Administrative Assistant / Secretary: Writing Business Letters

The Business Letter
Appearance
Despite constantly improving forms of communication such as email, the business letter still exerts enormous influence and deserves your close attention. Business letters are more formal and personal than email. They are also more private.
Very few customers of a business ever see the home office or a branch office; this is often true even of small businesses. What customers do see is company correspondence. An untidy or ungrammatical letter gives the instant impression that the company’s product or service is equally flawed. On the other hand, upon receiving a handsomely spaced, well-constructed, and well-organized letter, a customer unconsciously assumes it has come from an up-to-date, well-organized, and successful business.
Letter and email writing occupies at least one third of all office work, and good writing is the most effective advertisement of your capability. Any skills you can acquire or improve in this area do double duty: they help you work more quickly and effectively while advancing your career.
Besides the skills you need for your own writing, you need to learn techniques of letter writing to handle your boss’s correspondence. Most successful businesspeople have already mastered the mechanics of language, but many in authoritative positions lack such skills. They rely on their administrative assistants to see that their letters are satisfactory.
Any letter that comes from your keyboard—whether composed by you or your employer—must have a businesslike appearance that does not distract from the message it has to convey. The letter must be neat and symmetrical, and it must not have any typographical, grammatical, or spelling errors. Its language should clearly and simply go to the heart of the matter discussed. Its language and appearance should also be within the conventions of the commercial world. That is the reason each company selects its own style for presentation to its public.
The way in which a company is known to its customers, its good name, its reputation, and the quality of its products or services all constitute the corporate image. Image is very important, and many companies spend fortunes to have the image instantly recognized by the consumer, so no matter what style the company uses, use it consistently. This helps make the company’s correspondence characteristically its own. That consistency also translates into dependability in the customer’s mind.

Paragraphing
If you are new to the company, it’s not likely you’ll be invited to decide on which style of letter to use. A certain style may have already been selected long ago after various experiments. In accordance with that style, you’ll be instructed to indent paragraphs or to block them and to put a double space between paragraphs that are single-spaced. Your boss will no doubt also tell you his or her way of closing a letter, perhaps with the company’s name and his or her signature with title below. You should conform to your employer’s preference without question.
At the same time, you’ll be told about open punctuation (no marks at the end of each line that appears above or below the text of the letter) or closed punctuation (marks after the date line, after each line of the addressee’s name and address, after the complimentary close, and after the signature). Closed punctuation is usually used with blocked paragraphs.

Parts of a Business Letter
The various parts of a business letter include:
- Date line—two to six lines below the last line of the printed letterhead. The date should be written out in this form: January 1, 2015.
- Reference line—a numerical file number, invoice number, policy number, or order number should appear on a new line below the date.
- Special mailing notations—special notations such as “confidential” should appear two lines below the date.
- Inside address—should include the addressee’s title and full name, business title, business name, and full address.
- Attention line—if the letter is not addressed to a specific person, skip one space
- after the inside address and add, “Attention:___________.” You can make the
- letter go to the attention of a department.
- Salutation—one line after the attention line or the inside address. Examples
- include: Dear___________, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Sir or Madam, Dear [company name].
- Subject line—gives an overview of what the letter is about. Can be used in place of a salutation or reference line.
- Message—the body of your letter with paragraph breaks; optional indentations for paragraphs, bullet lists, and number lists.
- Complimentary close—appears two lines below the last line of the message. Either left justified or five spaces to the right of center.
- Signature block—justified with the complimentary close with options of typed name and title, signature, or just signature.
- Identification initials—the initials of the typist appears left-justified two spaces below the signature block.
- Enclosure notation—located with the identification initials or in place of them with a notation such as: enc, encl, enclosures (3), 3 encs.

Parts of a business letter.


- Copy notation—left-justified two lines below identification initials with the notation: cc: [person’s full name or initials].
- Postscript—two spaces below the last text on the page with a P.S. and then a short sentence.

