Writing for business purposes requires the adherence to a more rigid structure than is present in personal correspondence. Business writing, whether in the form of a letter, proposal, report, or other document, is bound by certain accepted standards. The presentation of a business document is of the great importance and it is for this reason that a uniform standard exists for most types of business correspondence. Deviating from the uniform standards often conveys a lack of competence and professionalism. Although it is usually a writing skill that is taught in the early stages of business education, it will remain a necessary skill throughout one’s business career. Below is business writing for letter, report and proposal introduced to help in writing for business.

■Business Letter

Letter writing is definitely an art. However, when it comes to business letter writing etiquette, you are supposed to follow a typical format where, the language used should be formal, polite and decent. You are required to write a business letter for making an inquiry, fixing an appointment, replying to an inquiry, for sales, purchase, accounts etc., for writing a cover letter while applying, for reference letters, for writing a business proposal etc. In a business letter, certain format with clear tone and courteous language is to be strictly applied. Usually, business letters are so written to reflect a “positive attitude”.

■Writing for the Recipient

Often writers are not attentive about focusing on the recipient, writing for themselves instead. As a writer, you know what is in your mind and what you intend to communicate, so you take it for granted that the recipient will too. However, if the recipient had already understood what you have in your mind, there would not be necessary to write the letter at all. It is really up to you to communicate what you want to say so that the recipient of your letter understands it clearly.

■Avoiding Jargon

Using jargon improperly is one of the primary barriers to business communication. However, a certain amount of jargon can be used if the recipient is a part of your organization, company, industry or profession. After all, jargon, which is simply specialized terminology, is often created because these terms are used by the members of a group to communicate with each other. These terms become a problem when the writer forgets that the reader, not being from the group, may not be able to understand the professional language. Additionally, when jargon is used, the recipient usually does not always communicate the fact that they did not understand, because they think that they ought to know. Hence, because of the use of improper language, there is a breakdown in the communication, which can result in the message being lost.

■Using a Pleasant Tone

Most business letters are simply not pleasant. The words and phrases that are used are never used in normal conversation, and many of these business letters have a tone that was not actually intended.

Most people don’t even realize that instead of using pleasant words, when they write a business letter, they are always using very caustic sounding words. Some examples of the caustic words that are used are: fault, blame, inferior, failure, negligence, penalty, and complaint. Some of the pleasant words that can be used are: please, appreciate, thank you, agree, understand, excellent, service and value.

With email growing in importance and convenience as a tool for writing business letters, the problem of caustic words has become even more noteworthy. At least when a letter is written on paper, there is time to reflect on how and what has been said. However, with email, the send button is usually clicked on before going over what has been written. This has resulted in many misunderstandings and breakdowns taking place in potentially profitable and advantageous communications and relationships.

When learning how to write a business letter, you need to first form the habit of using polite and pleasant words when writing to your recipient.

■Major Parts of a Business Letter

While not all associates are the same, depending on the nature of the association, the different parts of the letter can be drafted variously.

◇Return Address: Your address should be located on the top right-hand corner of the paper. No punctuation (commas, full stops) is required in the address. You need to ensure that the complete address is given to avoid issues with future correspondence.

◇Date of the Letter: The date is useful for filing and determining priorities. Date is important while taking any legal action. Date is written immediately under your own address. Writing a date in the form “11 March 2012” is the clear and concise form, which is least likely to lead to any kind of confusion or ambiguity.

◇Name and Title: The title is very important before the name. All male recipients should be referred to as Mr.In case the recipient is a professional with a prefix (like Dr.or Prof. etc.) this prefix needs to come before the title. For female recipients, the preferred title is Ms.unless specifically stipulated to be Miss or Mrs.Women are sensitive about the title, so one needs to be very cautious.

◇Address of the Recipient: This part of the letter can be written in short. Since the outside address is always provided in full and complete way, the inside address can be given in brief. However, the postal code and the basic parts of the address need to be written accurately.

◇Salutation: This aspect of the letter differs greatly in accordance to the nature of the association. In case the reader is an intimate associate—one with whom you have informal chats as well, one can give a salutation like “Dear XYZ”. If the association is friendly, but distant and at a similar hierarchical level, one can give a salutation like “Dear Mr/Ms.XYZ”. If the association is completely formal or at a higher hierarchical level, the salutation needs to be along the lines of respected “Sir/ Ma’am”. In case you are putting the name in the salutation, ensure that you use the name accurately and spell it without any mistakes.

◇Body: Here you are expected to write the message you wish to convey, in a courteous, clear, concise tone and language. The reason behind letter writing decides the exact content of the letter. Not a single sentence should lead to any misunderstanding or confusion. Language should be succinct and not ornamental. Use of unfamiliar words should be avoided. A good beginning, short description of the purpose in the body part and a precise ending will ensure effective communication.

◇Closing: You are expected to offer thanks to the person for any help given, through professional letter closing. You can sign off the letter by writing “Yours sincerely” when you know the name of the person whom you are writing or “Yours faithfully” when you don’t know the name of the recipient. If you have written your address in the right hand corner at the top of the page, your signature can be on the right hand corner. Your own address at the top and your signature at the bottom can be at the left hand corners respectively.

◇Enclosures: If you have enclosed any attachments like resume, along with your letter, then you have to mention it at the bottom of your letter. If there are more than one attachments, then you should make a list of them at the bottom of the letter.