Principles of Business Writing / Principles of letter Writing / Correspondence, Letter Formats, Punctuation Styles

1.            Elements (Basic Principles) of

Business Writing / Principlles of letter writing

Effective communication is the soul of any business. It is not possible to run a business successfully without effective communication. Most of the communication in a business organisation is done through writing. Business letters, reports, office memoranda form the core of any business. 

The objectives of business writing are different from those of other types of writing. The aim in all business writing is to communicate a message clearly and unambiguously rather than to provide aesthetic pleasure. The writer does not aim at impressing the reader through a display of his command over the language or create a thing of beauty that people would cherish for generations. It is simply to get things done in a manner which increases productivity and improves the quality of the products and thus earns higher profits for the organisation. In order to make business writing effective, we have to follow certain rules which are known as the elements or basic principles of business communication. Given below are the seven basic principles of business of communication recommended by experts in business writing which are sometimes referred to as the seven Cs of business communication.

1.     Clarity – The most important rule to be followed in business communication is clarity. The message must be clear and it must be expressed in a language that cannot be misunderstood.

i.                    Clarity of thought – To achieve the aim of clarity, the writer must have a clear idea of the objective of his communication. He must also have a clear idea of what he wants to communicate. At the same time, he should also be able to visualise clearly what response the message would generate in the receiver. He must also have a clear idea of what would be the most suitable medium for the kind of message he wants to communicate and the audience to whom he wants to communicate it.

ii.                 Clarity of expression – The message should be communicate through language which can be easily and correctly understood by the intended receiver. The following guidelines may be followed to achieve this aim:

a.     Familiar vocabulary: One should use the most commonly used words which the people around are familiar with and can easily understand. It is undesirable to use strange, difficult and pompous vocabulary just to impress the receiver with one’s command over the language.

b.     Short and simple sentences: We should use short and simple sentences which are easy to interpret. Complex, complicated and involved structures should be avoided as far as possible because they can confuse the receiver. Instead of saying

          We are going to launch a new model of our air conditioner which will not only be less costly but also be more effective as well as economical as it will consume less power and achieve higher cooling in less time because of the new technology that we have used in making it.

We can say

We are going to launch a new model of our air conditioner. It will cost less than the old model. We have used new technology to make it. It will make it more effective. It will achieve greater cooling in less time. It will consume less power. So, it will also be economical.

c.      Active rather than passive voice: Active voice conveys the message more directly than passive voice. It is better to say ‘We will immediately look into your complaint and find a solution’ than to say ‘Your complaint will be looked into immediately and a solution will be found’.

d.     Use one word instead of many if possible: If you can use one familiar word in place of many words, it will make your message easier to understand. For example, instead of saying ‘in close proximity to’, you can say ‘near’.

e.     Avoid jargon: The specialised terminology used by people belonging to a certain field of specialisation is known as jargon. Jargon words should be avoided as far as possible especially if the receiver of the message does not belong to the same field of specialisation as you because it is likely to create problems in understanding the message.

f.       Use verbs instead of nouns: Verbs should be preferred to nouns as far as possible because they give the message more directly. Instead of saying ‘We have arrived at the decision ---------’, we can say ‘We have decided -------.’

g.     Avoid ambiguity: Try to avoid language which can be interpreted in more ways than one. It can lead to misunderstanding and confusion. If you say ‘Flying planes can be dangerous’, It is not clear whether you mean that the planes that fly can be dangerous or the act of flying planes can be dangerous.

h.     Use concrete language: Do not use language in your correspondence. Try to be precise and concrete. Instead of saying early or late, give the exact time and instead of saying economical or expensive, give the exact price.

2.     Conciseness: Keep your message as brief as possible. A compact message is more effective and easier to understand than a long one which contains a lot of information not required at all. The reader gets lost in the maze of words and the essential message may be lost on him. To achieve this aim,

                                                                                      i.            Do not use long introductions. Come to the point straight away.

