Attention Line. Structure and Presentation

Structure and Presentation

The aim in business writing is to communicate as clearly and concisely as you can. In our high-tech culture we expect many tasks to take far less time than they do. Writing is one of them. The ability to write well – clearly and concisely – it is an essential skill. Contrary to general belief, writing is not something only ‘writers’ do; it is a basic skill for getting through life. However, writing is a high-level conceptual skill and it does take time. Many mental activities are taking place while you are writing: analyzing the audience, remembering and deciding on what information to present, organizing the information, putting it into comprehensible sentences, paying attention to the rules of good writing, proofreading, etc.

When getting started, remember, if you gain control of yourself, you will gain control of your topic.

Ø First of all you ask yourself the question about the purpose of your writing:

Are you writing to inquire, inform, persuade, motivate, or do you have more than one purpose?

Ø Second, get interested in its scope:

Given your needs and your reader’s needs, how much information should you include?

Ø Third, see clearly the contents of your writing:

What kind of information will help you to achieve your purpose? Do you have all information you need? How, or where, can you get additional information?

Ø At last, you should ask yourself about the available constraints:

What makes your task more difficult? Time or cost constraints? Your reader’s attitudes? Your own lack of credibility?

Put yourself in your reader’s place and look at the message through his eyes. Most of the readers want the results of your thinking, not the thinking itself. Remember that there is a difference between thinking and communicating. When experimenting with various ways to organize the information be guided by two factors: (1) your reader’s knowledge and interest and (2) your purpose and the information itself. The contents of any letter may be summarized as follows: (1) opening, (2) purpose; (3) action, and (4) polite expressions.

Task 1

1.What should you take into consideration while you are writing?

2.What can be the purposes of your writing?

3.What should you keep in mind while writing?

4.Why are reader’s more interested in the results of the writer’s thinking?

5.Can you write well?

6.How important for you is the ability to write well?

7.What is the most important to organize information properly?

There are many ways to lay out a business letter. This letter is an example of a modern way, called ``block style``. Notice:

Ø The name and address of the addressee are at the top on the left (the addressee is the person you are writing to).

Ø The date is on the right

Ø There is no punctuation in the address or after `yours faithfully/sincerely` or Dear…

Ø The paragraphs start at the margin and there are line spaces between them

Ø The writer`s name and title are under the signature

1.Letterhead

The printed Letterhead is usually centered at the top of the page.

It includes the name

Address

Telephone number of the sender

Telefax

Telex

It may also contain the company’s trademark,

Its telegraphic address,

Its branches and

the description of the business.

Look at the examples of the names of companies:

A. Smith & Co.¹, Limited²

A. Robinson & Sons

Bennet Bros.³

The American Mining Corporation

James Smith and Company, Incorporated⁴

Vneshnetorgovoye OBJEDINENIJE “Machino-export”⁵

__________________________

¹ Знак &- так называемый ampersand- часто употребляется в названиях фирм вместо and- & Co. – и читается: and Company.

² Слово Limited (сокращенно Ltd.) представляет собой сокращение выражения Limited Liability company “компания с ограниченной ответственностью”, означающее, что ответственность членов компании ограничивается номинальной стоимостью приобретенных ими акций.

³ Bros. является сокращением от слова Brothers “братья”. Benner Bros. – “братья Беннет”.

⁴ Corporation означает “соединение лиц”, “корпорация”. В названиях американских фирм, банков и т.д. это слово чаще употребляется вместо stock corporation “акционерная корпорация” Incorporated (Inc.) означает “зарегистрированный как корпорация”.

⁵ Названия белорусских и российских внешнеторговых объединений не переводятся на английский язык. При их передаче на английском языке используется прием транслитерации, т.е. русские слова пишутся буквами латинского шрифта.

2. Reference line

It is usually below the Letterhead, very often in the top-hand part of the sheet. The addressee’s reference- if it is known- is typed first. It may be the number of the letter or some abbreviation. The sender asks the addressee to refer to that number or abbreviation in the answer.

The Reference Line contains the initials of the sender and the addressee.

Have a look at the sample letter on page 6 and find the Reference Line. Notice that the letters DA stand for D. Ashen. Mr. D. Ashen has signed the letter and his initials in capital letters come first in the Reference Line. They are followed by the initials- not necessarily in capital letters- of his secretary or typist.

Now let’s decipher the Reference Line:

Your Ref: DA/st

Your Reference David Ashen Susan Thompson

Date

The Date, like the Reference Line, is placed bellow the Letterhead. It is often very important to know when the letter was written- important both to the reader and the writer.

There are four commonly used dateline styles, for example:

BE: AE:

2 March, 2011 March 2, 2011

2^nd March, 2011 March 2^nd, 2011

The following style may be confusing: *2/03/2011. It is either the second of March or the third of February. Try to avoid confusion.

At present people do not usually write- th, -rd, -st, -nd after the day. Sometimes the months (they are written with capital letters) are abbreviated, but not all of them.

January - Jan. September - Sept.

February - Feb. October - Oct.

April - Apr. November - Nov.

August - Aug. December - Dec.

4. Inside address

Have a look at the recipient’s address on the envelope. The Inside Address is the repeated recipient’s address. It contains the name and address of the firm or individual to whom you are writing. Notice that the English address should be written in reverse way, i.e. first- the recipient and the name of the company you are writing to, then- the house number, the street, the town/city, the state/country. Mind the order in which the address is usually written.

To a firm in Great Britain:

Messrs1 Peterson and Sons 106 Knightsbridge London SWL 96C England

______________________________

¹ Messrs [mes¶s] – abbreviated from “Messiurs”(Fr.); it is used if name of the firm includes surnames of people.

Attention Line

You will not see the Attention Line in every business letter. When writing to a company or a department within a company you might need to attract the attention of a specific person. The following are various styles of attention lines:

For attention of …

Attention: Sales Manager

Attention: Mr. Brown