Writing effective letters is an important skill.
Expressing yourself properly is a critical skill and one that can help you succeed in business and in your personal life. Learning craft a request letter that will get results is very important, whether you are requesting a job interview, a debt settlement or a refund on a defective product.
Instructions
1. Consider what you want to say before you sit down to write your request letter. Going over the contents of the letter in your head will make it easier to craft an effective letter once you start to type.
2. Open your word processing program and type your name and address on the top lines. Use a standard font like Courier, Arial or Times New Roman. Avoid fancy fonts---they can look very unprofessional in a business letter.
3. Insert three or four blank lines after your return address, then type the current date. Spell the date out and use a four-digit year, i.e., March 25, 2010.
4. Insert three or four more blank lines, and type the name and mailing address of the person or company with whom you are corresponding. Spell out the name of the town, but use the standard abbreviation for the state.
5. Insert one blank line and type a subject line. The proper format for the subject line is "RE: Your subject." For instance, a letter requesting a debt settlement agreement would read "RE: Debt Settlement Offer."
6. State the purpose of the letter in the first paragraph. The reader should be able to understand clearly what you want within the first couple of lines. Introduce yourself with the first line, i.e. "My name is John Smith," then quickly move on to what you are seeking and why you are writing.
7. Be polite throughout the letter. Angry letters tend to get a poorer response than those that are well crafted and tactful. State your demand forcefully, but avoid threatening language or verbiage.
8. Provide details that substantiate your request. For instance, if you are requesting a job interview you might point out your years of experience in the industry and your past accomplishments. If you are seeking a debt settlement agreement you might explain that you lost your job and are unable to pay the full amount due.
9. Provide complete contact information, including your daytime and evening telephone number and your email address. Close the letter by thanking the reader and inviting them to call you to discuss the issue in greater detail.
10. Insert a blank line after closing the letter and type "Sincerely." Type the word at the left margin---do not indent. Insert four blank lines, and type your full name at the left margin.
11. Click on the "File" menu in your word processing program and choose "Print preview" from the menu to see what your letter will look like on the page. Make sure the letter is centered on the page and that it fits one page if possible. If not, change the margins to make it fit, or add additional blank lines to center it on the page.
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