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Chapter 9 Formatting Letters, Memos, and E-Mails
to make changes at the community
level! I’ve also admired your ability to
communicate with offi cials at large
corporations and persuade them to
support our grassroots efforts. Now,
as you enter a new life phase of your
career, I hope you fi nd new challenges
to attack with your talents. And
whatever you choose to pursue next,
may it bring you satisfaction. Sincerely.
Minerva Harvet Executive Director
2. Write a suitable subject line for the following
memos. Create the memos and format them
using accepted standards.
A. You need to ask your supervisor for
approval to take two personal days to
attend your sister’s graduation in another
state.
B. A vice president of sales is asking the sales
staff to work overtime to complete the
end-of-year inventory.
C. You are a marketing coordinator asking
your manager’s staff members for their
April expense reports by May 25 because
you will be on vacation May 29–June 5.
D. You are a supervisor asking members of
the accounting department to attend a
seminar on a new accounting system for
payroll production.
3. You work at the Woodlake History Center.
Each year the center hosts an employee family
picnic. This year you are the picnic committee
chair. Write an e-mail to your committee
members to tell them the date, time, menu, and
activities planned for the picnic (supply your
own details). Use formatting such as bullets,
asterisks, numbers, underlining, and boldface
type to emphasize important information.
4. What type of written communication—letter,
memo, e-mail—would you select in each of the
following situations? Explain your answers.
A. You need to convince your supervisor
to increase the advertising budget by 10
percent.
B. You want to tell your customers about a
new credit policy.
C. The company’s stockholders want a
detailed analysis of last quarter’s income
statement.
D. The manufacturing arm of the Tyler
Company in New York City wants to tell
the marketing division, located in Boston,
the specifi cations of a new product.
E. You want to congratulate a recently
promoted coworker.
Practice
What You Have
Learned
Access the Fundamentals of Business
Communication Student Companion Web Site at
www.g-wlearning.com/Communication. Download
each data fi le for this chapter. Follow the
instructions to complete a reading, writing, and
grammar activity to practice what you have
learned in this chapter.
Connections
Across the Curriculum
Math. Create a grid with the words letters, e-mail,
and memos on the X axis. On the Y axis, write
the elements of a letter, memo, and e-mail. Put
check marks in the columns to show which parts
the three have in common. Write a paragraph to
explain how each is different from, yet the same
as, the others.
Language Arts. How is texting or instant
messaging used in business today? Write several
paragraphs describing how it is used, why it is
used, and the pros and cons of using texting in
businesses.
ompanion
Web Site
www.g-wlearning.com
M h C