资源简介

(共27张PPT)

Chapter One
Essentials and Formats
of Business Letters
Section One Formats of Business Letters
Heading
Recipient’s address
Salutation
Subject line
Body
Close or complimentary close
Signature
Enclosure
The heading, in full, consists of the address of the sender and the date.
Most business paper is printed with a letterhead giving the name of the company, as well as its address.
Bright Electronic Inc
11F, 868 East Longhua Road, Suit B, Shanghai, China
(86) 21-5306-8899
www..cn
2.The date is important and should never be omitted. It goes immediately below the address. In order to avoid misunderstanding, the name of the month should be spelled out in full.
January 5th , 2012 ( American style)
5th January, 2012 ( British style)
Heading
Name of person addressed
Title of person addressed
Name of the organization
Street number and name
City, state and postal code
Country of destination

·Recipient’s address
The customary salutations in business letters are:
Dear Sir / Madam:
Dear Mr. / Ms (Family name): Dear Mr. Lin
Dear (name): Dear Nina
To Whom It May Concern:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Salutation:
It should use boldface, underlining, or other print means for highlight.
Subject line:
The body of a letter is the main part of the message. Since its main purpose is to convey a message, the letter should be written in easily understandable language.
Body:
Close or complimentary close:
Formal close: Your truly, Yours faithfully, Respectfully yours
Informal close: Sincerely, Sincerely yours
Personalized close: Love, Best wishes, Best Regards
Signature:
The signature, the name of the person who wrote the letter, should always be written by hand, and then followed the printed name and title.
Jacky Smith
Jacky Smith
Office Manager
Enclosure:
The enclosure appears in the lower left-hand corner, indicating anything that is included. You may write:
We are enclosing …
Enclosed is …
Please find enclosed…

Then list the names of each enclosure:
Enclosures:
Invoice 23890
Packing List 3678
Fill in the letter.
Mary Liu, Sales Manager of Rainbow Textiles Company ( Address: 15F, 1 Pudong Ave., Pudong New Area, Shanghai; Tel.: 5861-0088, www..cn ), is writing a letter to Jonathan Sachs, Sales Manager of Benton Bolt Company ( Address: 344 Dakota Street, Bilville, South Dakota, 60375, USA) about the delay of the order number 987. In the letter, Mary needs to explain the reason of the delay and the measure they have taken. At the end of the letter, Mary wants to give Jonathan their latest catalogue and price list for their further information. Below is a frame page of a business letter. Put the above information in its appropriate items.
(1)__________________
(2)
Exercises:
Jonathan Saches
Rainbow Textiles Company 15F, 1 Pudong Ave. Pudong New Area, Shanghai
Tel.: 86-21-5861-0088
www..cn
Sales Manager
Benton Bolt Company
344 Dakata Street, Bilville, South Dakata 60375, USA
(3)_______
(4)____________
(5)__________________
(6)__________________________
(7)__________
(8)_______________________
Enclosures: the latest catalogue and price list
Date
Dear Jonathan
Sub.: Delay of the Order No. 987
Body: the reason and the measures…
Sincerely
Mary Liu
Sales Manage
a. Dear Sir
ii All the best
b. Fred i. Best regards
c. Hi Isabel
ii. With very best regards
d. Dear Dr. Somerset i. Yours sincerely
e. Hello everyone i. Yours faithfully

Match the opening greeting with the most suitable close.
i. Yours faithfully
ii. Yours sincerely
i. Yours sincerely
ii. Best wishes
ii. Regards
Section Two Essentials in Business Writing
Step One Plan Your Task
Business writing is characterized by rigor in organization, conciseness in expression and precision in meaning. Good writing requires good planning.
Before you write, you need to take the following into careful consideration:

Your purpose: Why are you writing
Your readers will expect you to make your purpose clear to them in your documents. Accordingly, what you have to do is to determine what you want your readers TO DO, TO KNOW and TO FEEL.

Your readers: Who will read your documents And why do they need to read your documents
Your documents are what will capture your readers’ attention, and their priorities, interest, and needs should be well considered.
Remember … write to your readers’ needs.

Resources: Who can help you What information, data, models is available to help

Format: What form should the document take Is it a memo, report, letter, proposal, or agenda Do you need to use some tablets, illustrations, charts or other visuals to help you express more clearly
Step Two Design Your Message

Write an effective subject line.

A subject line should be informative and interpretive, giving both the purpose and the key facts related to it. To write an effective subject line:

(1) Begin with a signal word.

(2) Summarize your most significant Do / Know statements.
Invitation to enjoy the benefits of FIVESTAR TRAINING at lower cost
Proposal to build a company child-care center

2. Convey your message clearly and well-organized in the body of the documents.

Include your main points in the first lines of your document. Its opening lines usually repeat the words and phrases of the subject line.

(2)The middle paragraphs are to state your ideas clearly with detail information or instructions. Keep each paragraph short and concise.

Limit paragraphs to a single topic. You may write informative heading for each paragraph. Then generate supporting ideas under headings.

For several information to convey, use numbers, letters, bullets, or dashes to identify each item.

Do not allow paragraphs to become too long.

Provide transitions between paragraphs.

(3)Restate your purpose in the last paragraph. Sometime you need to make a conclusion of what you have written, summarize your ideas or express your willingness to give assistance.
Step Three Revise Your Document

Be clear in every detail.
Clarity means that your letter is clear enough not to cause any misunderstanding; When you are sure about what you want to say, say it in plain, simple words. Good, straight-forward, simple English is what is needed for business writing.

2. Be concise.
Conciseness means saying all that needs to be said and no more. To be concise, a message must be both brief and complete.

