THE APPEARANCE AND

DESIGN OF BUSINESS
MESSAGES
 APPEARANCE
 Appearance strongly influences other people's
perception of your personality, success, authority
and intelligence.
 When you combine your appearance with
communication skills (especially writing skills), not
only others' perception, but their behavior towards
you is also influenced.

Your correspondence is true reflection of

your personality
 BUSINESS LETTERS
The letters often used for written messages outside the
organization is business letter.

Appearance of the letter conveys nonverbal impression

that affects reader’s attitude even before reading it.

Four elements of appearance are:

 Stationery and Envelopes
 Standard parts of letter
 Optional parts of letter
 Letter layout
(1) Stationery and Envelopes

• Quality, Size and Colour

• Letterhead

• Envelopes

• Medium/ Chanel
 Stationery and Envelopes
(a) Quality, Size & Colour
• Quality and presentation helps in building image of
sender

• Good quality paper (80 GSM plus) may be used

• Paper having Cotton base is better than tree pulp based

• Standard A-4 size (8.5” X 11”) paper is common

• White or cream colour paper is recommended

• Paper of other colours may be used judiciously

 Stationery and Envelopes
(b) Letterhead
• Letterheads occupy no more than 2” from the top centre
of the page.

• Letterhead contains; name of company, complete

mailing address, Telephone & Fax numbers and Web
add.

• Letterheads are printed, embossed or engraved

• Logos, Slogans and firm’s starting details are optional

Letterheads
 Stationery and Envelopes
Envelops
• Address of sender is printed or typewritten in upper left
hand corner of the envelop
• Addressee's address (inside address) is printed in the
middle part of the Envelop as per post office sorting
requirements
• Information in address must include; Name & title of
receiver, name of department, name of organization,
name/number of building (if relevant), Street no, city, Zip
code and country
• Mail Notations; REGISTERED, CONFIDENTIAL are placed
below the postal stamp
Layout of Envelope
Standard Parts of Business Letter
Most business letters have Eight standard
parts:
1. Letterhead
2. Date
3. Inside Address
4. Salutation
5. Body
6. Complementary Close
7. Signature Area
 Standard Parts of Letter
• Letter Head If printed letter head is not used then
own mailing address is place above the date,
flushed right without name
• Date can be placed left or right margin aligned
Format of date as per regional writing conventions
(USA M/D/Y, Asia D/M/Y). Month must be spelled out
• Inside Address Left hand margin aligned (single
spaced. Order includes; Courtesy title (Dr.,
Professor), name, executive or professional title
 Standard Parts of Letter
• In the absence of any courtesy title: Doctor, Professor
then Mr., Mrs., Miss. or Ms. can be used

• When in doubt about woman’s preference and marital

status use Ms.

• Write executive title after the name i.e. President, in

same line preceded by a comma

Dr. Bashir Ahmed, Vice President

Esso Private Limited
5th Floor, Jenifer Building
Chicago IL 60623
United States of America (USA)
 Salutation
Typed on second line below the address and two
lines above the body of letter followed by a colon
• Dear Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. or Miss {Bashir/ Sobia}
• Dear {Bashir or Sobia}
• Dear Dr. Bashir Ahmed or Dear Professor Sobia
Raana
• Dear Manager or HR Director or Admission Officer
• Dear Ladies and Gentlemen or Members of
Committee
• Dear Customer, Homeowner or Student
 Body of Letter
Body
• Body contains three main parts: introduction,
discussion and conclusion
• Body of the letter is typed single-spaced
• Double spacing between paragraphs
• Starts with double-space after salutation
• A short letter may be typed double-spaced

Complementary Close Common Complementary

Close are:
Sincerely,
Sincerely yours,
Yours Very Truly,
Cordially ,
 Signature Area
• Complementary Close
• Name of the company in Upper Case
• 3-5 blank spaces for signatures
• Name with initial capitals
• Business title
Sincerely,

LEVER BROTHERS (PAKISTAN)

Ms Sobia Raana
Marketing Manager
 Optional Parts of Letter

Attention Line: For a particular person or

department. Placed between address and
Salutation and flushed with left hand margin

Subject line: Helps telling readers at a glance

what this letter is about? Word ‘Subject’ may be
included or excluded. Subject line is Centred
justified, may be capital/lower case or
underlined.
 Optional Parts of Letter

• Copy Notation: For informing recipient that letter has

been sent to the indicated person as well.