                                                                                    ii.            Be relevant. Do not include anything in your communication which is not required. It makes difficult for the reader to pick the grain from the chaff.

                                                                                  iii.            Use single words in place of long and wordy expressions.

But be careful that conciseness is not at the cost of clarity. A laconic message which does not make your intention clear is of no use.

3.     Completeness:  It means that your communication should be complete in all respects. It should include all the required information. An incomplete message can do more harm than good.

                                                        i.            It is discourteous and can irritate the receiver and thus lead to strained relations.

                                                      ii.            It results in the wastage of time and energy as well as money – your own as well as of the receiver. The receiver will have to continue writing to you until he gets all the required information and you will have to write back to him several times instead of just once.

                                                    iii.            Incomplete information can lead to wrong decisions and thus result in loss to the organisation.

                                                   iv.            If an external party is involved, it may lead to disputes and avoidable litigation.

To make your information complete, make sure that you have answered the six necessary questions – who, what, when, where, why and how.

If you are replying to a communication, make sure that you have given all the information sought by the other party and answered all his questions.

4.     Correctness: Be careful that the information that you are giving is correct and reliable in all respects. If you are doubtful about the information being given, verify it before you give it. If you do not have the required information, you had better ask for time to get it instead of giving wrong information. Incorrect information within the organisation can result in wrong decisions and losses to the organisation. It also ruins your personal credibility. Incorrect information supplied to an external party can result in disputes and litigation. It can also hurt the reputation and credibility of your organisation.

5.     Candidness: It is also important to be candid in your communication. Always try to be honest and sincere in your message and the give the information which you really believe to be correct. Never try deliberately to conceal the facts or to distort them even if they are unpleasant. Any effort to befool somebody by knowingly giving wrong information is sure to come to light sooner or later. And when the truth becomes known, it can be unpleasant for you as well as for your organisation. It can lead to disputes, litigation, wrong decisions, and losses and ruin the fair image of the organisation.

6.     Courtesy:  Courtesy is another important requirement of business writing. Discourteous communication can offend the receiver and lead to strained relations. Being courteous involves a great many things.

                                                        i.            The first requirement of courtesy is that you should be prompt in answering the communications that to receive. Do not keep the other fellow waiting for days as the information sought by him may be crucial and a delay may result in losses.

                                                      ii.            Make liberal use of the markers of politeness like please, kindly, pray etc. They cost nothing but the returns they bring are very high.

                                                    iii.            If you happen to make any error of omission or commission, apologise as soon as you realise it even if it is inadvertent and assure the fellow that you did not mean to do so.

                                                   iv.            If anybody does you a favour, do not forget to express your sense of gratitude. Thank them liberally. They will feel elated if you do so.

                                                     v.            If somebody else makes a mistake and then, when he realises it, apologises, tell him that you did not mind it at all and that there is no need for an apology. Assure him that he need not let the matter worry him at all.

                                                   vi.            Do not use language that may hurt the self-respect of the receiver. Avoid using humiliating words like ignorant, stupid, inconsiderate etc.

7.     Consideration: In all business writing, you must show the receiver that you have a great regard for him and his interests. Your correspondence should reflect the immense importance you give him.

                                                        i.            To do so, you should always use language which shows that you care for his dignity and self-respect. Never use a word which is likely to humiliate him or injure his self-respect. Never be rude or arrogant in you correspondence with people.

                                                      ii.            To adopt the ‘you attitude’ is another way of showing consideration. It means not only giving preference to the pronoun ‘you’ over ‘I’ or ‘we’ and use it as much as you can but also assuring him that you attach great value to your relationship with him and that his interest is the uppermost in your mind. It does not mean, of course, that you should subordinate your own interests to his. But you must give him the feeling that your interests are common and you are eager to promote them.