Beginning the Letter

The Date Line
Some offices show the standard date line near the body of the letter, ending at the right margin two spaces above the name of the addressee, which is written flush with the left margin. If the centered date line is chosen, it is placed two spaces below the letterhead as though it’s part of the letterhead and centered exactly. This is an effective and well-balanced look if the company name and address in the letterhead fall in the center. If the letterhead is spread out across the whole top of the page ending at the right margin, then the standard date line seems more graceful and more balanced. When paper without a letterhead is used, the date line must be standard and must be a part of the three-line heading.

This consists of the address of the writer and the date of the letter:
1501 Guadalupe Street
Austin, Texas 78702
May 28, 2015
Never place the name of the writer in the typewritten heading of the letter, for that belongs only at the end of the letter.
In typing the date line, never abbreviate the name of the month or use figures for it. Also, use numerals only for the day of the month; never add nd, d, rd, st, or th to the numerals. These sounds are heard but are never written.
 

The Inside Address
The name and address of the addressee should be exactly as typed on the envelope.
If a street address is long enough to require two lines, place the less important of the two above:

Student Union Building
Northwestern State Teachers College
Alva, Oklahoma 76021
If an individual in a company is addressed, show the individual’s name (and title) with the company’s name below that, single spaced. If there is a long address that must be carried over to a second line, indent the second line three spaces:
Mr. Rick Ritenour, President
San Francisco National Bank and
Mortgage Association
1200 Market Street
San Francisco, California 99001
Never abbreviate part of the company name unless the company’s registered name uses an abbreviation (Co., Inc., or &) and such abbreviation is shown on the company’s official letterhead.
Figures are used for all house numbers except “one” (which is spelled out). If there is a numerical street number, separate the house number and street number by a dash:
3780-87th Street
Names of cities are never abbreviated; the names of states are also never abbreviated. There is one exception: use the official U.S. Postal Service postal state abbreviations on the envelope address.
Never use an abbreviation such as a percentage mark for “care of”; always spell the words out. Never use “care of” before a hotel name if the addressee is a guest there, and never use it before a company name if the addressee is employed there. However, if the addressee is temporarily receiving mail at the office of the company, “care of” may be used before the company name:
Mr. Steve Eichman
Care of The Rockwell Corporation
60 Wall Street
New York, New York 10022

Titles
An individual’s name is always preceded by a title—for example, Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss, Dr., or Col. It’s permissible to place initials denoting a degree after the name of an addressee; in that case, always omit the beginning title:

Reverend and Honorable are titles of respect and are preceded by the word The. The Mr. is omitted:

Women and Men
In addressing a woman, it’s useful to refer to previous correspondence from the individual to see whether she included a courtesy title when she typed or signed her name. If you have no previous correspondence, use these general guidelines: Miss is used for an unmarried woman; Mrs. is used with her husband’s full name (if known) for a married woman or a widow. If a divorcee retains her married name, use Mrs. plus her own name, not her husband’s. Ms. is used in any of the above cases if the woman prefers it; it’s also used if you do not know the woman’s marital status or if you’re addressing a divorcee who has resumed her maiden name.
Address a professional woman by her title, followed by her given and last name:
Dr. Bernice Wilson
The previous custom was to use Mr. as the title when the gender of the addressee was in doubt. The current custom, to avoid giving offense, is more likely to use the addressee’s full name without a title, in both the address and the salutation:
Dear Toby Wilson
However, if the letter has some importance, it’s worth making a quick call to the other party to get the proper title. Simply say to whoever answers the telephone: “I’m addressing a letter to Pat Richardson. Is that Mr. Richardson or Ms.?” This can save you and your employer much embarrassment later on.

Business Titles
Business titles are never abbreviated:

When you are writing to a person holding more than one office within a company, use the highest title unless you are replying to a specific letter signed by him or her under another title, as applying to the subject covered. When you are writing to a department of a company, rather than to a person within the company, place the company name on the first line and the department on the second line:
MB’s Department Store
Electronics Department
120 Irving Mall
Irving, Texas 76022

