Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: Business Letter Title
• Method 2 of 2: Personal Letter Title
• Tips
• What do you need

Although e-mail etiquette is less stringent, letter writing should follow the rules of grammar and etiquette. A business or personal letter should begin with a header indicating the addressee, recipient and date.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Business Letter Title

1. 1 Open a word processor document. You can use an open source processor on Google Drive or a blank piece of paper in a typewriter; however, formal business letters must always be typed, typed and signed by hand.
2. 2 Use letterhead whenever possible. At a minimum, the letterhead contains the person's name, business name, business address, telephone number, and usually a company logo. This information takes the place of the sender's address in the body of the letter.
3. 3 Start the letter with your address if you don't have a letterhead. Just put your street address, city, state and zip code on the first two lines on the top right side of the page. You do not need to include your name or title, as it will be listed at the end at the bottom of the letter.
   • You can also add an email address or phone number if your email involves contacting you using one of these methods.
4. 4 Enter the date. Enter the month, day and year, for example, in this format "May 4, 2014". You can write the date two lines below your address on the right or left.
   • There are many variations on which side to write the date on, so find an example of your company's correspondence to use as an example.
   • A date in the UK can be written in this order: day, month and year. For example, "May 4, 2014".
5. 5 Print the recipient's address two lines below the date on the left side of the page. It is also called an "outgoing address" and must contain the name of the person with the job title, a US or UK postal address. Be sure to include your company name, if applicable, on the line between the person's name and address.
   • Do not indent before the address, date, greeting, or paragraphs. Paragraphs in a business letter are separated by spaces and start at the same level on the left side.
   • If you are writing to another country, write the country in capital letters on the last line.
   • The outgoing address should be approximately 2.5 cm (one inch) below the date if the date is on the left side, or it should be one line below the date if it is on the right side.
6. 6 Press the Enter key twice. Then start the greeting with “Dear”, the person's title and name. For example, “Dear Mr. Reading” or “Dear President Reading”. Place a colon after the greeting.
7. 7 Continue with the main body of the letter. End it with a formal address, signature and your name and title.

Method 2 of 2: Personal Letter Title

1. 1 Choose monogrammed or personalized lettering paper. Unlike business letter headers, many personal letters are handwritten on stationery with the person's initials or full name at the top of the paper.
2. 2 Write your address in the upper right corner, only if the person you are writing to does not already know your address. Envelopes can be thrown away, and having the sender's address is the best way to encourage writing a response. Go to the date if you are on friendly terms with the recipient.
   • The sender's address must contain two lines, street and city name, state and postal code. No name needed.
3. 3 Write the date of writing and sending the letter in two lines below your address on the left or right. The format used is day, month and year. For example, "September 15, 2014".
   • Personal letters should be sent immediately after writing to quickly deliver urgent information.
4. 4 Do not write the recipient's address in unofficial letters. If you are writing a formal complaint or letter formally making a statement to an organization, you must use business etiquette.
5. 5 Start your greeting with "Dear.” The formality of the address will depend on how well you know the person you are writing to. Always use a colon after the greeting.
   • You can use Dear Mr. James, Dear Larry James, or Dear Larry.
   • Continue the letter with paragraphs of the main body of the letter, ending, signature and attachments.

Tips

• Always check and edit the content of your letter and check for grammatical errors before signing and sending it.

What do you need

• Word processor / typewriter
• Postage paper
• Letterhead
• Pen