3. Be correct.
When you are confident that your document meets the criteria for clarity and consciences, you are ready to do the proofreading. At this stage you should focus on grammar and spelling.
1．Avoid big words.
2. Prefer the specific to the general.
3. Break up your writing into short sections.
4. Use visuals.
5. Use the active voice.

Five tips for better writing a letter
Please write a subject line for the following two passages.
Subject: ____________________
For the past 6 months, we have had to repair our copy machine on an average of twice one week. Needless to say, the cost of repairs and loss of productivity have been substantial. I recommend we include our request for a new copier in the annual budget.

Subject: ______________________
Please plan to present your proposal to hire three new assistants at the weekly management meeting on June 4 at 3 pm in the Conference Room. You will have 20 minutes. An overhead projector, screen, and whiteboard are available for your use. If you need anything else, call me at extension 4878. Thanks.
Exercises:
Invitation to Present Your Proposal in Management Meeting June 4
Request for New Copier to Prevent Costly Repairs and Productivity Losses
Order the following sentences into a document.
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Hire Three New Auditors for Next Fiscal Year
The new auditors would ensure improved accuracy in our work.
I recognize the impact on our budget will be significant, but two benefits will immediately offset the increase in budget.
Three new auditors would enable us to shorten our cycle time from 90 to 57 days.
I recommend we hire three new auditors in the next fiscal year.
During the last 2 years, we have lost five significant clients because our cycle time is so long.
These mistakes are embarrassing and currently have us in legal trouble with A.J, Masterson.
In all, I think adding three new auditors would greatly improve our efficiency and accuracy.
Our major competitors can complete au audit in less than 67 days.
We are making mistakes because we do not have sufficient human power to properly review our reports.
(4)- (2) – (3) – (5) – (8) – (1) – (9) – (6) – (7)
1. He likes to swim, to skate and playing tennis.
2. All employees are requested to submit his Performance Review by the end of this week.
3. He was too inexperienced.
4. In my opinion, I think your proposal is not feasible.
5.The West Lake is famous for its large area and having beautiful scenery.
6. The lack of internet service being one of the greatest drawbacks.
7. To apply for this position, an application form must be filled out.
8. Fortunately, the fire was put out before any damage was done by the firemen.
9. Not only has he completed the task, he found himself seriously ill.
10.As we all know, no one can always succeed in his work.
The following sentences are not well written. Please rewrite them.
Section Three Tone of the Business Letters
FORCEFUL TONE
Forceful tone is used when addressing subordinates or others who, basically, have to do what you tell them to do. You are not asking them; you are ordering them in no uncertain terms — which you can do, because you have the power. To achieve a forceful tone in your writing:
Use the active voice.
2. Be direct, clear and positive.
3. Take a stand.
4. Avoid hedge phrases and weasel words — language that equivocates rather than speaks plainly and directly (e.g., “might,” “may,” “perhaps”).
5. Don’t qualify or apologize.
PASSIVE TONE
Passive tone is used when addressing superiors and others who, basically, you have to listen to and please — bosses, customers, clients. To achieve a passive tone in your writing:
1. Suggest and imply.
2. Do not insist or command.
3. Use the passive voice when possible.
4. Use qualifiers (for example, “might be,” “may,” “approximately,” “roughly”).
5. Divert attention from the problem to the solution.
6. Focus on the solution to the problem, rather than assigning blame.
PERSONAL TONE
Personal tone is used when you want to give support or establish or improve a relationship. It is most appropriately used with people you know, rather than strangers, or at least with people whose situations you know about and empathize with. To achieve a personal tone in your writing:
1. Be warm.
2. Use the active voice.
3. Use personal pronouns ( “I,” “we,” “you,” and so forth).
4. Use the person’s name.
5. Use contractions (we’ll, it’s, they’re, can’t).
6. Write in a natural, conversational style.
7. Write in the first person (“I”) and in the second person (“you”).
IMPERSONAL TONE
Impersonal tone is used when you either want to keep a relationship on a strictly professional level, or when you want to distance yourself from the other person or the subject at hand. Impersonal tone is also used when the relationship is adversarial, or to stress the urgency and serious nature of the situation being written about. To achieve an impersonal tone in your writing:
1. Do not use the person’s name.
2. Avoid personal pronouns when possible.
3. Use the passive voice when possible.
4. Write in the third person (for example, “the company,” “the vendor”).
5. Write in a corporate or formal style.
6. Be remote and aloof.

(1) a. Thank you for your recent order for 100,000 pieces of “Flying” T-shirts.
b. I am in receipt of your order for 100,000 pieces of “Flying” T-shirts.

(2) a. You failed to send your order to us before the new prices were introduced.
b. Unfortunately, we did not receive your order before the new prices were introduced.

(3) a. I am afraid customers are expected to check that goods are satisfactory on delivery.
b. It is not our fault if you do not check whether the goods are satisfactory on delivery.

(4) a. We shall be happy to send our engineer to your site as soon as his heavy scheduler permits.
b. Our engineer is very busy and has no time to come to your site. He is busy dealing with other accounts.


Exercise : Following are examples of four pairs of expressions. Think which one is better And why
Section Four Length of the letter
Whenever possible, keep your letter to one page. Today’s busy readers really appreciate seeing that everything is on one side of a sheet of paper. If you have more to say, you can go to a second page, and possibly a third. No more than that. Exceptions include sales letters marketing products by mail (those can run four to eight pages or more) and family letters.
For ordinary business correspondence, if your letter is taking up more than one side of two or three sheets, consider splitting the content between a shorter letter and an attachment or enclosure, such as a report.

The art of being concise in your letter writing can require considerable effort in the rewriting and editing stage. Philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote to a friend and apologized for sending a long letter. He said, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time.”

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