Attention Line
An attention line refers the letter to the person or department in charge of the situation covered. The word Attention is followed by the name of the individual or department. Do not abbreviate the word Attention or follow it with a colon.
The attention line is placed two spaces below the last line of the name and address of the addressee, either flush with the left margin of the letter or in the center of the page when paragraphs are blocked. When paragraphs are indented, the attention line is placed in the center of the page.
The attention line is never used in a letter to an individual; it is used only in a letter having a plural addressee, in which case the letter is written to the entire company and not to the person named in the attention line. The salutation must always agree (singular or plural) with the name of the addressee, not with the name on the attention line. For example:
Johnson Smith & Company, Inc.
1500 Main Street
Greenville, Texas 75401
Attention Mr. Horace Wauson
Gentlemen:

Salutation
The salutation is typed two spaces below the addressee’s address or the attention line, flush with the left margin. The first word of the salutation begins with a capital, as does the name of the addressee. In business letters, the salutation is followed by a colon. In personal letters, the salutation is followed by a comma:
Dear Governor Thompson:
My Dear Mrs. Thomas:
Dear Jane,
Sometimes you’ll be required to write a letter addressed to no particular person or company (such as a letter of recommendation); then you use capitals for the salutation:

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Subject Line
The subject line of a letter is an informal way of categorizing or titling the letter. Many letters in business must begin with a subject line after the salutation, a valuable aid in the distribution of mail that also facilitates filing. The subject line can be centered, but when the paragraphs are blocked, it is flush with the left margin.
Do not type “Re” or “Subject” before the subject line. Underline the subject line, but if it occupies more than one line, underline only the bottom line, letting the line extend the length of the longest line in the subject.
Be sure to word the subject line so that it is helpful. If the letter is about an order of silk, a subject line reading simply “Silk” would contribute nothing; instead, the subject line should read:
Silk Returned, Our Shipping Order 8939
The clerk opening the letter could promptly route it to the person within the organization best able to reply.

Contents
With the body of the letter, first consider its appearance. You must judge how long the letter will be and how much space it will occupy in order to place it on the page as within a picture frame—never too high, never too low, always with proper side margins. If you create the letter with word processing software, you can add spaces to the top of the letter or change the page margins after you have written the letter.
The body of the letter should be brief and straightforward. The letter should have the same ease as a personal conversation. Although you must write whatever your boss dictates, many times while typing you can ease the language a bit to improve its impression on the reader; it’s possible to do this with just a word or two more or less that won’t call attention to any change. Of course, you should always have your boss approve your revisions. It’s your responsibility to see that the letter going forth is creditable in every way to your employer’s interests.
The length of the letter should be in accordance with its importance. If the letter is too short, it may have a curt tone and may seem to slight the recipient. If the letter is too long, the recipient’s attention may wander after the first page, and he or she may not read the letter in its entirety.

Closing the Letter

Complimentary Close
When the salutation has been “Dear Sir” or “My Dear Sir,” no personal connection exists between the writer and the recipient. Thus, the complimentary closing can be “Yours truly” or “Very truly yours.” “Sincerely” or “Sincerely yours” is appropriate when there is an established personal as well as a business relationship, but it is used only in letters to individuals, never to a company. “Respectfully yours” appears only on letters addressed to a person of acknowledged authority or in letters of great formality.
Avoid the use of such complimentary closes as “Yours for lower prices” or “I remain” and other hanging phrases. In addition, “Cordially yours” is not suitable in a business letter. It is often used but this is incorrect since the phrase is too familiar for business. Avoid it.

The Signature
If in the body of the letter the writer has referred to we, us, or ours, the company—and not an individual in the company—is writing the letter. Consequently, the signature would then consist of the typed name of the company under the complimentary close, the space for the writer’s signature, and the typed name of the writer with his or her title. The whole signature is typed in block form beginning under the first letter of the complimentary close. In some blocked paragraph letters, the complimentary close begins at the left margin; then the signature also begins at the left margin.
Very truly yours,
GRAM’S QUILT COMPANY
Evelyn Wauson, President

Never put a line for the writer’s signature. This is a superfluous and old-fashioned practice.
When the writer has referred within the letter to I, me, my, or mine, this means that he or she—not the company—is writing the letter. Therefore, the writer’s name is typed with his or her title, omitting the company name entirely.
Very truly yours,
Evelyn Wauson, President

A woman may include a courtesy title in her typed signature, so as to allow the recipient of the letter to reply appropriately. Parentheses may be used:
(Miss) Louise A. Scott
Ms. Tina Anderson-Tate
Mrs. Pat Brueck
The courtesy title is blocked with the complimentary close, not extended to the left of it. For a married woman, the signature may consist of either the woman’s first name and her surname or her husband’s name preceded by Mrs. (no parentheses).
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Ruth Wilson

A widow may sign as though her husband were living. A divorced woman no longer uses the given name or initial of her former husband. She may use whatever courtesy title she wishes, whether or not she keeps her married surname.

