Layout and parts of business letters

Before you read

Discuss these questions:

1. What types of letters do you know ?

2. Is there any difference between a business paper and a business letter?

3. What do you know about a fax, a memo, an email, a CV?

Key vocabulary:

demise, transmission, communication, convention, hand written messages, expense,badly worded, concise, courteous.

Read and translate the text:

(a) General Notes on Business Correspondence

Business Letter

Business letter is the most common form of business communication, e.i. communication between companies, organizations, citizens and organizations and so on. It has been estimated that about 100 million business letters are written each workday. It is a document which is not only sent externally to those outside a company but also sent internally to those within a company. Most business letters have a formal style, but nowadays many of the strict conventions of letter-writing have also been relaxed and it is quite usual to find a lot of variety in the way letters are laid out or expressed. Writers often use informal expressions and forms whereas previously this would have been avoided, but some letter-writing conventions, however, remain very much alive. Presentation, for example, is still very important. Few people will want to do business with a company that sends out badly typed, badly worded, or badly laid-out letters. Seemingly minor details can also irritate the reader of the letter and give a negative impression.

The use of fax and email has now almost entirely replaced telex all over the world. They have improved and speeded up communication immensely, and with it, led to greater informality in business correspondence. The demise of telex has also created the expectation that things will be expressed more completely, rather than in the abbreviated style of telex. Some brief notes on each method of communication may therefore be of use.

Fax

The speed of fax transmission has created the demand for things to happen quickly. For this reason, many of the previous conventions of business correspondence have been relaxed. It is not uncommon now, for example, for handwritten messages to be sent between companies. This is particularly the case when the individuals involved know each other or the companies have been dealing with each other for some time. Where the reply is very brief, a handwritten reply might also be sent between companies that have never worked together before. In replying to a booking request faxed to a hotel, for example, the hotel might simply write 'OK — confirmed' on the fax and send it back.

In most other cases, however, faxes will be more or less identical to normal business letters and follow normal conventions in letter layout, levels of formality and phrasing. Often, when sending a fax, a company will send the 'top copy' (original) by post at the same time if the document is important.

Whilst fax machines are now widespread, their use does involve considerably more expense than the normal post does and their transmission can be time-consuming. In an effort to keep costs down, therefore, companies continue to use normal letters for non-urgent correspondence or where several pages need to be sent. A company, for example, might receive a request for information by fax but send their reply, enclosing a catalogue, by normal post.

Many companies - and almost all larger companies - also now use email to communicate with other companies, or for communication within the same company. Email is fast (a matter of a second or two to get a message to the other side of the world). Email programs automatically provide the layout of the message (to/from/subject/date, etc.) so do not require the same kind of knowledge as normal letters and fax.

GOLDEN RULES’ FOR WRITING LETTERS

1. Give your letter a heading if it will make it easier for the reader to understand your purpose in writing.

2. Decide what you are going to say before you start to write or dictate a letter, because if you don't do this the sentences are likely to go on and on and on until you can think of a good way to finish. In other words you should always plan a-head.

3. Use short sentences.

4. Put each separate idea in a separate paragraph

5. Use short words that everyone can understand.

6.Think about your reader. Your reader ...

... must be able to see exactly what you mean:

- your letters should be CLEAR

... must be given all the necessary information:

- your letters should be COMPLETE

... is probably a busy person with no time to waste:

- your letters should be CONCISE

... must be written in a sincere, polite tone:

- your letters should be COURTEOUS