Business Letter Formatting

• Business letters use special stationery called letterhead with the return address in an artistic header.
• Set the font size to 12 when writing business letters.
• Apply fonts such as Times New Roman or Calibri.
• Use a line spacing of 1.0 or 1.15.
• Remove any spacing after each paragraph for proper line spacing.

Return Address and Date

• Includes the sender's address.
• Include the person's name.
• The first line includes the street number and name.
• The second line includes the city, province, and postal code.
• Place a comma after the city.
• Press enter once after the return address and then add current date (without the day of the week, and do not abbreviate).
• Add a comma after the day.
• Today's date should look like this: October 29, 2024.
• Press enter 6 times after the date before the inside address.

Inside Address

• The inside address contains the recipient's information.
• The first line includes their prefix, title, first name, and last name.
• The following two lines include their job position and company name.
• It requires unique formatting compared to the return address.
• Press enter twice after the mailing address before writing the salutation.

Salutation

• Include the title and last name if someone is known.
• Use "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madame" if the recipient is unknown.
• Add a colon at the end of the salutation.
• Press enter twice before keying in the subject.

Subject

• Add a colon after the word "Subject."
• Press enter twice before starting the body.

Body

• These are the paragraphs of the letter.
• Use a justified or left-aligned format.
• Paragraphs in a letter should not be indented; instead, press enter to indicate a new paragraph.
• The first paragraph gives the purpose of the letter.
• Second paragraphs give more detail.
• The last paragraph includes a call to action like "thank you".
• Press enter twice before writing the closing.

Closing

• "Sincerely" is a common closing.
• Only the first word is capitalized in two-word closings like "Yours truly".
• Add a comma at the end of the closing.
• Press enter 6 times after the closing, then add the sender's name.
• Signatures can be difficult to read.
• Only include the sender's business title if relevant.
• Insert a signature between the closing and typed name.

Enclosure

• The enclosure notation indicates that something else is in the letter.
• Recipients review to ensure all mentioned items are included and to ensure the sender remembers to include the enclosure.

Typist's Initials

• Indicates someone other than the sender typed the letter.
• Includes the sender's initials in capital letters, followed by the typist's initials in lowercase.
• A colon punctuates the two sets of initials.

Final Thoughts

• Proofread business letters to eliminate spelling or grammatical errors for a professional look.