Other Elements
Reference Initials   It’s no longer considered necessary to type reference initials—the initials of the letter writer and the typist. However, if the company requires identification of this kind for its files, show these on the file copy only and not on the original. The writer’s initials are typed in capitals, the typist’s in lowercase. To separate the two, use a colon or a slash. Many companies require only the typist’s initials since the writer’s initials are obvious from the signature of the letter.

When using a word processor, write the initials or name of the person dictating the letter on the office file copy.
 

Enclosures   Mention of enclosures should be placed two lines below the reference initials. It may seem to serve no purpose to add “Enc. 2” if the body of the letter mentions the enclosure of two papers. However, the mailing department may find this notation helpful to sort outgoing mail. In addition, as the recipient of such mail, this helps you keep the contents of letters together as you prepare to distribute them without having to read every line.
Postscript   Sometimes the letter writer will take advantage of the postscript—following the initials, with “P.S.” typed two spaces below the signature or reference initials—to dramatize some bit of information. This is acceptable. However, you should never use the postscript to add something that was forgotten during the writing of the letter. Instead, rewrite the letter.

A Last Look
Before you consider the letter finished, decide if it looks like a picture on the page; that is, have you centered the whole thing? Ask yourself: If you received this letter, would you be favorably impressed? Then check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation again.
A business letter should be folded neatly and precisely. The side edges must match, the text of the letter should be inside the folded letter rather than on the outside, and only the fewest folds for the perfect fit into the envelope must be used. Upon taking the letter from the envelope, the recipient should be able to begin reading the letter immediately and should find it attractive. Remember that this is the reader’s first impression of your organization.

Letters Written by the Administrative Assistant
Letters written over your own signature usually are acknowledgments of correspondence received while your boss is away, letters requesting appointments, follow-up letters, and letters requesting information that another administrative assistant can furnish. While these letters are an excellent opportunity to show your capability and initiative, always keep in mind that service to your boss and the company is the main factor in deciding which letters to write without dictation.
Many of the routine letters described in this guide may be handled electronically through email. However, because business letters are more formal, personal, and usually generate results better than email, many executives prefer them over email for certain types of correspondence. Regardless of whether the document is printed on paper or transmitted as an email or fax, you should follow the same guidelines.

Planning the Letter
Good ideas can be clouded by verbosity, while clear and forceful words make for quick understanding. Therefore, plan your letters before you write a word. You’ll save yourself precious time and effort and add to the company’s bottom line because the time element is the greatest cost connected with writing a letter.
To begin, ask yourself: Is this letter supposed to serve the writer, the reader, or both? Will the letter give information, or will it request information? Will it ask for action? What data must it contain? Before you write, be sure that you have all necessary information on the subject, so you can readily refer to previous correspondence or double-check your information. If you’re hazy about the subject of the letter, the reader will be, too.
In the first sentence, mention your purpose in writing so that the reader immediately knows what the letter is about. Then follow with whatever explanation is necessary, using a positive tone at all times—that is, words chosen to evoke a positive response. Speak directly to the reader from his or her own point of view, not from yours. The reader must see the advantages of replying favorably.
Use concise language, but be as natural as possible, as though you were speaking to the other person. Reserve the last sentence to request a response if there is to be further correspondence on the subject. Always make that last sentence complete, never hanging. A hanging statement is one that leads into the signature, such as “Hoping this meets with your approval, I am . . .” If that’s the thought you wish to express, state it instead as, “I hope this meets with your approval.”
In a business letter, there’s no place for cute or clever remarks or for slang. Your use of slang may be misinterpreted as your not knowing the correct English equivalent. Also avoid exaggeration, sarcasm, or any remarks derogatory to any person or to any product—even competitors.