                                                    iii.            Consideration also requires you to avoid gender bias. If you use the traditionally male oriented language, it may hurt the self-respect of the person you are communicating with if the person happens to be a female. You can avoid gender bias by using the following tips:

a.     Wherever possible, try to use gender neutral terms like chairperson instead of chairman. If that is not possible, you can use a slash and make use of both the terms, male and female. For example, instead of using the salutation ‘sir’, you can use ‘sir/madam’.

b.     Sometimes you can avoid gender bias by using the plural pronoun instead of the singular one. For example, you can say ‘Everyone is requested submit their leave application in advance’.

c.      At other times, it may be possible to use the definite article ‘the’ instead of the possessive ‘his/her’ as in ‘It will be appreciated if everyone gets the casual leave sanctioned in advance’.

                                                   iv.            Always use positive language in all your communications. Even if you have to give a negative message, make it less hurtful by using positive language. Instead of bluntly telling an applicant for a job that he has been rejected, you can say, “We are sorry to inform you that we are would like to do so at some future date.” It is due to this reason that business organisations have started using terms like ‘customer service cell’ instead of ‘complaint cell or grievances cell’.

1.            Nature and Functions of Letters

Letter writing is a familiar activity. Every literate person has to write a letter once in a while. While it is a passion with some people to write letters, others undertake the activity only sometimes as and when the occasion arises. We may have to write different types of letters at different times.

Primarily, there are three types of letters that people may have to write from time to time.

i.                               Private letters:

Private letters are letters that we write as social beings to our relatives, friends and acquaintances, sometimes even to people we may not be very close to. The purpose of these letters is generally to build relationships, to keep relationships alive, to infuse warmth into them and make them stronger. They may sometimes be written with a specific purpose in view such as a son residing in a hostel writing a letter to his father requesting him to send some money. For the most part, these letters are a part of our social interaction as private citizens with other citizens and do not involve any kind of official relationship

Private letters always follow informal style. They have a certain degree of warmth and intimacy and may sometimes contain some private information. They are intimate, lively in tone, interesting and warm. They generate a feeling of an actual meeting between the writer and the receiver of the letter. They reflect the relationship that the writer has with the receiver.

ii.                             Official Letters:

Official letters are letters written to people holding some official position for some purpose related to their position. Unlike private or personal letters, they are polite and formal in style. The warmth and intimacy found in private letters is conspicuously missing.

These letters may be written to make a request for a service, to communicate a complaint or grievance and have it redressed, or to draw attention to some problem.

iii.                            Business Letters:

Business letters are the kind of letters that business organisations have to write in the pursuit of their business. They are related to the different activities that business people have to engage themselves in to run their business successfully and to make it flourish. There are a variety of purposes for which they may be written. Making inquiries,  asking for quotations, placing orders, making complaints and claims, answering claims and complaints, promoting sales, seeking professional advice, satisfying the customers, collecting payments, arranging loans, getting credit are just some of the purposes for which they may be written. They require you to be courteous, patient, helpful, appreciative and respectful. Besides, they must be concise, precise, clear and unambiguous.

Punctuation styles in letters

Three different punctuation styles are used in different letter formats.

i.                    Open Punctuation: In this style, no punctuation sign is used in any part of the letter except the body. However, normal punctuation is used in the body.

ii.                  Mixed Punctuation: In this style, four commas and one full stop are used in the parts of a letter above and below the body. The first comma occurs between the date and the year, the second comes after the house number or shop number in the address, the third occurs after the salutation and the fourth is placed after the complimentary close. The full stop is used at the end of the inside address. Normal punctuation is used in the body.

iii.                Close Punctuation: In close punctuation, a number of commas are used in the upper and lower parts of the letter.

There is a comma between the date and the year, a comma after every element in the address and a comma after the salutation and the complimentary close. A full stop is used at the end of the inside address. Normal punctuation is used in the body of the letter.

Writing Styles for Different Types of Letters

1.                 Private Letters  

……………………………………………………………………………………

Writer’s Address

Date………………..

Salutation

Body of the letter

Complimentary Close

Signature………………..

