Correspondence: Letter Components

There are two key layouts for letters: full block (Figure 1) and modified block (Figure 2). These two formats include the same elements, but they differ in their layout. If you are using your company’s letterhead, the elements you include will change as well.

Unless otherwise instructed, you should make sure that letters are single-spaced within sections, but double-spaced between sections. Choose your layout style, and then zero in on the components you will need to include, from top to bottom.

Figure 1. Letter in Full Block Format

Figure 2. Letter in Modified Block Format

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Letter Components

All letters have FIVE basic components. You might need to add a sixth one.

1. Heading

The heading section of a letter generally refers to your return address plus the date, but without your name:

124 Maize Avenue
Lexington, KY 41414
14 January 2018

There is a very logical reason you don’t include your name in the return address: You will be signing the letter and typing your name in the signature block at the end of the letter.

The date can be set up as shown above, although you might prefer it this way:

January 14, 2018

If you are using letterhead, the address is (generally) automatically included in that letterhead. All you will need to add is the date. If you are not using letterhead, you must include the information shown above.

Do not include in the heading your phone number or your email address. Instead, you should include both of these items in the last paragraph, where you provide relevant contact information.

2. Inside Address

This is the address to which the letter is being mailed. It should include, in this order, the recipient’s name, the recipient’s position (same line as name or on second line), organization, business address, as shown here:

Dr. William Tellingham
Director of Personnel
Marshall, Winkham, and Fine, Attorneys
1443 Duncan Street, Suite 12
Wilmington, NC 21435

If you do not know the name of the recipient, simply begin with the second line – his or her title.

3. Salutation

The salutation is the greeting, which traditionally consists of the friendly “dear,” the recipient’s name or title, and a colon. In it, you should be as specific as you can in identifying a recipient:

Dear Dr. Smith:
Dear Director of Personnel:
Dear Members of the Search Committee:

Avoid generic salutations, which sound impersonal and imply that you don’t care enough to do your homework with regard to the recipient’s name and/or title. These are bad choices for salutations:

To Whom It May Concern:
Dear Sir or Madam:
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

While we're on the subject, if you are writing a formal letter, you should use a colon after the salutation (as in the above examples). Use a comma only in informal correspondence.

4. Body or Text

The body of a letter consists of at least three paragraphs:

Introductory paragraph
Body paragraph
Concluding paragraph

Whenever you need to, adjust the number of body paragraphs. Use as many as are necessary to accomplish your purpose..

What you include in the body or text in terms of content will depend upon the purpose of your letter, which in turn will determine the organizational pattern you adopt. More on that later in the module.

5. Signature Block

The signature block consists of three key parts: a complimentary close, your signature, and your typed name.

The most common, and therefore the most acceptable, complimentary closes are Sincerely, Cordially, and Respectfully. If you want, you can add “yours” to each: Sincerely yours, Cordially yours, Respectfully yours.

Return four times, and then type your name. If you have a title, include it as well, as shown in either of these examples:

Jane Addams
Personnel Manager

Jane Adams, Personnel Manager

In the space between the complimentary close and the typed version of your name, add your signature:

Sincerely,

Jane Addams

Jane Addams
Personnel Manager

6. End Notations (if needed)

End notations are those notes that appear after the signature block, most often to indicate that the letter is being sent (carbon copied) to someone else or that you are enclosing additional materials (such as a resume).

The term carbon copy is a holdover from the days when letters were produced on typewriters, before the advent even of the copy machine. In order to make copies of the letter, the person who typed it would place sheets of carbon paper between the typing paper. The keys of the typewriter would make such an indentation that the words would come through on second and even third sheets of paper.

Today, we no longer have the need for carbon paper, but we do still need sometimes to send copies to others, so the phrase has remained—often referred to now, though, as a courtesy copy.

To reflect the fact that you are copying the letter to send to someone else, on the second line beneath your typed name, put the notation cc. You can identify the other recipients if you choose:

cc: Anna Winters, Dean of Students; Lester Holloway, Chair, English Department

If you are enclosing materials with your letter—say, a resume or a brochure—you should note that, too, in one of the following ways:

Enclosure
ENC (2) [when you have enclosed two items]
Enclosures: resume, brochure
ENC

Of course, just like the cc notation, the ENC note goes on the second line after your typed name.

If you enclose material and copy the letter to someone else, set up the notations this way, varying how you write the actual terms as you wish:

Enclosure (2)

cc: Anna Winters, Dean of Students; Lester Holloway, Chair, English Department