Letters Written for the Employer’s Signature
Your boss may prefer that all letters be written over his or her name rather than having some letters written over yours. This may be true even if you compose the letters and have permission to sign the boss’s name yourself.
When you’re composing such a letter, use the boss’s characteristic language and style. If your employer usually dictates in a short, concise manner, word the letter in the same way. If your boss usually goes into detail, do the same. And when you sign your employer’s name, try to duplicate his or her handwriting as nearly as possible. In other words, make the reader think that your employer took the time to dictate the letter and sign it. To do less is an insult to the recipient.
Never write “Dictated but not read” or “Signed in Mr. Wilson’s absence.” It’s insulting to the recipient, implying that your employer either didn’t have the time or didn’t take the time to read and sign the letter personally. It also hints that you could not be trusted to write what your employer asked you to write.
For the same reasons, don’t sign the boss’s name and then add your initials beside it. If you find it useful to show the true writer and true signer, make a notation on only the file copy for future reference.
When you write a letter on your employer’s behalf but in your own name, sign it, but do not type your name below the signature line. Instead, type:
Sincerely yours,
Secretary to Mr. Wilson

Routine Letters
Encourage your boss to trust you with routine correspondence by emphasizing the enormous time savings it will produce. Then, when the boss discovers you can prepare such letters for signature without dictation, he or she may reward you with more challenging correspondence. Following are the types of routine letters you should be able to handle with ease.

Appointments and Acknowledgments
You may write letters that request an appointment for your boss or acknowledge letters requesting an appointment with him or her. In each letter, always refer to the reason for the appointment and the suggested time. Always request a confirmation.
If a certain time has been requested and your employer approves, confirm the appointment accordingly. If your boss will be occupied at the requested time, suggest another and ask for confirmation. Be sure to keep a record of appointments suggested and not yet confirmed. If there is ever a disagreement over whether your employer broke an appointment, you will have proof otherwise in writing. For this reason, if the back-and-forth process of setting an appointment moves from the letter to the telephone, always send a letter to confirm it in writing.

Follow Up
In some offices, secretaries use a follow-up file (or a tickler file) to check on delayed replies after a certain lapse of time. When you write a follow-up letter, refer to the previous correspondence, identifying the last letter by date as well as content, and perhaps enclosing a copy if it contains a great deal of detail that could be useful should the original not be available to the addressee.
If you have many follow-up letters to write, instead of composing separate reminders, prepare a form request that can be duplicated on the copier machine or in your word processor. When follow-ups are sent outside the company, often the enclosure of a stamped return envelope will speed a reply.

Sample Model Letters
When a letter is typical of ones you send out frequently, make an extra copy and place it in a special binder, and keep an electronic copy on your computer’s hard drive in a folder named “Sample Letters” so you can refer to it as a model when you have to write that sort of letter again.

Personal Letters
You’ll find that many of the letters in this “letter bank” will be from your boss to another businessperson, yet the subject will be personal in nature. These letters are among the most difficult to write, since they must display sincerity in a variety of situations: sending congratulations, declining invitations, offering condolences, and the like.

The sample business letters given below should use the salutation that your boss would normally use for the recipient. For the signature, use the name the employer is called by that recipient.

Personal Service and Hospitality
When a person has done your employer a personal service or has entertained the boss without financial remuneration when he or she is out of town, that person should be thanked in a letter that can be written by you.

Sample letters of congratulations and acknowledgments.

Dear John:
I have just read in The Wall Street Journal of your promotion to General Sales Manager. I don’t think that Smith and Company could have chosen a better person for the job.
Sincerely yours,
[signed] Phil
Dear John:
I appreciate your generous letter about my promotion to Executive Vice President. Such good wishes and kind words will help me do a better job, I’m sure.
Thanks for your note and for your valued friendship.
Sincerely yours,
[signed] Phil

Sample letters of condolences.

