business letter讲义.docx

business letter讲义.docx

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businessletter讲义

ChapterOneBusinessLetters（商务信函）

1.1Introduction

Businessletteristhemostfrequentlyusedformofcommunication.Itisveryimportantinthebusinessworld.Businessexecutivesaresupposedtowritegoodbusinesslettersastocarryoutbusinessroutineefficiently.Ifabusinessmanisunabletowriteaneffectivebusinessletter,itisverydifficulttorepresenthimselfpositively,whichmaycausesomeproblemsindoingbusiness.

Allbusinesslettershavetwomainfunctions.Oneistoaskforandgiveareplytoanenquiry,offer,orderorcomplaint.Theotheroneistokeeparecordofalltheimportantfactsforreadyreference.Aneffectivebusinessletterwillsaywhatthewriterwantsittosayclearlyandsimply.Itshouldbeprecise,straightforward,relevantandaction-centered.Itshouldalsobewritteninafriendly,formalstyleusingplainlanguage.Thus,inordertocommunicateeffectively,youshouldensurethatthelettersportrayyouasapproachable,caring,effectiveandprofessional.Inaddition,youshouldbeveryfamiliarwiththeestablishedlayoutandpracticeofbusinessletters.Therearethreestylesofbusinesscommunication:

thefullblockedstyle,theindentedstyleandthesemi-blockedstyle.Thefully-blockedstylewithopenpunctuationisthemostpopularmethodofdisplayforbusinessletters,becauseitisconsideredtobebusinesslike,simpleandprofessional.

Thebusinesslettercantellreadersalotaboutthewriterandthewriter’scompany.Abusinessletterthatisneat,easytoread,andpresentaprofessionalimagewillleaveagoodimpressiononthereader.Suchaletterhelpsthewriterasmuchasthereader,andwillprobablymeananearlierreply.Intoday’sglobalmarketplace,thereader’sfirstimpressionoftencomesfromtheappearanceofthedocumentsandthequalityofthepaper.Soyoushouldpaymoreattentiontothepaperquality,thepapercolor,thepapersizeandmargins.Firstly,neverusepaperthatistooflimsy.Secondly,whiteisthestandardcolorforbusinesspurposes,althoughlightcolorssuchasgrayandivoryaresometimesused.Thirdly,thesizeofpapersvariesslightlyfromcountrytocountry.IntheUnitedStates,thestandardpapersizeforbusinessdocumentsis8.5by11inches.Thelastbutnotleast,thedocumentistobecenteredinthepage,leavingatleastone-inchmarginsallaround.Wecanuseword-processingsoftwaretoachievethebalancebydefiningtheformat.

Thischapterisintendedtodevelopskillsinwritinggoodbusinessletters.Itcontainsguidelinesondevelopingpersonalwritingstyle,usingappropriatetoneandcomposingeffectivecommunicationsinmodernbusinesslanguage.

1.2WritingGuide

1.2.1TheEssentialsofBusinessLetterWriting

Sincethemainpurposeofbusinesscorrespondenceistoconveyamessage,thelettershouldbewritteninlanguagethatiseasilyunderstood.Thewritermustmakesurethatitshouldbefreefromgrammaticalblemishes,andalsofreefromtheslightestpossibilityofbeingmisunderstood.Therearecertainessentialqualitiesofbusinessletters,whichcanbesummedupinthefollowing7“Cs”principles.

1.Clarity

Youmusttrytoexpressyourselfclearly,sothatthereaderwillunderstand.Toachievethis,youshouldkeepinmindthepurposeoftheletteranduseappropriatewordsincorrectsentencestructurestoconveyyourmeaning.Weshouldalsoavoidambiguoussentences.Otherwise,thebusinessletterwillcausetroubletobothsides.Allinall,good,straightforwardandsimplelanguagearewhatareneededforbusinessletters.

2.Conciseness

Concisenessmeanssayingthingsinthefewestpossiblewords.Theeliminationofwordybusinessjargoncanhelptomakealetterclearerandatthesametimemoreconcise.Ifconcisenessconflictswithcourtesy,thenmakealittlesacrificeofconciseness.Generallyspeaking,toachieveconciseness,oneshouldtrytoavoidwordinessorredundancy.

3.Courtesy

Courtesyisnotmerepoliteness.Itshouldhardlybenecessarytostresstheimportanceofcourtesyinyourletters.Oneofthemostimportantthingsispromptness.Punctualitywillpleaseyourcustomerwhodislikeswaitingfordaysbeforehegetsareplytohisletter.Differencesareboundtooccurinbusiness,butwithdiplomacyandtacttheycanbeovercomeandsettledwithoutoffenceoneitherside.Rememberthatit’snearlyalwayswrongtodoubtastatementmadeingoodfaithbytheothersideandevenworsetocontradictit.Inlettersweshouldalwayskeepinmindthepersonwearewritingto,seethingsfromhispointofview,visualizehiminhissurroundings,seehisproblemsanddifficultiesandexpressourideasintermsofhisexperience.

