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FORMAL CORRESPONDENCEWRITINGPart 1
LECTURE 5 (WEEK 5)
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PARTS OF A LETTER
LETTERHEAD (OR SENDERS ADDRESS) REFERENCES (OPTIONAL)
DATE
INSIDE ADDRESS
SALUTATION SUBJECT
OPENING PARAGRAPH
BODY
CLOSING P.
COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
SENDERS NAME
DESIGNATION
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FORMAT: BLOCK FORMAT
Margin to the left, no indentations
Open Punctuation requires no punctuation after date,
inside address, salutation, complimentary close.
No numbering of paragraphs.
Single-space each paragraph
Double- space between paragraphs
All paragraphs in a blocked style (begin at the left margin
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LETTERHEAD
Letterhead or return address- companys name, postal code, e-mail address ,telephone,telex
and facsimile numbers.
Preprinted letterhead-address is centred
Eg.KAJANG PLASTICS SDN. BHD.
Jalan Reko
43000 Kajang
SELANGOR
Telephone: 03-87632070
Fax: 03-87302071
Email: [email protected]
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LETTERHEAD (cont.)
When a letterhead is absent, the senders address
will usually be placed on the top left corner of the
page.
The name of the sender is not included.
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REFERENCES
A way ofidentifying a letter. They link the letter to any
earlier correspondence.
Numerical or the writers initialsfollowed by those of
the typists. Your ref: 2/92
Our ref: RA/SC (Sender/typist: Rose Ang/Susan Chu
RA/sc
A more complex references may relate to a filing
system or a clients account no.
Your ref: PK/92/9
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DATE
Written between letterhead and inside address
UK system
Day / month / year
No commas are used.
Eg.10th July 2013
Elsewhere
month/day/year
Eg. September 12th, 2013
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INSIDE ADDRESS
Written below date. Includes name and courtesy title (Mr, Mrs, Ms).
Job title/designation
Name of organization/company
Full postal address
Eg.
Mr Daniel Wong
Managing DirectorRD Consultancy
15 Gasing Road
46400 Selangor
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SALUTATION
The greeting of a letter. Should agree with the inside address.
Addressee Salutation
The Advertiser Dear Sir
Lever Brothers (Company) Dear Sirs
Puan Zaiton Dear Pn/Madam
Tan and Lim Advocates Messrs Tan and Lim
Dr Lee Dear Dr LeeAn organisation Dear Sirs
No commas
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SUBJECT LINE
Gives brief indication of the content. (Subject
Matter)
Placed one line after salutation.
Must be specific. Written in upper case/initial capitals with
underscore.
Eg. Dear Mr Tan
Revision of City Sales Tax or
REVISION OF CITY SALES TAX
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BODY OF THE LETTER
1. The most important part of the letter
2. Should include at least 3 paragraphs
(introduction,discussion, conclusion)
3. Should be informative, concise, clear.
4. Use simple words and sentence constructions.
5. Avoid jargon.
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BODY OF THE LETTER (CONTINUES)
6. Use correct grammar.
7. No numbering of paragraphs.
8. Single-space each paragraph
9. Double- space between paragraphs
10. All paragraphs in a blocked style (begin at the left
margin
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Closing
a) Complimentary Close
2 spaces after the last paragraph
Consists of CS, Signature, Name and Designation.
CS should match the Salutation.
Dear Mr Chan Yours sincerely Dear Sir Yours faithfully
No commas
Expressions such as kind regards, best wishes, allthe best, are not necessary.
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Closingb) Signature Block
Signature, Name and Designation
-the full name and the designation of the writer mustbe written in 2 separate lines immediately below thesignature.
Yours sincerely Yours faithfully
Jamie Tan (Miss) CAROL LEESales Manager Training Manager
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ENCLOSURE NOTATION
Used when any document is included with the letter
Appears one line below the signature block
Can be written in two ways: Enc or Encs
Eg. Marketing Manager
Enc/Encs
1. Cheque no. 88108
2. Catalogue
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CARBON COPY NOTATION (cc)
This means that a copy of the letter is being sent toanother person / other persons.
Indicated by the abbreviation cc:
For a person within the company:
cc Mr John Lee
For a person outside the company:cc Mr Solomon Dass
PR Manager
AC Nielsen
If more than two recipients alphabetical order/ accordingto position.
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End of Part 1