1. THE HEADING
The heading is the letter head of the letter. It contains; the name of the organization, the logo, the address, the telephone number, fax number, e-mail, and the physical location of the business.
2. THE DATE
The date comes below the heading. The date should have a format of either ‘30th October 2007’ or ‘October 30th 2007’ the date should be underlined. For fully blocked letters the date comes at the left hand side. In case of semi blocked letter ,it will appear
at the right hand side of the paper.
3. REFERENCE
It comes below the date for fully blocked letters, or it is written on the same line as the date for semi blocked letters but starting at the left margin. The reference is used to identify the department or section where the communication
originates.
Examples are:
-Reference No………
-Ref. No……
4. INSIDE ADDRESS
It contains the name and address of the person or firm to which the letter is written. You can add ‘For the attention of ’ when you want the letter to be directed to an identified officer in the organization.
5. THE SALUTATION
This is the greeting part of the letter. For formal letters you can address dear Sir, for and Dear Madam for ladies. For semi-personal letter you can write Dear Mr. Otieno or Dear Moraa. For personal letters you can write My dear Juliet.
6. THE BODY OF THE LETTER.
It is divided into
- Subject or Reference
Subject is used when writing a letter for the first time while reference is used when replying a letter. - Opening paragraph
The letter should open with the expression of pleasure, gratitude or Acknowledgement. Remember to use the ‘you approach’ in your opening paragraph. - Main paragraph
This paragraph contains the subject matter of the letter. Make sure all issues are detailed in this paragraph. - Closing Paragraph
The ending should aim at motivating the reader to take action. You can close with an offer or a request.
7. COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
This is also referred to as subscription. It is a polite way of ending a letter. Letters having salutations ‘Dear Sir, Madam, Sirs, and Mesdames’ should end with ‘yours faithfully’. Less formal letters can end ‘yours truly’ or ‘yours very truly’.
Letters having Dear Mr. John should end ‘yours sincerely’.
Letters to superiors can end ‘yours respectfully’
8. SIGNATURE
The writer should sign by putting his/her name down and the position in the organization.
9. ENCLOSURE
This is used when there are other documents enclosed in the same letter for the receiver.
10. CARBON COPIES
This is used to show who else has been sent the same letter. For example.
Cc District Officer1
Town clerk
Town engineer
