business letter讲义.docx
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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
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