BUSINESS LETTERS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 28 November 1927, Page 8

BUSINESS LETTERS

•NEW STYLE*ADVOCATED. Chicago. ‘‘Dear Sir” has been thrown on the scrap heap, “Yours truly” is just hanging to its position by a thread, and “Your favour of the 10th instant” is little more than a quaint relic of a wordier age. How business letter styles have changed was told in an interview by William Betlike, Chicago, chairman of the better letters section of the Direct Mail Advertising Association convention here. Instead of the formal “Dear Sir” the modern letter writer chooses the friendlier form, “Dear Mr. Brown,” even though the person addressed is only a name on a mailing list. Exceptions would no doubt be made in the case of high dignitaries, but for ordinary correspondence there is no need of the formality. Verbiage, even if it be literary verbiage, is taboo in the modern letter, Mr. Bethke declared. It is not simply a question of saving time but of being natural. The man who would in ■■ ordinary conversation say, “Thanks for sending me that price list,” need not stiffen himself when putting the thought on paper and say, “Your favour of the 18th ult. at hand and contents noted.” If he can just contrive to use his everyday speech when he distates he has speech when he dictates he lias a modern letter writer.

“Yours very truly” is still the approved ending of a business letter, but is holds its place merely for want of something better, Mr. Bethke added. While virtually it means nothing, it does give a look of completeness to the letter and its absence is likely to be noticed. However, some writers omit the phrase entirely and close on a constructive note, such as ‘lf you can do this, we shall certainly appreciate it.’ “It takes a lot of training and discipline to learn to write naturally, and in a human vein.” said Mr. Bethke. “All the speakers at this convention have emphasized the value of simplicity. “Too often people have a tendency to regard letter writing as a language feat. This is a mistake in emphasis If the letter does not reflect the enthusiasm of the writer for Iris subject, no amount of literary finish will make the letter effective.” An enormous saving in the use of commas has been effected in recent years bv eliminating these small marks of punctuation from addresses both in the letter and on the. envelope. Mr. Bethke noted. Trick beginnings that surprise the recipient of a letter into reading it are not approved by modern business men, the convention revealed. They abuse the render’s confidence, it is fell, and so do more harm than good.