10 Formatting a Formal Business Letter Information
10 Formatting a Formal Business Letter Information
Business Letters are a formal communication that business use outside of their business. There is a proper way to format a business letter. Appropriate spacing and positioning of the parts of a business letter are important. Please refer to the diagram of a business letter on page 3.
Business Letterhead: The letter head contains the following information on separate lines: (See Illustration of Letterhead)
Company Name
Street address of the company City, State, Zip Code
Phone number
E-mail address.
Business Letterhead: The letterhead information is centered on the page. To center a letter head, select the entire letterhead. From the HOME tab find the Paragraph Group. Locate the alignment that shows lines that are centered. Hover the mouse over the icon and it will indicate if you have chosen correctly.
The Company Name may be bolded and may have a larger font. After all the other information for the letterhead is inputted, there may be a solid line that goes margin to margin under that information.
Solid Line: After the last letter in an email address, enter once. Press the shift key plus the underline key (which is on the keyboard to the left of the plus sign – (SHFT+_). The Shift key is used for the underline key because the symbol for the underline is at the top of the key and can only be accessed by a Shift key. With SHIFT key pressed down, strike the underline key seven or eight time. Release the SHIFT key and Underline key. Press the [Enter] key. A solid line displays from margin to margin.
Following the letterhead information and solid drawn line, press the [ENTER] key three times.
Personal letterhead. Sometimes you may send a thank you letter for a job interview, or a letter requesting information. A personal letterhead is exactly the same as the letterhead for the company except that you use your own personal information
Your own name
Own street address
Own City, State, Zip Code
Own phone number
Own email.
Your name can be in a larger font and can also be bolded. A solid line can be put after your personal email. Follow the steps on Solid Line above. Also press [ENTER] three times after your personal letterhead.
Date. The next item typed in a business letter is the date. You ALWAYS spell out the month in a business letter. You would not use “th” or “rd” after the date. We may say the fifth or the third but those letters are not typed for the date. (See illustration for business letter dates.)
Following the year, press the [ENTER] key five times.
Inside Address. This is the address that also appears on the envelope. It is the mailing address of the individual or company where the letter is being sent. .
- The first line of the inside address consists of the recipients title (such as Mr. Ms. Mrs., Dr., etc); recipient’s first and last name on the first line. Sometimes, if there is a position title (such as Owner) a comma follows the last name and the title is put on the same line as the ind