Mastering Personal Business Letters: Formatting, Citations, and Reports
Chapter 4 focuses on key skills for managing personal business letters, including understanding the structure, formatting, and citation creation. Learn the differences in letter styles such as modified block and block style, adjust margins, change margins, utilize Print Preview, and add bibliographies. This chapter outlines essential steps for drafting professional correspondence, incorporating citations for books and websites, and formatting one-page reports. By mastering these techniques, you’ll enhance your business communication skills and ensure clarity in your written documents.
Mastering Personal Business Letters: Formatting, Citations, and Reports
E N D
Presentation Transcript
Spotlight onWord Processing Chapter 4: Documents Chapter 4
Objectives • Learn the parts of a personal business letter • Format a personal business letter • Change the margins • Use the Print Preview function • Format a one-page report Chapter 4
Objectives (continued) • Insert a cover page • Add a page number • Create a citation for a book • Create a citation for a Web site • Insert a bibliography Chapter 4
Modified-block style Open punctuation Personal business letter Plagiarism Return address Salutation Sender Vocabulary • Bibliography • Block style • Body • Closing • Hyperlink • Inside address • Letterhead • Margins • Mixed punctuation Chapter 4
Writing a Personal Business Letter • Many times letters written from companies are printed on letterhead. • Letterhead is paper preprinted with company logo and contact information. • Individuals use personal business letters since most don’t have their own letterhead. • In a block style letter, all items line up at the left margin. Chapter 4
Writing a Personal Business Letter (continued) • In a modified-block style letter, the paragraphs are indented, and the date and the closing block start at the center. • Open punctuation does not have any punctuation after the salutation or the closing. • Mixed punctuation has a colon after the salutation and a comma after the closing. Chapter 4
Formatting the Body of the Letter • The body of the letter is the major part that includes the message. • Text word wraps at the end of the lines. • Do not indent any paragraphs. Chapter 4
Formatting the Closing of the Letter • The closing ends the letter. • The most common closing is “Sincerely.” • The return address is the address of the person sending the letter. • Press Enter four times after the closing to allow the sender to sign his/her name. Chapter 4
Changing the Margins • The margins are the distance between the text and the edges of the paper. • Default margins are 1-inch on all four sides (top, bottom, left, and right). • Microsoft Word has a variety of margin settings. Chapter 4
Viewing the Document with Print Preview • Print preview allows you to see what the document will look like when it is printed. • A letter should have approximately the same amount of white space above and below the letter. • Close the Print Preview to return to the document. Chapter 4
Finishing Steps • Spell check the document. • Do not add a header since your name already appears at the bottom. • Print the letter. • Using a blue or black pen, sign your name below the word "Sincerely." Chapter 4
Keying the Report • Copying someone else’s words and claiming them to be your own is plagiarism. • The title is typed in all capital letters. • Formatted with 1-inch margins. • Report is double-spaced. • The first line of the paragraphs is indented. Chapter 4
Double-Spacing the Report • Select all text. • Click the Line Spacing button on the Home Ribbon. • Choose 2.0 for double spacing. • Holding Ctrl and pressing the number 2 will also double space. Chapter 4
Adding a Cover Page • New feature in Word 2007. • Variety of cover page designs available. • Automatically inserted before the text of the report. Chapter 4
Numbering the Pages • When page numbering is turned on, all pages will automatically be numbered. • Click the Page Number button on the Insert Ribbon. • Variety of page numbering placement options available. Chapter 4
Adding a Header, Saving, and Printing • Click the Header button on the Insert Ribbon. • Save the file. • Use the Print Preview feature to check the layout. • Students’ files may vary depending on the cover page and header chosen. Chapter 4
Creating a Citation for a Book • A bibliography gives credit to the authors whose ideas we used. • MLA style is most commonly used in middle schools and high schools. • Word 2007 formats the bibliography entries. • Click the Insert Citation button on the References Ribbon. • Click Add New Source. • Key the specifics for the entry into the correct fields. Chapter 4
Creating a Citation for a Web Site • Click the Insert Citation button on the References Ribbon. • A Web site citation includes the author and name of the web page. • A citation for a Web site also includes the URL and the date accessed. Chapter 4
Adding the Bibliography • A bibliography is found at the end of the report. • Hold Ctrl and press End to get to the very end of the report. • Click the Bibliography button on the References Ribbon. • You can create either a Works Cited or Bibliography page. Chapter 4
Adding a Header, Saving, and Printing • Spell check. • Preview the document using Print Preview. • Print the document. Chapter 4
Summary • Businesses print their correspondence on letterhead to identify their name and contact information. • When a person types a letter on plain paper, it is called a personal business letter. • In a block style letter, all text lines up at the left. • Open punctuation means that there is no punctuation after the salutation or the closing. • The most commonly used closing is “Sincerely.” Chapter 4
Summary (continued) • The default margins are 1 inch on all sides of the paper. • Reports are often double-spaced with the first line of every paragraph indented. • A bibliography gives credit to the person(s) whose research you used in writing your report. • MLA style is most commonly used in middle and high schools to create citations. Chapter 4