Excellence in Business Communication, Thill - Solutions, summaries, and outlines. 2022 updated

A: Format and Layout of Business Documents 1




Appendix
A:
Format
and
Layout
of
Business
Documents


This appendix offers practical guidelines for producing professional-grade documents. The advice applies
primarily to printed pieces but is also applicable to documents rendered as PDFs or other digital formats.

APPENDIX OUTLINE

First Impressions
Paper
Customization
Appearance
Letters
Standard Letter Parts
Heading
Date
Inside Address
Salutation
Body
Complimentary Close
Signature Block
Additional Letter Parts
Letter Formats
Envelopes
Addressing the Envelope
Folding to Fit
International Mail
Memos
Reports
Margins
Headings
Page Numbers




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, A: Format and Layout of Business Documents 2




LECTURE NOTES

First Impressions

Professionalism is indicated by choice of:

• Paper
• Customization
• Appearance

Paper

Key aspects of paper include:

• Weight (20-pound is most common, but 16- and 24-pound versions are also used)
• Cotton content (25 percent cotton is preferred for formal letters)
• Size:
• Standard size: 8½ by 11 inches (for U.S.; most other countries use metric sizes)
• Legal size: 8½ by 14 inches
• Personal size: 7 by 10 inches
• Color; white is standard color for business purposes, but neutral colors such as ivory and gray
are also acceptable for many uses

Customization

Customized stationery has letterhead with information such as the firm’s:

• Name
• Logo
• Address
• Phone number
• Fax number
• General email address
• Website URL
• Social media URLs

Appearance

For the best appearance:

• Center letters on the page and set all margins at 1-inch minimum
• Do not use justification; varying line length makes the message easier to read




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, A: Format and Layout of Business Documents 3




• Include the proper spacing after punctuation:
• One space after periods and colons
• One space after commas, semicolons, and the periods in a person’s initials
• No spaces in abbreviations for organizations, even with periods (U.S.A., not U. S. A.)
• Take advantage of the many special symbols available with your computer’s selection of
fonts

Letters

Standard Letter Parts

Standard letter parts include the following:

• Heading
• Date
• Inside address
• Salutation
• Body
• Complimentary close
• Signature block

Your heading depends on the type of paper you use:

• Generally, use letterhead.
• If no letterhead is available, start 13 lines from the top of the page (a 2 inch margin).

The date’s position depends on the type of heading you use:

• Place the date one blank line beneath the letterhead.
• If you aren’t using a letterhead, place the date immediately below (without any extra line
space).
• The form is either the standard form (July 14, 2016) or the alternative form (14 July 2016).
• When communicating internationally, you may also experience
some confusion over time.
• Make sure your references to time are as clear as possible, and be sure you clearly understand
your audience’s time references.

The inside address is placed one or more lines below the date (depending on the length of the letter)
and includes the following:

• Addressee’s name, preceded by the addressee’s courtesy title (e.g., Dr., Mr., Ms.)
• Addressee’s organizational title
• Name of department
• Address
• Order and layout choices vary from country to country

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, A: Format and Layout of Business Documents 4



For the salutation, be sure to:

• Use first name for colleagues and close business associates (if culturally appropriate)
• Use a title and last name for all other correspondence
• Spell names correctly
• Use a polite description (“Dear Alumni,” “Dear Colleague,” “Ladies and Gentlemen,” “Dear
Accounting Department,” etc.) if the recipient’s name is unknown
• Use double spacing before and after

You may also use a salutopening (omitting the “Dear” and using the recipient’s name in the first few
words of the body).

The body is almost always single-spaced, with one blank line before and after the salutation or
salutopening, between paragraphs, and before the complimentary close.

The body may include indented lists, entire paragraphs indented for emphasis, and even subheadings.
If it does, all similar elements should be treated in the same way.

Place the complimentary close on the second line below the body.

The signature block:

• Includes the sender’s name and title
• Is placed three lines below the complimentary close

Additional Letter Parts

Additional letter parts are optional; use the following as needed:

• Addressee notation
• Attention line
• Subject line
• Second-page heading
• Company name
• Reference initials
• Enclosure notation
• Copy notation
• Mailing notation
• Postscript

The addressee notation (e.g., “PERSONAL,” “CONFIDENTIAL,” and so on):

• Is typed in capital letters
• Is placed two lines above the inside address



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