While communicating in formal settings, you are often required to write letters. Normally called formal letters, these are the letters that you write to people other than your friends and family. Though these letters, you make communication with professional organizations, educational institutions and other such public bodies. Since these letters are written for specific purposes and to people in the specific positions, you should be aware of the conventions that govern formal written communication.

Most formal letters have the following steps:

1.Sender’s Address

You should add your address at the top left of the letter.

2.Date

This will be followed by the date on which the letter is being written or sent. It is advisable to use one date format consistently in all your correspondence.

3.Refernce Number (if any)

Companies and institutions use this alphanumeric notation to file the letter. Usually labelled as ‘Ref:’, which is followed by the actual reference number.

4.Receiver’s Address

Then you will include the name and the address of the receiver of the letter. If you are writing to a specific person, you must include the name of the person and his or her designation.

5.Subject Line

Labelled usually as ‘Sub:’, the subject line is a short description, not more than one line, that highlights the purpose of your letter.

6.Salutation

Use ‘Dear’ followed by the title and the surname of the person you are writing to. In case you do not know the name of the addressee, you can write Dear Director or Dear Manager.

7.Body

Your text constitutes the body.

8. Closing

You close your letter with ‘Yours truly’ or ‘Yours sincerely.’ That is called the complimentary close. It is wrong to say Yours. Be careful with the apostrophe.

9.Signature Area

After the complimentary close, remember to sign the letter. Below your signatures, you will also need to have your name written or printed in the upper case.

10.Enclosure Notation

Next to the label ‘Encl.’ you will list the additional documents being sent with the letter.

Formal letters are now mostly formatted in full-block style, which means that all parts of the letter are left aligned.

You may also keep in mind the following points as your mail the letter:

There is no grammatical error in the letter.

The point size of the fonts is appropriate; 12-point size is preferable.

The quality of paper and printing is acceptable.

On the envelope, the address of the receiver is complete and appears in the center. The sender’s address appears on the top- or bottom-left corner of the envelope.