4.Consideration

ConsiderationemphasizesYou-attituderatherthanWe-attitude.Whenwritingaletter,keepthereader’srequest,needs,desires,aswellashisfeelingsinmind.Planthebestwaytopresentthemessageforthereadertoreceive.

5.Correctness

Correctnessherereferstoappropriateandgrammaticallycorrectlanguage,factualinformationandaccuratereliablefigures,aswellastherightformsandconventions.Allfactsshouldbecheckedanddoublechecked.Specialattentionshouldalsobepaidtonamesofgoods,specification,quantity,figures,units,etc.

6.Concreteness

Tomakethemessagespecific,definiteandvividisthekeypointofconcreteness.Thewritermustensurethatthelettercontainsalltheinformationtherecipientneedstoactupon.Putyourselfinreader’splace.Itisnecessarytocheckthemessagecarefullybeforeitissentout.

7.Completeness

Likeanyotherletter,agoodbusinesslettershouldbecomplete,providingalltheinformationanddatanecessaryforaspecificissue.Ifanynecessarypieceofinformationislacking,thereaderwillhavetoaskforclarification,whichmeansthatyouwillhavetowriteanotherletter.Itwillnotonlywastetime,energyandmoney,butalsodamagetheimageofyourcompany.

1.2.2TheStructureofBusinessLetters

Businessletterhasitsspecialformats.Intheformalbusinessletters，weusuallyuse12factors.Theyareletterhead,reference,date,insideaddress,attentionline,salutation,subjectline,body,complimentaryclose,signature,IECblock,postscript.Amongthem，thereturnaddress,date,insideaddress,salutation,body,complimentarycloseandsignaturebelongtothestandardfactorsandmustbecontainedintheformalbusinessletters.Whethertouseotherfactorsdependsonthespecificsituation.Theapproximatelocationsofthesefactorsinabusinessletterareasfollows:

Letterhead

Referencenumber

Date

Insideaddress

Attentionline

Salutation

Subjectline

Body

Complimentaryclose

Signature

IECblock

Postscript

Whilethehorizontalplacementofletterpartsmayvary,theverticalorderofthesepartsisstandard.Thefollowingsarethemostcommoncomponentsandformats.

1.TheBasicComponentsofBusinessLetters

（1）LetterheadForletterstooutsiders,manycompaniesuseletterheadstationerywhichisprofessionallyprintedatthetopofthepage,thoughsomeareprintedatthebottomorevenattheupper-leftcornerofthepage.Theletterheadindicatesthename,address,telephone,faxnumberandE-mailaddressofthecompanysendingtheletter.Ithelpstherecipientidentifythecompanyfromwhichthesendercomesjustataglance.Ifletterheadstationeryisnotavailable,youcantypetheheading,whichincludesareturnaddress,andleavesaboutatwo-inchtopmargin.

（2）DateWritingdateinEnglishgoesintwostyles:

oneisAmericanstyle,andtheotherisBritishstyle.ThestandardorderoftypingthedateintheU.S.ismonth,day,year.Forexample:

September12,2008.WhileinBritain,thestandardorderisday,month,year.Forexample:

12September,2008.Thedaycanbewrittenortypedineithercardinalnumbers（1,2,3,4,etc.）orinordinalnumbers（1st,2nd,3rd,4th,etc.）.Themonthandtheyearhadbetternotbewrittenintheirabbreviationforms,otherwise,itmayeasilycauseconfusion.Forexample,12/09/2007intheU.S.wouldmeanDecember9,2007,whileinBritainitmeans12September,2007.Thereisnoruleforthedateplacement.Ifyouuseletterheadstationery,placethedateonetothreeblanklinesbeneaththeletterhead.Ifwithoutletterhead,placethedateimmediatelybelowthereturnaddress.

（3）InsideNameandAddressGenerally,theinsidenameandaddressshouldincludesomeorallpartsofthefollowing:

thenameoftherecipient,thedepartmentname,companyname,suiteorroomnumber,streetaddress,city,postcode,state/provinceandcountry.Ofalltheseparts,postcodeisveryimportant,ithelpstofacilitatemechanicalmail-sorting.Theinsidenameandaddressappearsontheleftmarginandusuallystartstwotofourlinesbelowthedate.Itappearsexactlythesamewayasontheenvelope.

IfthereceiveroftheletterisintheU.S.,theaddressalsoincludesthenameofthestatewhichmustbetypedincapitalizedtwoletterabbreviationfollowedbyZIPcode.ThesamewayisalsousedfortheprovincesandterritoriesinCanadianaddress.

Precedetheaddressee’snamewithacourtesytitle（suchasMr.,Ms.orDr.）.Ifyoudonotknowwhetherapersonisamanorawoman,andyouhavenowaytofindout,omitthecourtesytitleandgivethefullname.

Theperson’sjobtitlecanbeplacedonthesamelineoftheperson’sname,oronthelinebelow.Trytosquaretheaddressasmuchaspossible.Ifthetitleappearsonthesameline,placeacommabetweenthenameandthetitle.Ifitappearsonthenextlinedispensewiththecomma.e.g.:

①Mr.DickEaton,President

②Ms.PatriciaT.Higgins

AssistantVicePresident

Ifthenameofaspe