Whitmell Clare. - Business Writing Essentials: How To Write Letters, Reports and Emails

• Get all the phrases and vocabulary at your fingertips to write business reports, emails and letters quickly, confidently and accurately
• Cut the time it takes you to write office correspondence by using the templates and examples
• Learn how to write with your reader in mind so you never unknowingly upset customers
• Get to grips with difficult areas of English such as punctuation

Common objectives The following are all common reasons for writing (whether in formal letters or in more informal memos and emails.) To confirm I am writing to confirm our appointment on ...
This is to confirm next week' s meeting at your offices.
I would like to confirm the details of my order. To ask for confirmation Following our meeting yesterday, I would be grateful if you could confirm the following points.
Please could you confirm the date of ...? To inform Please note that the office will be closed from ...
I am writing to inform you that ...
Please be informed that , due to restructuring, the Sales Dept will...
It has come to our notice / attention that ...
Please be advised that the office will close from
I am writing to advise you that the office will close from ... To ask for information or advice I am writing to inquire (enquire BrE) about vacancies in your company for ....
I would be interested to find out more about ...
I would be interested to receive further details about...
Please could you give us some information / details on your range of ...
I would appreciate your advice concerning
I would be grateful for your advice concerning ... . To explain or to clarify I am writing to explain the company's new procedure concerning ....
In response to the questions in your letter of ..., I am writing with further information.
I would like to clarify our policy regarding ...
In response to your recent inquiry, I hope that the following information clarifies To suggest or advise In response to your complaint concerning ..., may we suggest that you contact ...
Following your inquiry regarding ..., I would like to make the following suggestions .
With regard to your email about ..., we advise you to contact ...
We would like to advise all (our current authors) to ...
In response to your letter, we feel that it is advisable to... To make an announcement It has been decided that ...
Due to ..., we have decided to ...
We are happy to announce ...

To ask someone to do something I would be grateful if you could send me further information about....
I would greatly appreciate it if you would ....
Your help would be appreciated in planning...
Please would you sign ....
Kindly check ... Please make sure that ...
Please ensure that To reply to someone's request As you requested, I am enclosing ...
As you suggested, I am sending you ...
In answer to your inquiry, I ...
As promised, I am sending you... To thank Thank you for your letter of February 15.
I greatly appreciated your assistance during To enclose something Please find enclosed the brochure you requested.
Enclosed please find an order form.
Enclosed is / are ...
I am enclosing a ...
I have enclosed To attach something Please find attached a route description.
Attached please find this month's order.
Attached is / are To complain I am writing to complain about To apologize Please accept our apologies for the delay.
On behalf of the company, I would like to extend our sincerest apologies for ...
We were very sorry to hear about your recent problem with To give good news We are delighted to inform you that... To give bad news Unfortunately , we are unable to ...
Regrettably, we are unable to ...
We regret that we cannot ...
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are not able to ...
We are sorry to inform you that Condolence I was very sad to hear the news of John' s death. To make a threat It appears from our records that payment is overdue. We have no option but to refer this matter to our legal team.

Planning Make a plan before you start writing. Plans help you to structure your ideas, making it easier for your reader to follow you. Making a detailed paragraph plan (where you decide what you will include in each paragraph) also makes the actual writing easier and quicker. In your plan, aim to: - group your ideas logically;
- keep your text relevant, and focused on your objective;
- avoid repetition.
How to plan the brainstorming approach Decide on your objective - why are you writing? What information does the reader need to know?
2. Consider your reader. Is your reader an expert in the subject, or will you have to simplify technical language or concepts?
3.

List everything you want to write - jot down your ideas as you think of them.
Then, decide which ideas are relevant and which ideas you can leave out.
4. Make a paragraph plan order your ideas into logical paragraphs, and decide what linking words / phrases you'll need such as "Firstly, secondly, finally" or "However", or "In addition".
5. Write, following your plan, and then check what you have written against your plan. Have you included everything? Will the reader know what the next step is?
Putting your ideas into paragraphs If ideas fit together, they can be put together in one paragraph. However, if many ideas fit together, think about how you can separate them. We regret that we have no vacancies at the moment for computer programmers.

However, we have vacancies for graphics designers as well as for database managers. We are interested in applicants who have at least two years' experience in graphic design and who have had some project management experience. For the database management posts, we are particularly interested in applicants with substantial background in database programming, application and maintenance. We would be especially interested in hearing from applicants with good working knowledge of php and MYSQL. This text could be separated into these paragraphs: We regret that we have no vacancies at the moment for computer programmers. However, we have vacancies for graphics designers as well as for database managers.

We are interested in applicants who have at least two years' experience in graphic design and who have had some project management experience. For the database management posts, we are particularly interested in applicants with substantial background in database programming, application and maintenance. We would be especially interested in hearing from applicants with good working knowledge of php and MYSQL. Chapter 2: Writing Letters Making sure your letters look and sound professional Although emails are used for most business situations, there will be situations when a letter is more appropriate. Letters tend to be more formal than emails, but there are standard guidelines and expressions that will help you write accurately and professionally every time. Structure of letters layout Most companies use headed notepaper, so you do not have to write your company name and address.