragraphs and sentences moderate in length. When long paragraphs are necessary, as in technical discussions in which the thought is sustained, place them usually between the opening and closing sections of the letter. In technical communications, paragraphs must shape themselves in accord with requirements, and ordinary rules cannot apply.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 11. Make the letter plan evident through a clear core-thought and the proper sequence of ideas.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 12. Use the simple word when it is as accurate in its shade of meaning as the elaborate word.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 13. Never think that you are the only one who commits faults. The perfect writer is rare.

A SUMMARY CHART ON LETTERS 14. Use the positive tone. Thought comes before action. Make the thought positive.