Name if signature is illegible

Note – Some people use printed letterheads for writing private letters. In that case, the name and address of the writers is already printed at the top middle of the page. In this case, there is no need to repeat them at the places shown above.

2.                 Official Letters or Applications

To

                              The ……………………..

                              …………………………….

                              ……………………………..

Subject…………………….

Salutation

Body

Complimentary Close

Date…………………                                     Signature………………                                       Name……………………

3.                 Business Letters

i.                   Heading (Name and postal address of the organisation)

Phone No., Fax No. and email ID may also be included

ii.                 Date………………………

iii.              Reference……………………

iv.               Receiver’s Address

v.                 Subject

vi.               Salutation

vii.            Body of the letter

viii.          Complimentary Close

ix.               Signature

x.                 Name

xi.               Identification Mark

xii.            Distribution List

xiii.          Enclosures

Note – The exact location of these elements, however depends on the format (style) used for writing the letter.

Formats Used for Writing Business Letters

There are five different formats used by different people for writing business letters. The choice depends on the preference of the organisation or the person writing the letter.

1.     Complete Block Format / Style

·        In this format, all the parts of the letter except the heading are aligned with the left margin.

·        The heading is written at the top middle of the page.

·        The parts are separated from one another by leaving one line space empty.

·        The paragraphs in the body of the letter are also aligned with the left margin and separated from one another by leaving one line space empty. No line of any paragraph is indented.

·        Open punctuation is used, which means that no punctuation sign is used in the parts of the letter above and below the body. Normal punctuation is used in the body.

·        This format is the most popular format these days as it is easy to follow and saves a lot of time and energy wasted in moving the cursor right and left in accordance with the requirements of the other formats. However, some people avoid it because it is imbalanced and very heavy on the left side.

2.     Block Format / Style

·        In this format, the dateline, the complimentary close, the signature, name and designation are aligned with the right margin. The heading is written at the top middle of the page.

·        All the other parts are aligned with the right margin.

·        All the lines of the paragraphs in the body are aligned with the left margin.

·        The different parts of the letter and the paragraphs in the body are separated by double spacing i.e. by leaving one line space empty. Within the parts and the paragraphs, single spacing is used.

·        Mixed punctuation is used, which means that four commas are used, one between the date and the year, the second after the house or shop number in the inside address, the third after the salutation and the fourth after the complimentary close. One full stop is used at the end of the inside address. Normal punctuation is used in the body.

This side also saves a lot of the stenographer’s time as most parts of the letter are aligned with the left margin. It also gives a balanced appearance as some parts are aligned with the right margin.

3.     Semi-Block Format / Style

This style is like the block style in all other respects except that in it, the first line of each paragraph in the body is indented five or ten letter spaces. In this format also, mixed punctuation is used as in the block format. Those who use it say that it is easier to read paragraphs with the first line indented.

4.     Indented Format / Style

·        In this format, the dateline, the complimentary close, the signature, name and designation are aligned with the right margin.

·        All other parts are aligned with the left margin.

·        In the parts which cover more than one line, each new element is indented two to four spaces.

·        The first line of each paragraph is indented five or ten spaces but the other lines are aligned with the left margin.

·        Close punctuation is used, which means that there is a comma between the date and the year, a comma after every element in the address and a full stop at the end of it. A comma is also used after the salutation and the complimentary close. Normal punctuation is used in the body.

·        The first line of each paragraph in the body is indented five or ten spaces but the other lines are aligned with the left margin.

·        This format is the oldest format and the most difficult to follow because of the use of a number of commas and a lot of indenting of the lines.

5.     Hanging indented Format / Style

·        This format is like the block format except that the first line of each paragraph is aligned with the left margin and the other lines are indented two to more letter spaces.

·        It has a very unusual appearance which may sometimes distract attention from the message.

·        It wastes a lot of time and energy because of a large number of indentations. Therefore, it is not very popular.