1. College Keyboarding Lesson 39
Overview of Business Letters
Overview of Letter Parts
Dateline and Letter Address
Salutation
Closing Letter Parts
Letter Format
Letter Placement
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

2. Overview of Letter Parts
Letterhead
Dateline
Letter Address
Salutation
Body
Complimentary Closing
Writer’s Name and Title
Reference Initials
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

3. Dateline and Letter Address
Date letter is mailed
QS below dateline
Include personal title
Letter address
Person who receives the letter
Include personal title
One space before Zip Code
One space before Zip Code
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

4. Salutation Salutation Salutation is the greeting
Open punctuation requires no mark following the salutation
No punctuation following the salutation
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

5. Proper Salutations Ladies and Gentlemen Dear title and surname
Appropriate when the letter is addressed to a company
Dear title and surname
Standard letter address
Use professional titles (Dr., Rev.) or personal titles (generally Mr. or Ms.)
Example: Dear Mr. McDonald
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

6. Letter Parts Body Complimentary closing Writer’s name and title
Body is the message
Complimentary closing
The complimentary closing is the farewell
Writer’s name and title
QS below complimentary close
Reference initials
Initials of the typists in lowercase
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

7. Block Letter Style All lines begin at left margin Default side margins
Vertical position:
Center the page vertically or
Position dateline 2.3” to 3” from the top of the page, depending on length of the letter
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

8. Letter Placement Table
Length Margins Position on Page
Short (1-2¶) Default Center page
Average (3-4¶) Default Center page or
Dateline 2.7” from top
Long (4 or more¶) Default Center page or
Dateline 2.3” from top
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

9. Centering Letter on Page
File
Page setup
Layout tab
Vertical alignment
Center
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

10. Print Preview Shows how a document will look when it is printed.
Use it to check the placement and format of the letter before printing.
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing

11. Steps to Creating a Letter
Key the letter
Use correct spacing between parts
Correct errors
Check the spelling
Delete extra hard returns (¶) above date or below initials
Center letter on page
Use Print Preview to check placement
Position date manually if necessary
Print, proofread, edit if necessary
© 2000 South-Western Educational Publishing