 Name is typed below enclosure notation precede by

c: (‘cc’ for carbon copy, ‘c’, ‘pc’ or ‘copy’) for photo
copies.

 When you do not want to disclose about other

recipients of the letter, word ‘bc’ (Blind Copy) is
written on copies and not on the original letter
 Optional Parts of Letter
File Number: For aiding in filing and quick retrieval
to both sender and receiver. Written under the date,
flushed with left hand margin.

Postscript ‘P.S., ‘PS’ or ‘PS:’ Is an additional note

for emphasis on some point or a personal message
below every thing on the sheet however has fallen in
disuse

Enclosure Notation: To inform recipient and

mailing clerk about some additional papers to be
 Letter Layout
Punctuation Styles

• Open Punctuations No punctuation (except body) at

the end of sentence unless an abbreviation requires a
period.

• Mixed Punctuations A colon (:) follows the salutation;

a comma (,) follows the complimentary close.
 Letter Layout
Letter Styles:

 Full-block Every line begins at the left margin

 Modified-block Date, complimentary close &

signature section begins at the horizontal centre

 Modified-block with paragraphs indented First line of

each paragraph is indented.
 Business Letters
• Sales Letter – For securing attention, interest, desire &
action (AIDA)
• Sales Promotion Letters (Occasions of joy and festivals)
• Enquiry and Order Letters
• Claims and Complaint letters
• Job Letters – Seller (applicant) offers himself as product
• Advertisements – Print and electronic media
MEMORANDUM
 MEMORANDUM
 Internally used, most common form of
communication between people and departments

 Language, grammar, conventions, punctuations as per

the standard rules for letters.

 Stationery, Parts, Layout & envelope are different

from those of the letters

 Stationery – rarely used; simple computer paper, pre-

printed forms are generally used.

 Print outs are taken by receiver for permanent record

 Parts of Memorandum
o Standard Parts. Headings (To, From, Subject and
Date). Does not need add, salutations and comp
close
o Optional Parts. Ref initials, enclosures, file no,
routing info, sender department, telephone no.

 Layout of body – It contains main idea/ message;

guide lines as per letter. Three spaces between
Heading and first line of the body & left aligned.
Initials (Signatures) are at the bottom.

 Envelopes and Electronic Mail – Envelopes are

usually not required; Digital memorandums are
preferred.
Memorandum Layout
 MEMORANDUM

• Message and Reply Memorandum – Another type

• Good time and cost saver for sender and receiver
both
• Each sheet is divided into two sections; Message
and Reply either one above the other or side by
side
 Difference Between Letter &
Memorandum
Letter
 Formal communication
 Has inside address
 Has Salutations
 Has formal start
 Has formal ending
sentence
 Has complementary close
 Takes more time
Memorandum
 Informal communication
 No inside address
 No Salutations
 Starts with main Idea
 No formal closing
sentence
 No complementary close
 Time saving device
SPECIAL TIMESAVING MESSAGE
MEDIAS
• Electronic mail
• Telegram and Telexes
• Teleconferences
 Audio
 Video
 Computer (Skype etc)
 To Summarize
• In correspondence, stationery is your canvas and you
are an artist thus produce a masterpiece.

• You never get a second chance to make a first

impression

• Appearance/presentation of correspondence conveys

nonverbal impression that affects recipient's attitude

• Strict adherence to format and attention to minor

details increases acceptability of your message
 ASSIGNMENT - 2
Your CEO has directed you to write down a
letter to M/S xyz, inviting them to your sales
promotional activities starting from 14 March
2018.Strict adherence to format is mandatory.
Use 7Cs as guiding principle.
THANK YOU