1. Business Letters & Personal Business Letters
Overview of…
Business Letters
& Personal Business Letters

2. Overview of Letter Parts
Letterhead
Date
Letter Address
Salutation
Body
Complimentary Closing
Writer’s Name and Title
Reference Initials

3. Spacing Requirements
Double Space (DS) – This means to strike the Enter key twice. This will provide 1 blank line between parts of the letter.
Quadruple Space (QS) – This means to strike the Enter key four times. This will provide 3 blank lines between parts of the letter.

4. Date and Letter Address
Date letter is mailed
QS below date
Include personal title
Letter address
Person who receives the letter
Include personal title
One space before Zip Code
One space before Zip Code

5. Salutation Salutation Punctuation Salutation is the greeting
Mixed punctuation requires a colon after the salutation and a comma after the closing
Open punctuation requires no mark following the salutation or closing

6. Proper Salutations To Whom it May Concern Dear title and last name
If you don't know a reader's gender use a salutation, such as "To Whom it May Concern”
Dear title and last name
Standard letter address
Use professional titles (Dr., Rev.) or personal titles (generally Mr. or Ms.)
Example: Dear Mr. McDonald:

7. Letter Parts Body Complimentary closing Writer’s name and title
Body is the message
Complimentary closing
The complimentary closing is the closing of the letter
Writer’s name and title
QS below complimentary close
Reference initials
Initials of the typists in lowercase

8. Block Letter Style
All lines begin at left margin
Default side margins

9. Personal Business Letter
No letterhead
Has a Return Address instead
Address of the person sending the letter.
Is keyed on the lines above the date.