Business Letter Writing

5 Hill Street

Madison, Wisconsin 53700

March 15, 2005

Ms. Helen Jones

President

Jones, Jones & Jones

123 International Lane

Boston, Massachusetts 01234

Dear Ms. Jones:

Ah, business letter format-there are block formats, and indented formats, and modified block formats . . . and who knows what others. To simplify matters, we're demonstrating the block format on this page, one of the two most common formats. For authoritative advice about all the variations, we highly recommend The Gregg Reference Manual, 9th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001), 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. Let's hope that your business letter succeeds no matter which choice you make!

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.

Skip another line before the salutation, which should be followed by a colon. Then write the body of your letter as illustrated here, with no indentation at the beginnings of paragraphs. Skip lines between paragraphs.

After writing the body of the letter, type the closing, followed by a comma, leave 3 blank lines, then type your name and title (if applicable), all flush left. Sign the letter in the blank space above your typed name. Now doesn't that look professional?

Sincerely,

John Doe

Administrative Assistant

Indented Form

                                          5 Hill Street

                                          Madison, Wisconsin 53700

   

                                          15 March 2005

     Ms. Helen Jones

     President

     Jones, Jones & Jones

     123 International Lane

     Boston, Massachusetts 01234

     Dear Ms. Jones:

          Ah, business letter format--there are block formats, and

     indented formats, and modified block formats . . . and who

     knows what others.  To simplify matters, we're demonstrating

     the indented format on this page, one of the two most common

     formats.  For authoritative advice about all the variations,

     we highly recommend The Gregg Reference Manual, 9th ed. (New

     York: McGraw-Hill, 2001), 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.  Let's hope that your business letter

     succeeds no matter which choice you make!

          If you are using the indented form, place your address at

     the top, with the left edge of the address aligned with the

     center of the page. Skip a line and type the date so that it

     lines up underneath your address.  Type the inside address and

     salutation flush left; the salutation should be followed by a

     colon. For formal letters, avoid abbreviations.

          Indent the first line of each paragraph one-half inch.

     Skip lines between paragraphs.

          Instead of placing the closing and signature lines

     flush left, type them in the center, even with the address

     and date above, as illustrated here. Now doesn't that look

     professional?

                                          Sincerely,                                 

                                          John Doe

Member's name :

1. Aji Agung / 20113521

2. M. Zhahir Arief T. / 25113610

3. M. Nur Almufarid / 26113051

4. Yhony Andjar E. S / 29113439

Link : http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/BusinessLetter.html