1. Technical Letters

2. The Importance of Letters
Represent your company’s public image and your competence
More personal than a report, yet more formal than memos or
More permanent than
Constitute an official legal record of an agreement

3. Writing Effective Letters
Analyze Your Audience:
Who is my audience?
Will my audience be favorably or unfavorably disposed to what I am going to say?
What kinds of information will my audience expect me to supply?
How will my audience use the information I am sending?
What impression do I want my letter to make on readers?
Have a clear sense of your purpose and theirs
Select the best communication strategy
Draft, revise, and edit your letter

4. Letter Components Essential Components Optional Components
Writer’s Address
Date
Inside Address
Salutation
Letter Body
Complimentary Close
Signed Name
Typed Name
Optional Components
Subject Line
New Page Notations
Writer’s and Typist’s Initials
Enclosure Notation
Copy Notation

5. Essential Components of a Letter

6. Writer’s Address Personal Address Company Address Street address City
State
Zip Code
Company Address
Company’s name

7. Date
Full Calendar Date
May 31,2009
31May 2009
2-4 spaces

8. Address of the reader 2-4 spaces Reader's Address Reader’s Name
Reader’s Title
Company Name
Company Street Address
Company City
Company State
Company Zip Code
2-4 spaces

9. IF you know the reader’s name, salutation will be
First / Last Name
Followed by Colon
For example
Dear Mr. Smith:
Dear Ms. Jones:
Dear Miss / Mrs. Jones:
Dear Chris Evans:
OTHERWISE
Use title
Dear Vice President:
Use department’s name
Accounting Department:
2 spaces

10. 2 spaces below salutation 2 spaces b/w paragraphs
Letter Body
Includes
Introductory Paragraph
Discussion Paragraph
Concluding Paragraph
2 spaces below salutation
2 spaces b/w paragraphs

11. Place a comma after complimentary close
Preferred close is Sincerely,
2 spaces below body

12. Signed Name
Sign your name legibly

13. Mention your title (Optional) 4 spaces below complimentary close
Typed Name
Type your name
Mention your title (Optional)
4 spaces below complimentary close

14. Optional Components of a Letter

15. Must have a topic & focus Can be used instead of salutation
Subject Line
Must have a topic & focus
Can be used instead of salutation
All CAPS
2 spaces below inside address

16. Writer's and Typist's Initials
If writer and typist are two different persons
Writer’s initials- ALL CAPS
Typist’s initials-LOWERCASE
Separate both initials with a colon
2 spaces below typed signature

17. Enclose information as
Enclosure Notation
Enclose information as
Enc.; OR
Enclosure; OR
Enclosures(2); OR
Enclosure: August Report
2 spaces below writer’s and typist’s initials

18. For a copy of letter, write
Copy Notation
For a copy of letter, write
cc (complimentary copy)
pc (photocopy)
For copies sent to other readers, write
pc: Reader Ma,e
2 spaces below enclosure notation

19. Letter Formats Full-block format Simplified format
All text typed on left margin
Spaces between paragraphs
Simplified format
Same as full block format except
No Salutations
Subject Line introduced
No Complimentary Close

20. Full Block Format

21. Simplified Format

22. Classifications of business letters
Positive
Customer relations letters responding favorably to a writer’s request or complaint
Sales letters promoting a product
Neutral
Letters requesting information about a product or service, placing an order, or responding to some action or question
Negative
Customer relations letters refusing a request, saying no to an adjustment, etc.

23. Types of Letters Letters of Inquiry Sales Letters Good-News Letters
Bad-News Letters
Complaint Letters
Adjustment Letters
Cover Letters

24. Letters of Inquiry

25. Inquiry Letter
You require information about any matter of interest to you
It must
Contain an effective technical writing style
Involve audience through pronoun usage
Avoid grammatical errors
Must contain the essential letter components

26. Components of Inquiry Letter Body
Introduction
Tell your reader why are you writing
Inform reader about subject matter
What are you writing about? OR
What info do you want?

27. Components of Inquiry Letter Body
Discussion
Specify your needs
Ask precise questions
List specific topic of inquiry
Quantify your questions

28. Components of Inquiry Letter Body
Conclusion
Must be precise
Mention when do you want a response
Provide a specific date for response
Explain why do you want response by the given date