What You Say When You Write A Business Letter: Five Tips

For writing advice about a letter that you plan to send to someone at a very high level of business or government, I can think of no single individual better qualified to give it than the late Letitia Baldrige.  Her book “Letitia Baldrige’s Complete Guide To Executive Manners” remains one of a very few definitive books in its field.

Ms. Baldrige knew what was acceptable and what is not because she had been there.  She moved in the very highest circles of American society for years.  She was the social secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy; her father was a Congressman; her brother, Howard Malcolm Baldrige, Jr., was Secretary of Commerce.  She served on the board of directors of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

We here at Howtosayitright.com think her “Complete Guide To Executive Manners” is simply wonderful. 

I refer to it often and recommend that you purchase your own copy.  Below is an excerpt from that book.–Gene Griessman

Here are five tips about writing a business letter.

• Make sure that the first paragraph of the letter clearly reveals the purpose of the letter. Don’t make the recipient of the letter go on a scavenger hunt trying to find the real point of your writing.
• Before you write the letter, make a list of all the points that should be covered in the letter and let the list be the guide in the construction of your paragraphs point-by-point.
• Don’t exaggerate in order to persuade. It lessons your credibility. It’s all right to exaggerate your good wishes: ‘Here go a million good wishes for your new enterprise.’ But, it is not all right to say, ‘Everyone of your competitors has taken our new product line,’ if that isn’t true.
• Write simply. Malcolm Forbes’ advice is to ‘search out and annihilate all unnecessary words and sentences, even entire paragraphs.’
• Carefully edit any important letter. Re-write it if necessary in order to make sure that it is clear that it fulfills its purpose and that it contains no distracting garbage. This applies to informal business letters as much as to strictly business letters.”

Gene Griessman is an internationally known keynote speaker, actor, and communication strategist. His book “TheWords Lincoln Lived By” is in its 23rd printing and “Time Tactics of Very Successful People” is in its 43rd printing. His training video “Lincoln on Communication” is owned by thousands of corporations, libraries, and government organizations. He has spoken at conventions and annual meetings all over the world. To learn more about his presentations, call 404-435-2225. Learn more at Atlanta Speakers Bureau or at his website. His latest book “Lincoln and Obama” has just been released by Audible.