Formats for Letters and Memos
Letters and memos are essential to running a business, they are used to inform or persuade. Letters go out of the office to clients or interested parties while memos are inter-office. In this aspect letters are generally persuasive and memos are informative. Letters commonly follow two formats – block style and modified block style. Block style is the most common and has all paragraphs lined up to the left of the page with no indentation. Modified block style can use indentation and aligns the salutation and conclusion on the right side of the page. Memos are simple and contain no salutation or conclusion and are aligned to the left with optional indentation. Whether writing a letter or a memo the format will affect the image the reader has on you and the company you belong to, thereby the format choice is an important consideration when writing.
Informative and Positive Messages
Presenting information in a positive light affects the image of your company, therefore it is crucial to practice always using positive tone. The subject line needs to be specific and concise and the information needs to presented in the following order.
1. Give good news and summarize main points.
2. Give details, clarification and background.
3. Present any negative elements… as positively as possible.
4. Explain any reader benefits.
5. Use a goodwill ending: positive, personal and forward looking.
Try to include reader benefits, however they are not needed when you’re presenting factual information only, the readers attitude doesn’t matter, stressing benefits may make the reader sound selfish or when the benefits are so obvious that restating them insults the readers intelligence.
No comments:
Post a Comment