商务英语写作知识要点
商务英语写作知识要点
01 Introduction
School Writing: 1 In the form of essays, 2 To demonstrate the knowledge and language skills,3 Always use complicated structures
Business Writing:1 In the form of letters,2 Intended to communicate information,3 Readers and writers are in demand-supply relationship
1. Principles of Business Writing: 7C
Clarity 清晰Correctness准确Conciseness简洁Courtesy 礼貌Concreteness具体Completeness完整Consideration周全
2. Logical Organization
①因果关系(Cause & Effect) ②时间顺序(Chronological Development)
③序列顺序(Sequential Development) ④⽐较(Comparison)
⑤⼀般到特殊(From General to Specific) ⑥特殊到⼀般(From Specific to General)
02 Layout of Business Letters
1. The Essential Parts of a Business Letter:
1)Letter head 2)Reference
3)Date line 4)Inside Address
5)Salutation 6)Body of the letter
7)Complimentary Close 8)Signature
2. Letter Styles: Full B lock S tyle(齐头式)，Indented Style（缩进式）and Mixed Style（交错式）
3. Letter head identifies the sender of the letter. It includes:
1)Company’s logo 2)Its address and postal codes
3)Telephone number, Fax number 4)Internet address, e-mail address
5)Telegraphic and telex address 6)A trademark or a brief slogan
商务英语写作
4. Body of the letter is the actual message of the letter, which begins one blank line below the salutation. It is the most important part of the letter, the written speaker.
Principles of the body: Clarity, Consideration, Correctness
5. Organization of the body:
1)Opening or Introduction 2)Details
3)Responses or Action 4)Close
6. Optional Parts of the body
1)Attention Line 2)Subject Line
3)Enclosure 4)Carbon Copy
5)Postscript附⾔
7. Layout of the Envelope: The Indented Form and the
to ensure the grammatical sense. It’s important to use open punctuation consistently in the letter（18）
03 E-mail
www.doczj/doc/e815a6a5f524ccbff1218414.html yout of Heading
1)T o: (email address of the recipient )
2)From: (email address of the sender—usually automatically filled in)
3)Date: (automatically filled in)
4)Subject (main idea of the message)
5)Cc: (carbon copy– recipients whom the author wishes to inform of the message publicly)
6)Bcc: (Blind carbon copy- recipients who are secretly being informed of the message)
7)Attachment (the files you desire to send along with the message)
2. Body: Salutation + Content + Complementary Close + Signature
3. Points to ponder when writing
1)Write a meaningful subject line.(主题栏意义明确)
2)Keep the message focused and readable.（⾏⽂重点突出、排版清楚易读）
3)A void attachments.（少发或不发附件）4)identify yourself clearly.（标明⾝份）5)Be kind. Don’t flame.（⼼平⽓和）6)Proof read.（仔细较读）
7)Don’t assume privacy.（注意保护隐私）
8)Distinguish between formal and informal situations.（分清场合和事宜）
9)Respond promptly.（及时回复）10)Show respect and restrain.（宽容限制）
04 Good News & Bad News Letters
1. 商务信函种类：
1)询盘enquiries
2)发盘response to enquiries
3)订单函order
4)订单确认函order acknowledgement 5)确认函confirming letter
6)拒绝函declining letter
7)礼节函social letter
8)建⽴商务关系的信函（买⽅或卖⽅之间）Establishment of business relationship
2. General structure of Good News Messages and Neutral Messages——Direct Approach
3. Occasions of Direct Approach
1)Making enquiries or responses to enquires
2)Making orders or order acknowledgements
3)Confirming letter 4)Social letters 5)Declining letter 6)Establishment of business relationship
4. Structure of Good News Letter:
1)Begin with the main point (Introduction)
2)Present necessary explanations (Details)
3)Cover the remaining part of the objective (Action)(询价)
4)End with adapted goodwill (Close)
5. Useful sentences for closing of the good news letter:
1)Looking forward to hearing from you.
2)I hope this information will help you.
3)We look forward to receiving confirmation of the reservation.
4)It’s great to be worki ng together once again.
6. Indirect Approach to Bad News Messages
1)Don’t tell the bad news at the beginning.
2)Begin with some good news or neutral information.
3)Give explanations before releasing bad news.
7. General Structure of Bad-news Messages:
1)Begin with a buffer缓冲(introduction)
2)Explain why the refusal has to be made (details)
3)State the refusal (action) 4)Close positively (close)
8. State the Refusals
1)Make the refusal clear without misunderstanding.