Dear Mrs. Wilson:
It is with great regret that I just read of your son’s passing.
I know no words of mine can console you in this sorrowful time, but I do want you to know of my deepest sympathy. You have many friends who are thinking of you.
Sincerely yours,
Philip Brown, President
Dear Mr. Crenshaw:
All of us at Thorne and Sons were saddened to learn of your wife’s death. We know there is nothing we can say to help you in this time of grief, but we do want you to know that we extend to you our very deep sympathy.
Sincerely yours,
Philip Brown, President
Dear Mrs. Holmes:
We at Liberty Oil Company were sorry to read of the tornado that struck your Denison factory. We know the loss was very great, but we know also that you will rise and go ahead with rebuilding.
If we can be of service in helping you overcome your present problems, please call on us. We have enjoyed doing business with R. G. Holmes Corporation and look forward to resuming our enjoyable relationship in the near future.
Sincerely yours,
Philip Brown, President

Sample letter of thanks.

Dear Henry:
Your card and beautiful bouquet of roses helped a great deal to make last week bearable.
I am back at the office and feel I shall be good as ever very soon. The accident was a shock, but with good friends like you, I know the days ahead will be brighter.
You may be sure that I appreciate your friendship all the more at a time like this.
Sincerely yours,
[signature only]

Sample letter of personal service and hospitality.

Dear Janet:
If it hadn’t been for your keen mind and able assistance, our recent sales meeting might have been a complete flop. Because I had never before conducted such a meeting, I certainly was lucky to have your help.
Thank you for your good judgment and wise suggestions.
Sincerely yours,
[signature only]

Introductions
Letters of introduction written by you for the boss’s signature may be mailed or prepared for delivery in person. Such letters should contain the name of the introduced person, the reason for the introduction, the personal or business qualifications of the person, and a courtesy statement.

Invitations
Letters of invitation should be gracious without undue formality. Always tell when, where, and why the event will take place.

Sample letter of introduction to a business associate.

Dear Mr. Fielding:
This will introduce a good friend of mine, John August, who is associated with our state’s Department of Commerce. He has heard of the fine work you are doing in Ohio and hopes he will have a chance to talk with you for a few minutes when he visits Cincinnati next Tuesday, March 22.
I have asked Mr. August to telephone you upon his arrival in Cincinnati to learn whether you can see him on that day. If you can, I shall appreciate it. I think you will enjoy meeting him.
It was great to see you at the Boston convention, and I look forward to the Buffalo convention in September.
Sincerely yours,
Philip Brown, President

Sample letter of introduction to a personal friend.

Dear Tom:
A very good friend of mine, John August, will be passing through Nashville on his way to Boston next Tuesday, and I have asked him to stop by your office. John is a fellow you will enjoy meeting.
I shall appreciate any courtesy you may extend to him while he is in Nashville—his first visit to your great city, by the way.
Sincerely yours,
[signature only]

Sample invitations to attend a luncheon or dinner.

Dear Mr. Brueck:
The American Consolidated Life Insurance Company is holding a dinner next Thursday evening honoring its million-dollar-a-year salespeople. Will you join us as our honored guest?
Since you would be seated at the head table, we are asking you to join us in Room 200 of the Waldorf Hotel at seven-thirty, so that we may arrive at the banquet room in a group.
Sincerely yours,
Nora Drake, President
Dear Roger:
Arthur Whitfield is coming to town next Friday, and Mary Smith and I are entertaining him at a luncheon at the Ritz. We hope you can set aside a couple of hours so as to join us. I am sure Arthur will be happy to see you, as Mary and I shall also.
The luncheon will be held in the Persian Room at twelve-fifteen.
Sincerely yours,
[signature only]

Sample invitation to give an address.

Dear Mr. Lee:
As President of the Chicago Rotary Club, I have been asked to arrange the program for our next Thursday noon meeting. I know that all of our Chicago Rotarians would like to hear the address you gave in Detroit last week (I was privileged to be in attendance there) on the subject of “The International Situation.”
Next Thursday’s meeting will be held in the Venetian Room of the Drake Hotel. I hope you will be with us to give our members the same treat you afforded the Detroit Rotarians.
Sincerely yours,
Philip Brown, President

Acceptance of Invitations
Letters of acceptance should be brief, appreciative, and enthusiastic. If the letter of invitation failed to include complete details, the letter of acceptance should ask for specific information.

