Sample Business Letters

The topic of good business letters is, as so many important subjects are, simultaneously complex and simple. Books have been written on the subject, and with good reason. As far as the "simple" is concerned, a letter will always be stronger if it is written as clearly and concisely as possible. That is, you're better off using plain English rather than legal jargon. It's especially important to say what you have to say using as few words as possible.

Adapting Boilerplate to Your Business Letters

Remind yourself regularly that when you write and send a letter you are asking for the time and attention of a busy person. It doesn't matter whether it's a hard copy going by postal mail or an electronic copy traveling through cyberspace. You are still asking for a person's time and attention.

The burden is on you is to make reading it easy on the person receiving it. You certainly don't want the letter to be in any way confusing. Short, sweet, and to the point is the idea. That's the type of letter you want to receive and therefore the type you want to send. It's the type of letter that tends to achieve what it was hoped it would achieve.

Clearly, it's equally important to know exactly what you want to say and need to say. If you haven't got that down firmly, you won't be able to write concisely and clearly. Scores of books have been published on this topic as well. Both undergraduate and graduate college classes, even programs, are dedicated to effective writing.

The more you read of other business letters, and templates for business letters, the more comfortable you'll get with writing your own. Start with boilerplate language and personalize it to your needs, using your voice. The last thing you want to do is write a letter that doesn't sound like you. It's not genuine. And no matter what your business or conversational style is, you won't be convincing if you are not genuine.