2)Offer some constructive and feasible suggestions.
9. Close of Bad News Letter:
1)Polite 2)Positive 3)Confident
4)Do not remind your readers of the negative message.
5)Do not apologize for your refusal
10.Ways to buffer:
1) Showing positive attitude, appreciation
2) Showing sympathy and care
3) Demonstrating understanding
11. U seful sentences for explaining why the refusal has to be made (Present objective, reasonable and convincing reasons. Make the impression that the refusal is necessary and based on careful consideration)
1) Had we not gone through careful and thorough in vestigation, we wouldn’t have made such a decision.
2) It is on the basis of careful consideration that we made such a decision.
12. To be avoided: We must
reject/turn down/refuse/disappoint you
Y ou surely understand …..
We were surprised at your request.
Y ou claim / Y ou state in your letter…
This is the best we can do
05 Complaint Letter
1. Inevitable Complaints:
1)Improperly filled order 2)Damaged merchandise商品；货物
3)Misunderstanding about prices
2. Direct approach to Complaints and Claims:
Business people want to know as soon as possible when something wrong has happened to their products or services so that they can correct the situation immediately. Directness lends to clarity of purpose and success.
3. Types for complaints
1)Complaint for Poor Quality
2)Complaint for Shortage
3)Complaint for Invoice Mistake 4)Complaint for Delivery Delay
5)Complaint for Wrong Items
6)Complaint for Poor Packaging
4. Structure of Complaint letter
1)Explanation of Problem + Background Information (what situation, when, color, model No.)
help to identify the problem + How Y ou Suffered (if necessary)
2)Action required with deadline ( replace the faulty goods, refund the money, repair the goods, etc)
3)Warning (strong but polite)
5. Reply to Complaint Letter(括号内是句型)
1)Explanation the problem + Background(T hank you for your letter of…About our delay of
shipment. We are sorry for not having been able to deliver the goods you ordered o n)
2)Action required + Deadline (We take the
responsibility for the mistake and we will
arrange for the replacement to be sent to
you within two da ys.) 3)Ending (Poli te We can assure you that
every effort will be made to ensure that
similar erro rs.)
6．U seful Sentences for Complaint Letter
1）Describe the problem：On examination, we found all the goods were wetted.
2）Action Required：Therefore, we are compelled to claim against you. We appreciate your seeing the matter seriously and arranging for the delivery within 5 days.
3）Strong Demand：We will ask for the law if you cannot send the goods to us within 10 days.
4)Courteous demand for action：In view of our friendly business relations, we are sure that the matter will be settled appropriately
06 Persuasion/sales Letter（促销/推销函）
1. Approach of Persuasion Letter——Indirect Approach
2. General structure——AIDA
1) T o Arouse Attention
2) T o Create Interest
a)Benefits of the goods
b)Choose the right appeal to feature your product or service
c)Appeals mean the strategies you use to present a product or service to your readers.
d)Emotional Appeals: How people feel, taste, smell, hear, and see. Strategies that arouse people through love, anger, pride, fear, and enjoyment.（Perfume, candy And food etc.）
e)Rational Appeals: Reason---thinking mind. Strategies based on saving money, making money, doing a job better, or getting better use from a product.（Automobile tires，Tools，Industrial ，equipment）
3) Desire: T o Convince the reader
a)Benefits of the goods
b)Point out and stress all the benefits that your product can offer
c)Determine the strongest psychological selling point:stressing a product’s benefits rather than its phys
ical features
4) T o Motivate Action
a)Ask for orders.
b)Offer other incentives that will make your reader responsive: a gift, a limited availability and a discount.
c)No-risk guarantee. d)Strengthening words.
3. Principles of Persuasion Letter Writing
1)Vivid language. 2)Be concrete.
3)Focus on central selling point. 4)Use inductive（归纳）approach (deductive演绎).
5)S ome ―don’t‖ in Persuasion letter.
a)Don’t exaggerate.b)Don’t belittle your reader.
c)Don’t speak ill of your competitors.
Show the reader what you can do, but not what others can not do!
07 Memo/memorandum
1. Components of Memo
1)Heading
MEMORANDUM / C ompany’s Logo / Slogan
T o: (reader’s name and job title)
From: (writer’s name and job title)
Date: （complete and current date)
Subject: (what the memo is about, highlighted in some way) ---Informative
2)Body