Lecture: 2

Qualities of a Good Business Communication: Attractive

Appearance

Introduction:
First impression is the lasting
impression.
Bengali saying:
Better appearance of the letter is
important.
The neater the document, the more
competent the sender seems to be.
• To make sure that the appearance is attractive,
sender must ask himself:
• Q.1. Am I insulting my reader?
• Q.2. Do I turn people off before my letter even
gets started?
• If the answers to these two questions are
negative, sender is more or less sure that, the
appearance of his letter is more or less attractive.
• Otherwise the reader may feel insulted.
 Reasons for which Reader may feel
insulted are:
• Letter is poorly prepared;
• Smudges (dirty or greasy mark) caused by
cheaper paper;
• Careless handling of the letter;
• Unsatisfactory correction of typing errors
• For this, reaction of the reader may be like
this: “ well, if their way of doing business is
like their letters, let’s find someone else for
our business”.
Who is responsible of writing an attractive/good
letter?

• Its is the management people.

 Things that require attention of the letter writer for
making the appearance of the letter attractive:

• 1. Stationery
• 2. Forms of letter placement
• 3. Styles of writing letter
 1. Stationery
• It is the first thing that the reader notices.
• Following stationery related matters require
attention of the letter writer/sender:
• 1.a. Stationery size
• 1.b. Stationery quality
• 1.c. Stationery color
• 1.a. Stationery size: Businesses should use
standard sized stationery, that is A4 sized
paper or paper of 8.5 by 11 inch.
• This sized paper easily fits in standard office
file drawers.
• Sometimes legal size is used which is 8.5 inch
by 14 inch.
• 1.b. Stationery quality: most common stationery quality is
that which is 80-100 grams in weight.
• In the USA it is 16-20 pound weight.
• Lighter weight paper usually is not opaque.
• Heavier paper resists wear.
• Rag content: paper that has 25% rag content might be
used for more important communication.
• What is rag content?
• Rag content refers to the percentage of cotton fiber
contained in the paper.
• Some better quality papers may have 50 – 100 percent rag
content.
• 1.c. Stationery color: Most business letters are written on
standard white paper color with black print.
• Black ink on white paper gives off a great amount of glare
and is therefore hardest on the eyes.
• Accountants have long used accounting papers in soft
yellows and greens.
• Good quality copying machines copy print on light tints as
clearly as white.
• Matching envelops can also be used. Advantages of color:
• i. color coding
• ii. Psychological effect.
• Many businesses adopt colors that correspond with their
logos or trademarks and advertising.
• Following is a list of some color associations:
• Blue: Sincerity, harmony
• Green: life, calm, coolness
• Buff: conservatism, dignity
• Gray: confidence, wisdom
• Pink: femininity, neatness
• Yellow: cheerfulness, vigor
• Purple: tradition, high rank
• Brown: strength, usefulness
• Red: excitement, danger
• Multiple page letters: second and rest pages
should be of same quality of paper and color.
• Pages after the first should be numbered, and
many businesses also have the date and the
name of the addressee on these subsequent
headings.
 2. Forms of letter placement:
• The two popular forms for letter placement on
a page are:
• 2.a. Standard length line
• 2.b. Picture Frame
• 2.a. Standard length line: side margins are
1.25 inch wide.
• Space between date and address line can vary
according to the length of the letter.
• Space variations can be made between the
closing parts such as complementary closing,
signature line, and typist’s initial.
• 2.b. Picture Frame: Side margins are equal and top and bottom margins are equal.
• It is used for executive level correspondence.

• The following chart is a good rule of thumb for placing letters under the picture
frame:

• Words in Body of Letter Side Margins

• Up to 100 2 inches
• 101 – 300 1.5 inches
• Over 300 1.25 inches

• Inside address should begin from 4 to 13 lines below the date line.
• Shorter letters will have wider top and bottom margins as well as wider side
margins.
 Two placement methods used for internal
communication
• There are two placement methods used for internal
communication.
• They are:
• a. Simplified placement or Memorandum Form: It
follows the standard placement method but leaves out
salutation and complementary closing.
• It is used for brevity (shortness) and efficiency.
• b. Upper Placement: It leaves room for reply keeping
place at the bottom.
• It is used usually within the organization.
• It follows the standard length line.
 3. Letter Styles: 2 Types:

• 3.a.Block Style
3.b. Modified Block Style
• 3.a. Block Style: In the block letter style all
lines, including those of new paragraphs, start
at the left margin.
Specimen of Block Styled Letter
• 3.b. Modified Block Style: here most parts
begin at the left margin except the date line,
complementary closing, and signature lines.
• The date might be centered at the top, started
at the center of the page, or placed so that it
ends at the right margin.
• Then the complementary closing and
signature lines would start vertically in line
with the starting position of the date line.
Specimen of Modified Block Styled
Letter
Specimen of Modified Block Styled
Letter
 Parts of a Business Letter:

• 1. Letterhead
• 2. Date line (at the left margin or centered under the letterhead)
• 3. Special mailing instructions (in all capital letters)
• 4. Inside Mailing address
• 5. Salutation
• 6. Reference (RE) or subject line (when used)
• 7. Body of Letter
• 8. Complementary close
• 9. Signature line
• 10. Reference initials
• 11. Enclosures
• 12. Copies
• 13. Postscripts
•
• All letters may not have all of these parts.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 1. Letterhead: Characteristics of a good letterhead:
• A. Simple design
• B. Minimum of printing
• C. Little contrasting color
• D. Should show business name
• E. Complete address including post code
• F. Telephone number including complete country and area
code
• G. Cable address, fax number and overseas telephone
number where applicable
• H. Trademark or emblem if any
• i. Trade name of product or services
• J. Name of Key personnel and/or board members
• K. Date business started
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 2. Date Line: date line typed on the letter should
be the date the letter was dictated, not the date
it was transcribed.
• In Block Style, it should be on the left margin.
• In Modified Block Style, it may be on the center,
or at the right side so that it ends at the right
margin.
• At least three spaces should be left between date
line and inside mailing address.
• It can vary according to the length of the letter.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 3. Special Mailing Instructions: It should start
below the date line.
• It should be typed in all capital letters.
• At least one space should be left before and
after this instruction.
• Sometimes it is shown at the bottom of the
letter.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 4. Inside Mailing Address: All lines of the
inside mailing address should start even with
the left margin.
• Title of the receiver should be there, such as
Mr., Miss, Ms, Mrs. or Dr.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 5. Salutation: such as Gentleman, Dear Sir, Dear
Supervisor, Dear Board Member, Dear Department Head.
• When addressing a person whose name is not known to us,
instead of Dear Sir, we can use the title of the unknown
person, such as Dear Credit Manager, Dear Customer, Dear
Subscriber and so forth.
• It is better to address by name, such as Dear Mr. Azam.
• Punctuation and format of salutation: A noticeable trend is
to have open punctuation in letters, that is, no punctuation
after the salutation and complementary closing.
• If punctuation is used after the salutation, it should be a
colon in a business letter or a comma in a friendly letter.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 6. Subject Line or Reference: if there is a
subject line or reference, it is typed a double
space below the salutation.
• This line may start at left margin, or it may be
centered if the letter is a modified block styled
one.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 7. Body of the Letter: Main message is given
here.
• All business letters today are typed single
spaced with one blank line between
paragraphs.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 8. Complementary Closing: there should be at least
one blank line between the body of the letter and
the complementary closing.
• In the block letter style, the closing begins at the left
margin; in the modified block style, it will usually line
up vertically with the date line.
• Common complementary closes of business letters are:
Sincerely, Sincerely yours, Very truly yours, Yours very
truly, Cordially, Cordially yours etc.
• Notice that only the first letter of the closing is
capitalized.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 9. Signature Lines: three blank lines
between the complementary closing and
signature line should be left.
• The name of the sender should then be typed.
• The position of the sender, such as President,
General Manager should be typed
immediately below the name.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 10. Reference Initials: reference initials
identifying the person who typed the letter
are placed at the left margin a double space
below the signature line.
• These initials often show on internal office
copies only and not to go outside copies.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 11. Enclosure notation: if an enclosure is being
sent with the letter, an enclosure notation is
placed at the bottom of the letter at the left
margin, a double space below the typist’s
reference initials, to remind the person mailing
the letter that one or more enclosures are to be
sent.
• It also reminds the receiver to look for
enclosures.
• Notations are: Enclosure or Enc. for one
enclosure, and Enclosures (3) 0r Enc. (3), for
example for three enclosures.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 12. Copy Distribution: should be shown at the
left margin, a double space below all other
information.
• One ‘C’ stands for ‘copy’ or ‘cc’ stand for the
old ‘carbon’ copy.
 Parts of a Business Letter, contd..
• 13. Postscripts: if there is a postscript, it should
start a double space beneath all other
information can be preceded by the initials PS or
PPS (postscript, second postscript).
• However, the current trend is to omit these
initials.
• The postscript may be signed or initialed.
• Some executive deliberately do not include some
important message in the body of the letter,
rather include those as postscript for them to be
noticed without fail.