Project 3

Training Room 2—Letters and Memos

 

Letters

 

When and why have you sent or received a letter?

 

 

You might have sent a letter 

• to your grandmother, thanking her for the birthday money she sent in the mail
  
  
• to the manufacturer of your new jeans when they fell apart after only three washes
  
  
• when you saw your ideal job advertised
  
  
• to your city or town council representative to express your frustration over an increase in your local recreation centre‚Äôs entrance fees

A letter is often a good choice when you need to communicate with friends and family, businesses, or your community.

 

Creating a Letter

 

Personal letters are to people you know. You might use a personal letter to share information, send a thank you, invite someone to a gathering, or perhaps express your sympathy. Personal letters have a friendlier, more relaxed tone than business letters.

 

A personal business letter is written by an individual to an organization, perhaps to apply for a job, request or share information, or sometimes to make a complaint or seek a remedy to a situation. Personal business letters use a more formal tone and language than do personal letters.

 

Full-block-style letters are the easiest, fastest, and most commonly used style of letter. All parts of the letter are aligned along the left margin.

 

You will now be led through a letter from top to bottom to discover the necessary letter parts and formatting requirements.

 

Return Address

 

Letters start with the return address — this is the sender's address and it starts approximately 2" from the top of the page. To start your letter in the correct spot, you can

• hit your enter key 4 times
  
  
• set your top margin to 2‚Äù
  
  
• vertical center the text in the document (from top to bottom of the page)

To learn how to change margins to adjust the workspace of your document, go to the Instructional Videos and select “Setting the Margins.”

 

Go to the Instructional Videos and select “Vertical Center a Document.” This demonstration will show you how to vertical center your text from top to bottom of the page.

 

 

Look at the following example to see a properly formatted personal business letter.

 

 

In the return address, include the sender's street address or box number, town or city, province, and postal code. The sender's name can be included in the return address, but it can also be omitted because it appears in the writer's identification at the end of the letter.

 

When writing out the address, use the two-letter abbreviation codes for provinces and territories in Canada, or for states if your letter is going to the United States. Below is a reference table for the two-letter Canadian abbreviations.

 

Click on the link to see Canadian provincial and territorial abbreviations.

 

 

 

Canadian postal codes are in ANA NAN format (where “A” stands for alphabetic character and "N" stands for number) (e.g., T8N 2W1). The postal code is separated by one space and a hyphen is not used.

 

In a personal letter to friends and family, the return address is optional. The return address adds an air of formality, so you may exclude this part of the letter if sending correspondence to people you know.

 

In a personal business letter, the return address is always included. Not only does this add to the formality, it is also a quick way to tell the recipient of your letter where you can be contacted.

 

Following the return address, hit the Enter key twice to leave one blank line between the return address and the date.

 

Date

 

The standard Canadian date format is month, day, and year; (for example, September 15, 2010). In your letters, do not abbreviate the month and be sure to include a comma between the day and the year. If you opt to use a date in numerical format, such as 03/12/10, you may cause your reader to wonder if this date means February 12th, or December 3rd. By writing out the month, you spare your reader this confusion.

 

After the date, hit the Enter key 4–8 times, depending on the length of the letter (for short letters, use more spaces for better visual balance; for longer letters use fewer spaces to create more room on the page for your content).

 

Inside Address

 

After the 4–8 spaces, insert the inside address. This is the name and complete address of the person or business you are sending the letter to. If you are sending a letter to an organization, it is always best to address the letter to a specific person and include their job title or position if you can.

 

After the inside address, hit the Enter key 2 times to leave one blank line.

 

Salutation

 

Next comes the salutation. In a personal letter, you can use the recipient’s first name only. When you are sending a personal business letter, include the recipient’s courtesy title (Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Dr). If you don't know the recipient’s name, you can always phone their organization or even search the company's Web site for a directory or contact information. Use “Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,” “Dear Personnel Director,” or “To Whom it May Concern” only when more specific contact information is unavailable.

 

Depending on the punctuation style you are working with, there are two ways you can punctuate the salutation.

• Two-point punctuation style places a colon ( : ) after the salutation, (e.g., Dear Mr. Boles.
  
  
• No-point punctuation styles uses no punctuation, (e.g., Dear Mr. Boles).

Following the salutation, hit the Enter key 2 times to leave one blank line.

 

Subject Line

 

If you are preparing a personal business letter you may want to include a subject line. This is an optional line of text that summarizes the purpose of the letter. For example, SUBJECT:  Letter of Application.  The subject line can help the reader focus his or her attention on the intent and purpose of your letter.

 

Now hit the Enter key 2 times to leave one blank line.

 

Body

 

The body of the letter usually has three paragraphs. The first paragraph introduces the topic of the letter and sets its tone. The second paragraph gives details, shares information, or makes a request. The last paragraph closes the letter, gives follow-up information, and concludes in a positive manner. Paragraphs are single-spaced, aligned with the left margin, and separated by a blank line. The length and content of the letter will be determined by its purpose and what you need to communicate.

 

Once you have completed the body of your letter, hit the Enter key 2 times to leave one blank line.

 

Closing

 

Now it is time to end the letter by adding the complimentary closing. The complimentary closing signals to the reader that you are finished communicating and you are ready to "close" the letter. Closings may be formal (“Respectfully” or “Cordially”) or more personal (“Sincerely” or “Yours truly”).

 

Just as with the salutation, keep to one style of punctuation in the complimentary closing.

• Two-point punctuation styles place a comma after the closing (‚ÄúSincerely,‚Äù).
  
  
• No-point punctuation styles use no punctuation after the closing (‚ÄúSincerely‚Äù).

Now hit the Enter key 4–8 times (depending on the length of the letter — use more space for a short letter, and less space for a longer letter) so that you have enough space to handwrite your signature.

 

Signature

 

The signature is handwritten by the person sending the letter. The signature shows the reader you actually are the author of the letter.

 

Below the signature, be sure to include the writer's identification. This is the typed name of the person sending the letter, including their job title if appropriate. The job title can be typed following a comma after the writer's first and last name or on the line directly below.

 

Hit the Enter key 2 times to leave one blank line if you are adding notations.

 

Notations

 

Notations are used depending on the circumstances. Below are a variety of notations that may be included in your letter. They are only to be added if appropriate.

 

Typists initials. In business, office assistants will type letters and prepare documents for other staff, and would therefore use typist initials to identify themselves.

 

Enclosure. When you are sending your resume with a cover letter to apply for a job, you would use “Enclosure: Resume,” indicating that something else is accompanying the letter.

 

Carbon copy. You may have seen the carbon copy option (“cc”) in your email program. It is used when copies of the same letter are being sent to two or more people (e.g., cc: Keith Wilson, Attorney). When you use this notation on an email, everyone who is carbon copied can see the list of people to whom the email was sent.

 

Memorandum

 

A memorandum, also known as a memo, is a printed document, similar to an email, that is used to communicate information within an organization. Because the audience of a memo is within the same organization and the purpose is general communication, the formality of addresses and greetings is unnecessary. Memos, like emails, need to be clear and concise. There may be one or more paragraphs of information, and point form can be used. Omit unnecessary background information to keep the memo brief. Remember, the key is general communication to a group or all staff of an organization.

 

It is easy to enhance the visual appeal of the memo and highlight important information by formatting the font, style, size, and colour of the text. In the example linked below, note how fonts are used to draw attention to particular pieces. Also note how the spacing of the lines creates distinct visual parts so that the memo's purpose is easily identified and quickly read.

 

For specific directions on creating professional-looking memos, go to the Instructional Videos. Select “Memo” to learn proper layout techniques and how to apply formatting and styles.

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