Declinations
Letters declining an invitation should express appreciation and enthusiasm, with an assurance of regret or an explanation.
Because this cancellation comes so close to the date of the speech, this letter would immediately be delivered by messenger or would be faxed or emailed if the addressee is in another city. It is wise to follow up with a phone call.

Interoffice Memorandums and Emails
If the company you work for is large, much of your correspondence will be with other departments or perhaps with branch offices scattered throughout the company. The office memorandum, commonly called a memo, is a popular and inexpensive method of communicating with these fellow employees.

Sample acceptances of an invitation.

Dear Ms. Drake:
It is a pleasure to accept your invitation to attend the dinner next Thursday evening honoring your million-dollar-a-year salespeople.
I shall be in Room 200 of the Waldorf Hotel promptly at seven-thirty, as you request.
Thank you very much for your invitation.
Sincerely yours,
Philip Brown
Dear Mr. Stroman:
I shall be delighted to speak to the Chicago Rotary Club next Thursday. Thank you for inviting me.
Your suggestion that I repeat my Detroit address means that I won’t have to prepare a new one.
I shall look forward to seeing you in the Venetian Room at noon.
Sincerely yours,
Barry Lee

Sample letters of declination.

Dear Miss Drake:
Only yesterday, I accepted an invitation to speak in Boston on July 12, the date of your dinner meeting honoring your million-dollar-a-year salespeople. This will make it impossible for me to be your guest that evening.
It was kind of you to invite me, and I regret my inability to attend. I hope the occasion will be a very successful one.
Sincerely yours,
Steve Wauson
My Dear Mrs. Scott:
In reply to your letter of May 3 inviting me to participate in your association’s fund-raising campaign, I appreciate your thoughtfulness in writing to me.
I am familiar with your association’s good work, and in the past it has been my pleasure to contribute to it. It is with regret, therefore, that I must tell you that all my available funds for purposes of this nature have been pledged. It is not possible for me to be a party to your worthy program at this time.
You have my best wishes for a highly successful campaign.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Susan Wilson

Sample letter of declination.

Dear Mr. Bryson:
I dislike writing a letter that will cause someone inconvenience, but this one falls within that category, to my regret.
This morning, I was advised that a close relative had passed away in Denver, and I shall be leaving this afternoon to attend the service tomorrow, the day of your meeting.
I am sorry that I shall not be able to speak to your group and especially that you will have to find a speaker to replace me at this late date. I hope you understand that I am helpless to avoid this trip.
I hope your meeting will be successful in every way.
Sincerely yours,
Nora Drake, President

 

Sample interoffice memorandum.

A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, in my office to discuss with several carrier representatives suggested methods and costs to deliver our products to international markets. Your attendance is requested.
Distribution:
Tom Alberton
Martha Reeves

In most offices, paper memos have been replaced by emails. However, there are many types of communication that are inappropriate for email. For example, confidential information or information that should not be forwarded should be printed on paper and not sent as email.
Memos should be directed only to persons within the organization and should be signed or initialed by the sender. If a memorandum is confidential in nature, enclose it in a sealed envelope. If copies are sent to individuals other than the person or persons addressed, a notation to that effect should be made at the lower left corner of the form. 

Paper Selection
Paper selection is important for some written communications. Paper and envelopes come in various sizes, colors, and qualities. One way to rate a particular paper is by its basis weight. For example, 20-lb paper is often used in copy machines and laser printers, while 100-lb paper can be used for report covers.
Paper with rag content and cotton is more expensive than other varieties and is often a choice for letterhead. The standard size for letterhead is 8½ × 11 inches.

Envelopes
Envelopes come in a variety of sizes. Security envelopes have extra thickness so that documents cannot be read through the envelope by holding it up to a light source. Windowed envelopes have a clear plastic window that allows an address to show through. Typical envelope sizes include:
- No. 6¾—3⅝ inches × 6½ inches
- No. 9—3⅞ inches × 8⅞ inches
- No. 10—4½ inches × 9½ inches