A business letter introduction should include:
- Context
- Context is the background knowledge that will help your audience understand why you're writing.
- This may include your name, your position in the company, a recap of the event that caused the need for the letter, etc.
- The context that you share will vary depending on the situation. Context for a letter to your boss, who knows you, will be different than context for the director of human resources, who probably does not know you.
- The thesis statement
- The thesis statement tells your reader the purpose of the letter.
- Please see the previous lesson for more about writing the thesis.
A business letter introduction may also include:
- A "nicety"
- Niceties are things we say to be...nice. For example, you might start a letter with "I hope this letter finds you well." Or "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to voice my idea."
- A "roadmap" of the points you'll be discussing
- In the following thesis, "the expense" and "the burden on the employees" are a roadmap of the supports that will be discussed in the body paragraphs.
- "I am writing to express my disagreement with the proposed location change due to the expense and the burden on the employees."
- In the following thesis, "the expense" and "the burden on the employees" are a roadmap of the supports that will be discussed in the body paragraphs.