Business letter format bedford handbook

There are several steps you can take to make a business letter professional and appropriate for the audience of your letter. A properly formatted business letter should have the following sections:.

Add a space after your contact information and then add the date of your letter:. Common opening business letter salutations include:. Dear [First name], only use if you know the recipient. The body of a business letter is where you express the purpose of your communication and is typically no longer than three to four paragraphs.

Add a space after the body of the letter and then choose a salutation to close your business letter. Common closing business letter salutations include:. Add two lines and sign your full name. The following line, print your first and last name. When formatting your business letter, readability should be your top priority. From selecting a font style to correcting margins, you should make sure your letter is clean, clear and highly readable.

There are a few different things to think about when formatting your business letter:. When deciding on which font to choose for your business letter, you should pay attention to cleanliness and readability. While it may seem tempting to select a stylistic font that personalized the letter, it might be difficult for your audience to read.

They should be able to get the information they need from your letter as quickly as possible. Here are a few examples of popular fonts used in professional documents:. When selecting a font size, you should consider the smallest size in which your document will still be easily readable. You should stay between 10 and 12 points for your font. Smaller than 10 point fonts will be difficult to read, while fonts larger than 12 points might appear unprofessional.

When designing the layout for your business letter, keep in mind all of the necessary information typically included on a professional document. If you don't know a reader's gender, use a nonsexist salutation, such as their job title followed by the receiver's name. It is also acceptable to use the full name in a salutation if you cannot determine gender.

For example, you might write Dear Chris Harmon: if you were unsure of Chris's gender. For block and modified block formats, single space and left justify each paragraph within the body of the letter.

Leave a blank line between each paragraph. When writing a business letter, be careful to remember that conciseness is very important. In the first paragraph, consider a friendly opening and then a statement of the main point. The next paragraph should begin justifying the importance of the main point. In the next few paragraphs, continue justification with background information and supporting details.

The closing paragraph should restate the purpose of the letter and, in some cases, request some type of action. The closing begins at the same vertical point as your date and one line after the last body paragraph. Capitalize the first word only for example: Thank you and leave four lines between the closing and the sender's name for a signature.

If a colon follows the salutation, a comma should follow the closing; otherwise, there is no punctuation after the closing. If you have enclosed any documents along with the letter, such as a resume, you indicate this simply by typing Enclosures below the closing. As an option, you may list the name of each document you are including in the envelope.

For instance, if you have included many documents and need to ensure that the recipient is aware of each document, it may be a good idea to list the names. Typist initials are used to indicate the person who typed the letter. If you typed the letter yourself, omit the typist initials. When writing business letters, you must pay special attention to the format and font used. The most common layout of a business letter is known as block format. Using this format, the entire letter is left justified and single spaced except for a double space between paragraphs.

Another widely utilized format is known as modified block format. In this type, the body of the letter and the sender's and recipient's addresses are left justified and single-spaced.

However, for the date and closing, tab to the center point and begin to type. The final, and least used, style is semi-block. However, there are limitations to these materials. Assignments vary, and different instructors want different things from student writers. Therefore, the advice here may or may not apply to your writing situation. Finally, handouts can give only a fraction of the customized guidance that an individual conference with a Writing Center instructor can provide.

If you have questions about the information in our handouts, please make an appointment to see a Writing Center instructor.

Ah, business letter format-there are block formats, and indented formats, and modified block formats. For authoritative advice about all the variations, we highly recommend The Gregg Reference Manual, 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, , a great reference tool for workplace communications. There seems to be no consensus about such fine points as whether to skip a line after your return address and before the date: some guidelines suggest that you do; others do not.

When you use the block form to write a business letter, all the information is typed flush left, with one-inch margins all around. First provide your own address, then skip a line and provide the date, then skip one more line and provide the inside address of the party to whom the letter is addressed.

If you are using letterhead that already provides your address, do not retype that information; just begin with the date. For formal letters, avoid abbreviations where possible.