Ohio University College of Business Communication Standards

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Letter or Memo of Transmittal The letter or memo of transmittal presents your report to your audience. (In a book, this section is called the preface). The letter of transmittal says what you’d say if you were handing the report directly to the person who authorized it, so the style is more informal. For example, the writer would use personal pronouns (you, I, we) and conversational language. The College of Business communication standards request that the letter or memo of transmittal be attached by paper clip to the top of the report. When requested to insert the letter or memo of transmittal within the report, place it directly after the title page. If your report will be widely distributed, you may decide to include the letter or memo of transmittal with only selected copies so that you can make certain comments to a specific audience. If your report discusses layoffs or other issues that affect people in the organization, you might want to discuss your recommendations privately in a memo of transmittal to top management. If your audience is likely to be skeptical of or even hostile to something in your report, the transmittal letter or memo is a good opportunity to acknowledge their concerns and explain how the report addresses the issues they care about. The letter or memo of transmittal begins with the main idea, officially conveying the report to the readers and summarizing its purpose. Such a letter may begin with a statement such as “Here is the report you asked me to prepare on…” The rest includes information about the scope of the report, the methods used to complete the study, and the limitations that became apparent. In the middle section of the letter, you may highlight important points of the report, make comments on side issues, give suggestions for follow-up studies, and offer any details that will help readers understand and use the report. You may also wish to acknowledge help given by others. The concluding paragraph is a note of thanks for having been given the report assignment, an expression of willingness to discuss the report, and an offer to assist with future projects. Examples of a letter and memo of transmittal are provided for you. Remember that a memo format is used for communication within the same company and a letter format is used when the communication is sent to someone outside your organization. 3-11
Sample Letter of Transmittal Green Group #5 Copeland Hall 301 (740) 566-8178 Athens, OH 45701 Fax: (740) 566-8179 ___________________________________________________________________ September 19, 2002 Dr. Hugh Sherman Tyco International Inc. One Tyco Park Exeter, NH 03833 Dear Dr. Sherman: As requested by Tyco International, our consulting firm prepared a report to recommend a corporate strategy for maintaining either its healthcare equipment line or fire and security products. The decision to drop the healthcare line was based upon the following criteria: • Industry overview/growth • Porter’s Five Forces model • Current position within the industry • Synergies between divisions • Financial data The fire and security line has a larger industry influence, as illustrated by its presence as a global leader in three of the five product lines and by its current contracts in the industry. Because Tyco is not a global leader in the healthcare industry, it would be more beneficial to drop the healthcare product line. By selling the healthcare equipment line, Tyco can focus on strengthening its remaining business operations. Thank you for the opportunity to analyze Tyco’s portfolio and to recommend its strategic direction. Please call when we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Tigers Group 10 Eddie Kojak Tessa Lui Brett Townsend Anna Sims 3-12
Page 1 and 2: Ohio University College of Business
Page 3 and 4: Section 1: Business Writing Skills
Page 5 and 6: With permission: International Pape
Page 7 and 8: • Distinguish opinions from facts
Page 9 and 10: Be polite: Politeness means being c
Page 11 and 12: short, and to the point. Most impor
Page 13 and 14: Concise Verbs vs. Nominalized Verbs
Page 15 and 16: Transition Words And Consequently T
Page 17 and 18: Section 2: Business Letters and Mem
Page 19 and 20: Basic Page Formatting in MS Word Ap
Page 21 and 22: Creating Headers and Footers Header
Page 23 and 24: Guidelines for Formatting Memos To:
Page 25 and 26: Plain Paper Memo MEMORANDUM (Option
Page 27 and 28: Bad News or Negative Communication
Page 29 and 30: Reduce Resistance 1. Do not ignore
Page 31 and 32: Table of Contents Section 3: Report
Page 33 and 34: Business Report Segments Formal Inf
Page 35 and 36: Report Outlines Informational Analy
Page 37 and 38: Reports in the Impersonal Style The
Page 39: Qualities of Well-Written Reports 1
Page 43 and 44: The Executive Summary Executive Sum
Page 45 and 46: Executive Summary (Sample with Head
Page 47 and 48: Line 7 1” Formatting Guidelines 1
Page 49 and 50: Create a Table of Contents The easi
Page 51 and 52: Hardware Examples of Lead-Ins, Summ
Page 53 and 54: Appendices Ancillary Pages • Iden
Page 55 and 56: Pagination (College of Business Sta
Page 57 and 58: Section 4: Presentations 4-1
Page 59 and 60: Effective Presentations Delivering
Page 61 and 62: Getting Organized: Factors to consi
Page 63 and 64: audience will not care about your p
Page 65 and 66: PowerPoint Tips A well-executed Pow
Page 67 and 68: • Text movement should be motivat
Page 69 and 70: Overcoming Fear of Speaking before
Page 71 and 72: Table of Contents Section 5: Employ
Page 73 and 74: Statements Action Statements, Descr
Page 75 and 76: Address (home or campus) City, Stat
Page 77 and 78: Sample: Enhanced Resume Lucinda Cre
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