9 Secrets to Writing a Formal Letters

Prior to writing a business letter, organizations or individuals decide what to communicate and the steps in communicating the message. However, as mentioned above, a formal business letter does not require you to use an informal tone, such as contractions and slang terms. This is why there are certain writing principles to help you choose the right words, sentences, and syntax for our business letters. If you want to explore the nine secrets to writing a formal business letter, then read the elements below;

1.      Correctness

The first thing all writers must keep in mind before writing a business letter is to be correct in their communication. In order to be correct, you need to bear the following principles in mind;

• You need to choose the correct form or level of language.
• You also need to include accurate figures, words, and facts.
• You need to incorporate acceptable writing mechanics.
• You need to use a similar tone and avoid switching from first to second person or even third person in the letter. The entire letter must sound like it is in sync.
• You should also change up the structure of the sentences in order to prevent them from sounding similar.
• Along with these elements, there should be proper punctuation, grammar, spelling and paragraphing present.

2.      Conciseness

Business people are really very busy and they just do not want to deal with the hassle of reading the unnecessary details or lengthy messages. Also, a person is not considered a good writer if they do not write concise, specific and meaningful sentences. A person should not waste their money and time to type such wordy messages. Conciseness ensures comprehensibility and understandability in the message. If you want to be a good writer and achieve conciseness in your message, you need to follow the rules below;

• You should avoid clichés and hackneyed expressions.
• You should include only relevant facts and figures, along with mentioning the source.
• You should avoid and ignore unnecessary wordy expressions and repetition.
• You also need to organize the message efficiently and logically.

3.      Clarity

Clarity is concerned with the business message being very clear, correct, concise, concrete, and considerate. Here are the tips to achieving these elements;

• You should choose familiar, short, pithy and conversational words.
• You should divide each and every paragraph properly and keep the sentence structure in mind.
• You need to choose and put proper punctuation to make the writing clearer.
• You need to include visual aids, graphs, tables, and illustrations wherever necessary. This can actually make the message more understandable and readable.

4.      Completeness

Next in the list comes completeness. The message written, either in a email or a business letter, must bring the desirable results. Including every single detail such as the reader’s needs and wants, one should be able to understand needs, attitudes, background, viewpoints, and emotions to know the extent of information. Here are the specific guidelines for ensuring completeness;

• Your message must be able to answer all the questions the way they are asked.
• Along with answering the questions, you will have to give some additional information if it is necessary.
• You must ensure to answer all 5 W’s along with the other essentials. The five W’s include:
  • What
  • Why
  • When
  • Who
  • Where

5.      Concreteness

A formal business letter must include definite, specific, unambiguous and vivid information. If you want to lead to correctness, here are the guidelines for you to follow;

• You need to use specific facts and figures. Also, you must avoid words like soon, quick, few etc.
• You need to choose action verbs in an active voice.
• The message must have very clear and vivid image building words. In order to achieve this, you can use concrete words and a figurative language.

6.      Consideration

Next in the list comes the consideration aspect. It refers to empathy, attitude, understanding and the touch of human nature. When you write a message keeping the recipient in mind, then it means that you are taking them into consideration. When focusing on consideration, you should try to imagine the desires, emotions, problems, circumstances, and possible reaction to the request. If you wish to achieve consideration, you need to go through the following;

• You should always use a first person tone, such as emphasize on you more than I or
• You should keep in mind that your message should convey the truth.
• You should shed light on the positive and pleasant aspects instead of the negative ones.
• You should offer a valuable service to the reader.

7.      Courtesy

Being courteous is also an essential part of writing a business letter. Also, there is a slogan, “Everyone gains where courtesy reigns”. This perfectly suits the subject of courtesy and is an age old slogan for courtesy. In business writing, courtesy is more advantageous and important. When you write in a courteous manner, you are likely to improve your relationship and strengthen them, making new partners in business. Actually, being courteous is the best way to build goodwill.

If you want your letter to sound courteous, then check out the ways below;

• You need to be very tactful, appreciative, and thoughtful.
• You should avoid expressions that cause distress, trouble, and disparage among the parties.
• You should answer all your mails promptly.
• You should also apologize candidly, in case of a mistake. Do not be egoistic.

We might behave courteously in our normal routine life but when the circumstances are unpleasant, we may not be so courteous. Instead, we go all crazy and write discourteously. But in business relationships, you need to understand that these irritating situations are actually a test of your courtesy. So, always ensure to stay calm and be courteous in writing formal letters.

8.      Confidence

In writing a formal letter, you need to show confidence in yourself, in your message as well as in your reader. Showing confidence in a letter means you have to use an optimistic tone to neglect the negative issues. Also, confidence in communication creates a positive tone. When you believe in yourself, confidence in the letter becomes apparent.

Along with the other elements mentioned above, you also need to show your reader that you are positive, decisive, straightforward and most importantly, confident, instead of dubious and diffident. You should avoid using phrases like I hope, why not, if, I trust etc. Instead, use and formulate sentences in the message that accomplish the business objective.

9.      Conversational Tone

A good letter is one which feels like the reader is talking to someone. The tone should be conversational, comfortable, natural, inconspicuous, and unpretentious. Business letters are not like dissertations; therefore, using a conversational tone makes the writer quite empathic. Avoid using business jargons and legalese, such as please, beg to state that, beg to advice etc. To write a letter having a conversational tone, you should do the following;

• You should use very good vocabulary.
• You should use proper syntax.
• You need to be very straight forward and professional.
• You should keep the paragraphs as small as possible.
• You should also avoid using vague writing.How to Write a Effective Business Letter.
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  How to Write a Effective Business Letter